In other news below:
-- Veolia Environment, North American companies donate $1M to Katrina Relief
-- Veolia wins nearly $1B water management contract in China
-- CalWater names acting CFO during investigation
-- Mayors' water survey cites catastrophic events, severe water shortage
-- Virginia developer agrees to restore destroyed wetlands
-- Canadian church groups launch campaign on global access to clean drinking water
-- Walkerton Clean Water Centre drinking water operator courses start November
-- UN symposium explores space research as tool for better water resource management
NSF secures new contract with U.S. Air Force
ANN ARBOR, MI, Sept. 29, 2005 -- Under the terms of the contract with the U.S. Department of the Air Force, NSF International will test and evaluate microbiological treatment claims for several handheld water purifiers being considered for field use by military personnel, following up on 2004 market survey of devices and development of testing protocol...
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Veolia Environment, North American companies donate $1M to Katrina relief
PARIS, Sept. 29, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Veolia Environment, one of the world's leading environmental services companies, and its North American-based units, are donating $1 million and support to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The company is making $500,000 donations to the American Red Cross and to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund, steering funds to impacted communities served by the company. Three of its four divisions -- Connex, Onyx and Veolia Water -- serve municipal and industrial customers in Katrina's path...
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Veolia Environnement wins nearly $1 billion water management contract in China
PARIS, Sep 29, 2005 -- Veolia Environnement SA said it has won a 30-year contract to manage the municipal water system in ChangZhou, China, worth over EUR 800 million [US$962.9 million; US$1 = EUR 0.831]. Veolia won the contract by joining with Hong Kong group Citic Pacific, then buying a 49% stake in the ChangZhou Tap Water Group. The remaining 51% will continue to be owned by the city of ChangZhou. The company has 850 employees and operates five water treatment facilities serving a network of 1,750 km for ChangZhou, a city of 1.2 million people located about 100 km from Shanghai...
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SEC investigation prompts naming of CalWater acting CFO
SAN JOSE, CA, Sept. 29, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The California Water Service Group Board of Directors yesterday named John S. Tootle as acting vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer and placed Richard D. Nye on administrative leave following civil litigation filed against Nye by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC's allegations against Nye relate solely to his prior positions at another company and have no relationship to California Water Service Group...
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Mayors' water survey cites catastrophic events, severe water shortage in 20 years
ALBUQUERQUE, Sept. 29, 2005 -- On the heels of two devastating hurricanes, The U.S. Conference of Mayors, led by conference president Long Beach, Calif., Mayor Beverly O'Neill, and Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, chair of the Conference of Mayors Urban Water Council, will release the findings of a National Urban Water Resources Survey during a press conference in Albuquerque on Sept. 30 at 12:30 p.m. (MST) at the Hyatt Regency. This is during its Urban Water Summit, Sept. 30-Oct. 1, in Albuquerque.
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Among other headlines:
• Virginia developer agrees to restore destroyed wetlands -- WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 29, 2005 -- Newdunn Associates LLP, and its contractors, Orion Associates and Northwest Contractors reached settlements with the United States and Virginia that require the firms to completely restore the about 26 acres of wetlands in Newport News, Va., the Department of Justice, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced today. The settlements resolve allegations that Newdunn violated the Clean Water Act. In 2001, Newdunn failed to obtain state and federal permits before it began digging ditches and filling wetlands on the 43-acre property it owns...
• Canadian church groups to declare clean drinking water access at risk -- OTTAWA, Canada, Sept. 29, 2005 -- An extraordinary ceremony to launch a national public awareness campaign highlighting threats to clean drinking water access in Canada and overseas will be held Oct. 6 in Ottawa. Church leaders and representatives from eight major denominations will issue a pastoral statement and call on the Canadian government to take immediate action nationally and internationally to ensure access to clean water for all. Federal party leaders and representatives of relevant parliamentary standing committees have also been invited to attend. Social and church activists from Africa, Latin America, and civil society organizations in Canada will also be present at the event. Students from Ottawa area schools will act as water bearers during a symbolic ritual to mark the global aspect of this concern. Members of the public will be advised on what actions they can take to preserve access to clean water. The event has been organized jointly by KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives and the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP)...
• Walkerton Clean Water Centre drinking water operator courses start November -- WALKERTON, ON, Canada, Sept. 28, 2005 -- The Walkerton Clean Water Centre is making available two courses that have been developed by the Ministry of the Environment for operators of drinking water systems. These courses form part of the new training requirements under Ontario Regulation 128/04 Certification of Drinking-Water System Operators and Water Quality Analysts...
• UN symposium explores space research as tool for better water resource management -- GRAZ, Austria, Sept. 28, 2005 -- Water shortages and floods cause serious problems in many countries, and space applications can contribute to cost-effective water resource management as well as to prediction and mitigation of water-related emergencies. In view of the unequal distribution of water resources, space-based solutions to water management are of particular importance to developing countries. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) has agreed that scientific data converted into practical information, which is readily available, through various space applications, should be used on a wider scale in managing water resources and in predicting and mitigating water-related emergencies. This was discussed Sept. 13-16 at a symposium on "Space Systems: Protecting and Restoring Water Resources" held at the Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Graz, Austria. The symposium was organized within the framework of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA), the Government of Austria, Joanneum Research and the European Space Agency (ESA)...
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In earlier newsbriefs, see: "WaterBriefs: World's largest desalination plant launched in Israel with Dow membranes" -- Also in this report (Sept. 28, 2005): DL Engineering finishing Gilbert, Ariz., wastewater SCADA design project; Germans unite to focus on increased export power of wastewater solutions; Intelligent toxic gas detector receives ATEX approval for European use; Emte to deploy Verano RTAP on HP Itanium servers in Barcelona; Long Beach seawater desalination R&D facility opening; Aquacell Water receives second order for arsenic removal systems; Denver Water taps into Applix TM1 for business performance management; Diverse coalition rails against pesticide clause in Pombo endangered species bill; Foster Wheeler awarded major refinery project in Bahrain; Middlesex Water CEO announces January retirement; MARTI distributor signs two-year, $42 million Chinese agreement...
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