Germany: Wedeco UV Systems plc, Wedeco's subsidiary in the UK, was awarded a three-year Framework Agreement from the UK water company Southern Water to supply, install, commission and maintain Wedeco Open Channel TAK55 Systems. The agreement began on 1 July 2003. Southern Water based its award on seven typical plants for a tender value of US$ 3.8 million, which involve a total treated volume of 17,600 m3/h effluence. Wedeco will support all on-site operations and maintenance through its locally based office at Burgess Hill in Brighton, England.
Ireland: McCarthy Hyder Consultants, the joint venture company between P. H. McCarthy & Partners of Ireland and UK-based Hyder Consulting , completed for the Fingal County Council the hydraulic model of the water supply systems that serve the Greater Dublin region.
Seven local authorities make up the Dublin region, and the water supply systems serve a population of 1.3 million through over 7,600 km of water mains. The computer-based model was constructed using the Stoner SynerGEE software from Advantica, and with over 187,000 nodes it is currently the largest dynamic SynerGEE water model in the world. The model is being used in the Dublin Region Water Conservation Project to address high levels of unaccounted-for-water and leakage in the Dublin region water supply systems, and to plan for future network development.
Switzerland: The Governor of Guangdong Province Mr. Huang Huahua appointed ABB executive Dinesh C. Paliwal, who heads the group's worldwide Automation Techno-logies business, as economic advisor.
The three-year advisory term will begin in November 2003 when the Guangdong provincial government convenes its 2003 International Consultative Conference in Guangzhou. Some 25 executive participants will join the forum. Past advisors included executives from ABB, Ericsson, Ernst and Young, Motorola, Royal Dutch Shell and Stanford University (USA). The Switzerland-based ABB has an active presence in China with about 6,500 employees, 17 manufacturing locations and 28 sales and service centres. ABB Automation Technologies division posted 2002 revenues of US $ 8.6 billion.
Tanzania: City Water, a joint venture formed by the UK company Biwater, the German consultancy Ingenieure and a local company Superdoll Trailer Manufacturer (STM), began a ten-year programme of improvements and investment in Dar es Salaam's water and sewerage system on 1 August 2003.
Graham Gorrod, the City Water acting chief executive officer stressed the need for patience. "We understand the immediate need for improvements in the system, but unfortunately, the residents of Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo will not notice a difference overnight. The problems that affect the water and sewerage systems will take a great deal of work to fix properly. A quick fix will not work. Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo need long-term, reliable and sustainable water and sewerage systems, and that is what City Water will provide over the ten-year period.
