1st water company bond issue approved in PRC
The first water company bond issue approved in the People’s Republic of China followed a two-year study by the global consultancy Black & Veatch Enterprise Management Solutions Division (EMS), which included in-depth analyses of the overall financial, legal and regulatory elements of the bond funding project.
The study helped lead to the approval of a historic US$ 190 million corporate revenue bond issue to fund water and wastewater infrastructure improvements in Shanghai. The bond issue was approved for the Shanghai Water Assets Operation and Development Company, Ltd. (SWAOD). This authority provides water services to more than nine million Shanghai residents.
A technical assistance grant provided by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to SWAOD, which was conferred through a grant agreement signed in September 2002, supported the project. USTDA technical assistance supports the World Bank Shanghai Urban Environmental Project and assists SWAOD in the issuance of long-term infrastructure bonds for wastewater infrastructure investments. Water companies in the PRC have historically financed improvements to their infrastructure through a combination of short-term bank loans, government grants and cash. The new SWAOD corporate bonds will accelerate infrastructure improvements by making funds available in a shorter timeframe. The corporate bonds are set at 4.25 percent interest rate with a 15-year maturity. During the next 10 years the SWAOD expects to invest $3 billion to $4 billion in its water and wastewater infrastructure in Shanghai.
Innovative sewer choke strategy wins IWA category award
The Dry Weather Overflow (Sewer Choke) Management Strategy, developed by the partnership of Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) and Sydney Water of Australia, won the Asset Management category of the International Water Association’s Project Innovation Awards for Australia, New Zealand, and the South East Asia region.
The two companies worked together to evaluate innovative management strategies for reducing dry weather chokes in sewerage assets. The project will be judged at the Global Awards to be announced in September 2006 at the World Water Congress in Beijing.
Increasingly, stringent regulatory targets meant that a new strategy was required to manage sewer chokes. Across Sydney Water’s sewerage network of 23,000 km of sewers, blockages result in approximately18,000 dry weather sewage overflows annually. These affect some 22,500 properties and result in overflows to 800 waterways, with tree root intrusion into sewers accounting for 80 percent of blockages.
JBIC signs loan for Tunisian rural water supply
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) signed a loan agreement for US $348.5 million to finance the Jendouba Rural Water Supply Project with the Republic of Tunisia.
The project is expected to improve access to water in the farming villages of northwest Tunisia, which have the lowest water supply service coverage in the country.
Proceeds of the loan will be used for the construction and development of water supply facilities, including the penstock and distribution network, and procurement of the necessary equipment and materials, including pumps and water pipes.
Wallingford Software expands Asian operations
Wallingford Software, the leading developer of hydraulic modeling and network data management software, has announced a major expansion in Asia with the appointment of two new distributors in South Korea and Taiwan. The company is also opening a new regional head office in Hong Kong in addition to its existing office in Malaysia.
In Korea, Greentech Inc., a company that specializes in importing high-end technology equipment and software, will provide local sales and support for Wallingford Software customers. In Taiwan, Gisaec (www.gisaec.com.tw), an established engineering software distributor with twenty years’ experience, will represent the company. Both distributors are well established in their respective local markets, although they are new to the hydraulic modeling software market.
Andrew Brown, director of Wallingford Software Asia, commented: “Since we significantly expanded our Malaysian office in 2001 and opened our Chinese office in 2003, Wallingford Software has further expanded its customer base in South East Asia into Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. With our new regional head office for Asia in Hong Kong and key distributor appointments in Korea and Taiwan, we are very confident that much further growth can be achieved. Of particular appeal to the region is our expertise in river system modeling and flood forecasting. We anticipate significant further demand in these two key product areas with both government departments and agencies, and with water engineering consultancies active in the region.” For more information, visit the website: www.wallingfordsoftware.com.
Field Notes
Australia: The International Water Association’s Project Innovation Award 2006 was presented to the global consultancy Earth Tech for its work on the Eastern Irrigation Scheme at the Australian Water Association’s event in Melbourne on August 18.
The joint project between Earth Tech and Melbourne Water delivers 5,000 million liters of much needed Class A recycled water to horticultural, recreational and residential customers in Melbourne. The scheme sets new quality and safety standards for water recycling technology in Australia and established national benchmarks for managing recycled water.
As part of the scheme, Earth Tech designed and built Australia’s largest ultrafiltration recycled water treatment plant and a 60-km pipeline network. Earth Tech will own and operate the treatment plant and pipeline network, manage the scheme’s 60 customers, and sell recycled water direct to end users for 25 years. The company has invested $76 million (AU$100 million) in water recycling in Australia and owns and operates water-recycling schemes that deliver over 10% of Australia’s recycled water.
China: The UK consultancy Atkins signed a major long-term cooperation agreement with Beijing Capital Water Investment Co Ltd (BCWI) to provide technical advisory services on investment and management of water and sewerage facilities throughout China.
BCWI is the Hong Kong subsidiary of Beijing Capital (BCC), which is wholly-owned by the Beijing Municipal Government. BCC is the leading water company in China, with a daily water treatment capacity of about seven million tons and gross assets of more than US$ 948 million. BCG is investing heavily in water infrastructure over the next few years, with an objective of increasing water and wastewater capacity to 15 million tons per day through investment of ($2.54 billion) by the end of 2008.
Atkins completed technical advisory services to BCC on a water treatment works facility in Huainan in late 2005. The project is being led by Xiao Ying of Atkins China, supported by UK-based water specialists Martin Kimber, Timothy Walsh and Mike Woolgar.
Singapore: DP-Pumps introduced their new stainless steel booster set Hydro-Unit® on the exhibition PSA 2006, held in Singapore early in July. By using stainless steel in both pumps and manifolds, the company was awarded by HQ Link, organizer of the PSA 2006, for introducing the world’s first high-grade booster set of this kind.
The Hydro-Unit is equipped with vertical pumps DPVE. This pump is WRc-approved and designed for booster sets. The non-return valve is integrated in the discharge side of the pump. The ball valves with cast on couplings are completely made out of stainless steel and very compact. The by-pass and pressure reference switch and header are combined and integrated in the unit. All this results in a high quality, compact design. Therefore, less floor space is required and the transport volume and weight are reduced.
DP-Pumps is the export division of the company Duijvelaar Pompen, located in the Netherlands, and manufacturer of stainless steel vertical pumps, booster sets and tailor made turnkey projects in the field of water management.