US: KENTUCKY
Kentucky American Water has acquired the water assets of Eastern Rockcastle Water Association in Livingston, Ky., in Rockcastle County. The transaction adds approximately 610 water customers in Rockcastle and Jackson counties to the Kentucky American Water system. The acquisition of the system expands the company’s total service area to portions of 14 Kentucky counties. Nick Rowe, president of Kentucky American Water said the company will bring additional resources for water infrastructure investment.
MOROCCO
Biwater has completed the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant that will serve 60,000 local residents and existing hotels in the town of Aourir, Morocco. The plant has also been built to cater for future needs with a design horizon of 2030 and a total treatment capacity of 19,000 m3/day. Key requirements for the project were strict odour control processes and the tertiary treatment of wastewater for reuse applications.
UAE: DUBAI
Acciona Agua, together with Belhasa Six Construct (BeSIX) will construct the Jebel Ali Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (RO) project. The US$237m contract was awarded by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) for the 182,000 m3/day desalination development. DEWA plans to decouple water desalination and power production. Currently only 5 percent of Dubai’s desalinated water supply comes from RO but the Emirate state aims to increase this to 41 percent by 2030.
OMAN
Spanish firm Aqualia has secured a contract to manage the operation and maintenance of water services for the Port of Sohar, including a 20,000 m3/day desalination plant. The deal was secured with the Oman Investment Fund public company, Majis Industrial Services in a joint company called Oman Sustainable Water Services (SAOC). Initially it will start with the seawater intake and will extend the service to other processes in the Port of Sohar installations.
SOUTH AFRICA
South African electricity public utility, Eskom, has started operating a mobile groundwater desalination plant to supply water for its 1860 MW Koeberg nuclear power station. The company said the mobile unit will “take care of the station’s water needs”, thus easing the pressure on the City of Cape Town’s water supply. The looming threat of ‘Day Zero’ in Cape Town had originally been moved forward to April 12 due to a drop in dam levels. This has now been moved back to July 9.
TAIWAN
Formosa Petrochemical Corporation’s desalination plant has received an initial approval following an environmental impact assessment. The Taipei Times reported that Formosa is now awaiting a further review to “request the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to relax certain regulations”. The planned 105,000 m3/day development will take wastewater from the Mai-Liao Power Corporation in Yunlin County and reuse it for industrial applications.
INDONESIA
PDAM Tirtanadi, the Water Corporation of the Province of North Sumatra has awarded SUEZ a contract for the extension of the drinking water production plant in Medan, the third largest city in Indonesia. The extension of this BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) contract will be for a period of 25 years and is worth €191 million, including the funding, the building, the operation and the transfer of two additional water production units for the Medan plant.
RUSSIA
Specialists of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) have developed a solution for complex water purification which they claim can improve or in some cases replace the process of disinfection with chlorine. The developed equipment is an electrolysis unit producing an innovative reagent of sodium ferrate. Ani Petkova, chief researcher of the Laboratory “Mechatronics” of SPbPU, explained that sodium ferrate is capable of decomposing many toxic chemicals into low-toxic products, as well as destroying microorganisms.
IRELAND
Utility Irish Water has started work on an €80 million upgrade to the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest in Ireland. The capacity upgrade is one part of an overall investment of €400 million by Irish Water into the site. Subject to planning permission, the overall upgrade project will enable full treatment of wastewater for the equivalent of 2.4 million people, meeting all foreseeable development needs to at least 2025.
UK
United Utilities has recruited a sniffer dog to help in the endless battle against water leaks. Called Snipe, the 16-month old cocker spaniel has been specially trained to help him learn how to recognise chlorine traces. The story follows Southern Water recruiting ‘Hector the bloodhound’ to sniff out fatbergs and Australian utility Water Corporation has been training dogs to smell water when there is a potential break along underground mains.
