US: California
A multi-million dollar pipeline project intended to bring desalinated water from Mexico to Otay Mesa is off the table indefinitely after years of planning. The Otay Water District began environmental reviews in 2010 on a plan to build a 3.5 mile pipeline to transport desalinated water from a new plant in Rosarito, Mexico to its reservoir in Otay Mesa. However, repeated funding delays have derailed the project, according to local source KNSD San Diego, who quoted a staff report from a meeting in early December which noted “repeated delays in funding for the plant”.
US: Boston
US company Oasys Water is exploring a sale of its forward osmosis (FO) technology IP after its cash-flow has run dry. The company has been reported to be working with debt providers creditors to manage the situation as alternatives are being explored, including selling the Oasys technology. CEO Jim Matheson said the company is working with Barclays Global Investment Banking Team to execute a “very rapid” asset sale, with bids due by the end of 2017. Matheson confirmed to WWi that the company was in the middle of a “tight sale process”.
UK
Infrastructure design company Stantec has integrated MWH UK and MWH Treatment into its UK business almost two years after completing the acquisition. It was back in March 2016 when Stantec bought MWH Global for US$795 million but as of January 1, MWH UK and MWH Treatment will now be known as Stantec and Stantec Treatment, respectively. The gargantuan merger saw the creation of a combined business with 22,000 employees globally, across 400 locations, spanning six continents.
OMAN
Italian company Fisia Italimpianti has entered Oman in a joint venture to help design and build a $100 million desalination plant in Salalah. Together with joint-venture partner Abengoa, the company was awarded by a consortium led by ACWA Power with Veolia and Dhofar International Development & Investment Holding Co. The 113,650 m3/day project will use RO membrane technology and is expected to be completed in 27 months. This was the second membrane-based project secured in the Middle East in 2017.
ABU DHABI, UAE
Alan Thomson, managing director of the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC), has been awarded an MBE for his career dedicated to water utilities in both the UK and Middle East. The citation for the MBE stated Thomson was awarded for “services to the UK, global water industries and associated charities.” He told WWi magazine: “This should be a motivation and recognition for others like me who have put a lot of time and effort into the industry, and enjoyed a very rewarding and satisfying career with lots of variety and challenges.”
RWANDA
The Government of Rwanda and Metito have reached financial close of the first competitively tendered Build Operate Transfer Water Concession in Sub-Saharan Africa. The finalisation of the Public Private Partnership agreement will kickstart the highly-anticipated Kigali Bulk Water Supply Project with construction forecasted to last 30 months from the commencement date. Located in Kanzenze, in the South Eastern part of Kigali, the project will provide 40,000 m3/day of potable water to the residents of Rwanda’s capital city.
PHILLIPPINES
Maynilad Water Services has awarded Wabag a $60 million project to retrofit and upgrade the 900,000 m3/day La Mesa-2 water treatment plant in Manilla, Philippines. The plant will continue to operate during the work with a completion date slated for the end of 2020. Wabag will provide design and engineering, equipment, installation, commissioning for a year. The Angat River, the largest water source for Manilla serving five million people, will provide the feed water for the plant. The upgrade is expected to enable the plant to handle high raw water turbidity.
AUSTRALIA
US technology firm Carbonxt has raised $10 million on the Australian Stock Exchange from an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to help the company increase volume and meet customer demand. The company’s solution uses activated carbon for the removal of mercury from coal power plant effluent. A target for the firm is the US, where all coal-fired power stations are now required to remove mercury from their emissions under the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury Air Toxic Standards regulations.
CHINA
Technology company De Nora has invested US$10 million to expand and upgrade its manufacturing capacity in the Suzhou Industrial Park, China. The investment will increase production capacity by over 50 percent per year, the company said, to help “meet the growing demand for its electrode and water technology products in China and throughout the Asia Pacific region”. The expansion includes a new assembly area for the production of De Nora’s major water technology applications, including for ballast water.
RUSSIA
Hungarian company Organica Water has partnered with Dutch engineering firm Nijhuis Industries to deliver a botanic garden wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Krasnodar, Russia. The 1,000 m3/day project worth €7 million will treat the wastewater from a high-profile shopping center in the Krasnodar region. The project will b situated in a glass house with the aim of integrating a treatment facility in the urban area within the shopping center complex. Nijhuis will use its pre-treatment solution for wastewater before Organica’s Food Chain Reactor.
