World News

1) US: CALIFORNIA

The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors has adopted the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan. The newly adopted management plan, known as the 2015 UWMP, is based on the year when the updating process began. It estimates that future water demands will be about 13% lower in 2020 and about 12% lower in 2035 compared to projections in the agency’s 2010 plan. The reduction is due to changes in demographic and economic projections by SANDAG that were primarily driven by the Great Recession and long-term improvements in water-use efficiency by residents and businesses.

2) MEXICO

A Suez-led consortium comprising Mexican company NSC Water and South African firm NuWater will deliver the new desalination development in the municipality of Playas de Rosarito, Mexico. Awarded by the State Commission for Water, the project will be built in two stages to double the capacity from 190,000 m3/day up to 380,000 m3/day, from 2017 to 2019. As part of the deal, the consortium will design, equip and finance the project, with a 37 year operation agreement also finalised.

3) BRAZIL

The Deodoro wastewater treatment plant in Rio the Janeiro is now operational ahead of the Olympic Games. The plant uses Royal HaskoningDHV’s Nereda technology and is owned and operated by Foz Aguas 5 and treats the wastewater of 480,000 people. Located in Deodoro, where a number of Olympic events will be held from 5 till 21 August, the 64,800 m3/day plant’s first task will be in the sewage treatment for the neighbourhoods surrounding the sports complex.

4) IRAN

Plans for the country’s first major desalination collaboration after international sanctions were lifted in Iran earlier this year are now under way. South Korean firm Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has reportedly won a deal with Iranian water supply company Sazeh Sazan to construct a desalination plant to provide water for 670,000 people. Construction on the facility is expected to be complete by October 2018, with a 12 year O&M arrangement in place.

5) OMAN

Singapore firm Hyflux has finalised finance for the $US185 million Independent Water Project venture in Qurayyat, Oman. Finance will be provided by a series of banks including Singapore based Clifford Capital. In a statement, Hyflux said a fixed-to-floating rate term provided by Clifford Capital was innovative. The planned 200,000 m3/day project will supply the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company for 20 years, from 2017 to 2037.

6) EGYPT

Five desalination plants will be developed in the Sinai governorate in Egypt following the signing of a KD29 million ($96 million) loan from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).

The development is part of a wider plan in Egypt to develop the Sinai Peninsula, a sparsely populated desert region between the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Work on the development is expected to start next year, with completion slated for 2019.

7) KYGYZSTAN

Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan has secured €20 million from the European Investment Bank to finance improvements in the municipal solid waste and water sectors. The projects aim to address the most urgent needs in water and solid waste management, eventually benefitting 15% of the population. Projects in the water sector include in the cities of Osh, Uzgen, Kara-suu, Kizyl-Kiya, Balykchy, Cholpon-Ata, and Karakol.

8) SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka’s National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) has contracted French company SUEZ to design and construct the expansion to its Kelani Bank drinking water production plant, near capital city, Colombo. In a project worth €168 million, the plant capacity will be expanded to treat 360,000 m3/day to supply the population in the north-eastern zone of the city. The expansion falls in line with the country’s ambitions to prioritise potable water to meet economic development.

9) CHINA

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $300 million equivalent loan facility with Beijing Capital to support water and wastewater service upgrades in the western region of the country. Western parts of the country face rising demand for improved water supplies and wastewater management services to meet higher environmental standards. The project will build, expand, and rehabilitate water and wastewater treatment facilities across a number of provinces.

10) THE NETHERLANDS

The Dutch Waterboard Vallei & Veluwe has opened a commercial nutrient recovery facility in partnership with Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies and Eliquo Water & Energy. While seven sewage treatment plants have been converted into “energy and nutrient facilities” in the Netherlands, this is the first facility to produce a “ready to use” fertiliser product. Designed to treat more than 8,000 m3/day , the Amersfoort WWTP also acts as a regional sludge-processing hub for a number of WWTPs and imports approximately 40% of sludge from other locations.