SEATTLE, March 1, 2001 (PRNewswire) — Azurix Corp. (NYSE: AZX) announced today the dedication of the new Tolt Treatment Facility. The facility treats water from the South Fork Tolt River, which supplies on average annually 30 percent of the water used by Seattle Public Utilities' (SPU) 1.3 million customers in Seattle and surrounding communities.
Azurix operates the plant, which it designed and built in association with Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM). The Azurix CDM consortium is owned 80 percent by Azurix and 20 percent by CDM. SPU has prescribed performance requirements and retains ownership of the plant.
Using the innovative design-build-operate (DBO) contracting approach, SPU saved an estimated $70 million over the life of the project — the equivalent of an entire year's worth of water service for 178,000 households and businesses. The Azurix CDM team permitted, designed and built the plant after winning the project through a competitive procurement process.
"Azurix has impressed us with its experience, knowledge and professionalism and has been an extraordinary partner throughout the entire DBO process," said Diana Gale, managing director of SPU. "Its ability to solve project challenges efficiently and sensitively has been key in driving Tolt to completion, on budget and meeting our schedule objectives," she added.
The Tolt contract was awarded in May 1997 with the groundbreaking ceremony occurring about a year later. The plant began operation last December. Tolt is the largest DBO project of its type in North America and is a model for communities wanting to reduce costs, improve implementation efficiencies and increase accountability.
"We are immensely proud of the Tolt facility and our relationship with SPU," said John Stokes, president and CEO of Azurix North America. "This is a showcase project that highlights how well public-private partnerships can work."
The facility uses leading edge technology including ozonation and high rate filtration to provide exceptionally high quality water from the Tolt River supply. It has the capacity to process 120 million gallons per day (MGD).
For more information about the innovative Tolt project, visit the SPU web site at www.cityofseattle.net/util/ and click on "Projects and Planning."
Azurix Corp. (www.azurix.com) is a global company that owns, operates and manages water and wastewater assets, provides water and wastewater related services, and develops and manages water resources. Within North America, Azurix operates more than 1,000 facilities serving more than two million people and offers a full range of water and wastewater services, including operations and maintenance, engineering, carbon management and regeneration, underground infrastructure rehabilitation and biosolids management, in 41 states and provinces.
SOURCE: Azurix Corp.
