WaterBriefs: Layne Christensen flags down $47.9M Florida contract

In other news below:
-- Siemens Mobile Filtration system prevents water shortage for Apache Junction
-- Calif. DWR co-sponsors Floodplain Management Association Conference
-- EPA issues final decision on Chevron cleanup
-- U.S. Army Corps reports on progress in Iraqi reconstruction
-- Penn. American receives national award for ongoing safe water practices
-- Institute comes up with better water test
-- Concrete environmental benefits, cost savings found in Brightwater pipeline material
-- Nighthawk Systems receives order from City Water, Light & Power of Springfield, Ill.
-- Sensor System Solutions Inc. reaches load cell business deal with Longacre Racing
-- Dr. Lieber to deliver Plenary Lecture at Pittcon 2007
-- Process Control Systems Forum releases summer report
-- New wastewater technology needs ABB reliability
-- American Water initiates N.J.'s first residential reclaimed water application
-- Lydall Inc. signs distributor agreement with Solid State Cooling Systems

• Layne Christensen flags down $47.9 million Florida contract award -- MISSION WOODS, KS, Aug. 31, 2006 -- Layne Christensen Company announced today that Reynolds, Inc., a Layne Christensen company, was awarded a $47.9 million contract by the Collier County Board of Commissioners, Collier County, FL, for the South County Regional Well Field Expansion project. The contract, which was awarded on July 25, stipulates that Reynolds will be responsible for drilling and developing 14 new production wells and installing over 31,000 feet of well field piping. The expansion will increase the county's water production capacity by 12 million gallons per day over the next year, and will feed into the South County Regional Water Treatment Plant. The Well Field Expansion project is just one part of Collier County's long-range plan to install a total of 100 wells over the next 5-10 years. The plan is driven largely by the county's rapidly growing population, which according to the U.S. Census Bureau, has grown 22% in the five years since July of 2000. Seasonal fluctuations in population also contribute to the county's increased demand for potable water...
Also see:
-- "Layne Christensen announces acquisition of Collector Wells International"
-- "Layne Christensen purchases Reynolds Inc. for $60 million"

• Siemens Mobile Filtration system prevents water shortage for Apache Junction -- WARRENDALE, PA, Aug. 31, 2006 -- In January 2006, Siemens Water Technologies commenced a two-month contract with the city of Apache Junction, AZ, to provide temporary water to its community when a shortage of potable water was inevitable. The city was approaching a lack of potable water for the city's 19,000 residents for a two-month period. Several factors led to this potential crisis for the city. They included the failure of a major producing well, an arsenic contaminated well treatment system was behind schedule for maintenance and there was a scheduled maintenance shutdown for a treatment plant that supplies much of the city's supply...
Also see:
-- "Siemens Water Technologies grabs Chinese refinery contract"
-- "Modesto Irrigation District selects Memcor submerged membrane filtration system for 36-mgd water treatment plant expansion"
-- "Siemens' LC150 controller now offers VFD support"
-- "Siemens develops maintenance-free, UV-resistant environmental balls to thermally insulate ponds, tanks"
-- "Siemens adds new high-pressure controller to Varea-Meter product offering"
-- "Siemens offers comprehensive odor control packages in UK"
-- "Siemens Water Technologies hits streets with industry's largest mobile water filtration system"

• Calif. DWR co-sponsors Floodplain Management Association Conference -- SACRAMENTO, CA, Aug. 31, 2006 -- The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will again co-sponsor the Floodplain Management Association (FMA) Annual Conference, scheduled for Sept. 5-8, at the Coronado Marriott in Coronado, CA. The 2006 event is titled "Challenges in Sustainable Floodplain Management and Development" and is designed to address the dramatic impacts of rapid development in floodplains and offer a forum for bridging science and floodplain management policy. A number of DWR officials will join discussion panels. Deputy Director for Public Safety, Les Harder, and Assistant Director for Legislation, Brian White, will be part of the Plenary Session on Wednesday, Sept. 6, discussing policy, legislative and regulatory perspectives on critical floodplain issues...

• EPA issues final decision on Chevron cleanup -- CHICAGO, Aug. 31, 2006 -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Office has announced its final decision on the cleanup plan for groundwater at the former Chevron refinery in Hooven, OH. The plan calls for: High-volume pumping of groundwater in highly contaminated areas to remove water contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons and groundwater testing to ensure the contamination has not spread. EPA will review progress every five years...
Also see: "Headline"
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/27166bca9a9490ee852570180055e350/3f86e0f91629e24b852571da005934c2!OpenDocument
EPA Slams Developer for Flouting Clean Water Act

• U.S. Army Corps reports on progress in Iraqi reconstruction -- WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2006 -- Prior to Saddam Hussein's oppressive regime, Iraq was the second richest country in the Persian Gulf region. However, after 30 years of willful neglect and treasury-draining regional wars, Iraq's once modern infrastructure lay in ruin. For the past three years solid progress has been made to rebuild Iraq's critical infrastructure. All of Iraq's industrial sectors -- oil, water, electrical power, education, agriculture, buildings and facilities, and security -- have benefited from U.S. investment in economic revitalization and reconstruction. There have been setbacks along the way caused by corruption and terrorism, but the major problem for stabilizing public services in Iraq has been the decrepit state of the infrastructure that resulted from three decades of neglect by Saddam Hussein. U.S. assistance has significantly improved water and sewage services for Iraqis. In April 2003, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hit the ground, it was clear that many of the country's water treatment plants were in serious disrepair and that many Iraqis received water that was contaminated or inadequately treated. Since that time, completed U.S projects have increased potable water availability to an estimated 4.2 million additional residents and an estimated 5.1 million additional people have access to sewage treatment. These numbers will continue to grow as more water treatment facilities become operational...
Also see:
-- "Iraq Reconstruction Report: A Weekly Construction & Sustainment Update"
-- "USAID: Assistance for Iraq - Water and Sanitation"

• Penn. American receives national award for ongoing safe water practices -- Five years of successful participation merits recognition -- HERSHEY, PA, Aug. 30, 2006 -- Pennsylvania American Water recently received nine national awards for maintaining the Partnership for Safe Water's Directors Award requirements for five consecutive years. The Partnership for Safe Water is a national volunteer initiative developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and other organizations representing water suppliers. The Partnership currently includes more than 200 water utilities, collectively serving more than 85 million people nationwide. To date, 65 water treatment plants received the five-year award, 28 of which - or 43% - are Pennsylvania American Water facilities. All 35 of Pennsylvania American Water's water treatment facilities are enrolled and in various phases of the Partnership program...
Also see: "Penn. American Water begins distribution system improvement work in Parkesburg"

• Institute comes up with better water test -- NEW YORK, Aug. 30, 2006 (AScribe) -- Water is essential for life. Nevertheless, even small amounts of water in the wrong places - such as fuels, lubricants, or organic solvents - can cause motors to sputter, metal parts to rust, or chemical reactions to go awry. That's why one of the most common lab tests performed in industry is one that looks for traces of water in other substances, even though the test itself is complicated and time-consuming. A new method for detection and measurement of small amounts of water, developed in the lab of Dr. Milko van der Boom in the Weizmann Institute's Organic Chemistry Department, might allow such tests to be performed accurately and quickly. Van der Boom and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Tarkeshwar Gupta created a versatile film on glass that is only 1.7 nanometers thick. The film can measure the number of water molecules in a substance even when it contains only a few parts per million...

• Concrete environmental benefits, cost savings found in Brightwater pipeline material -- SEATTLE, Aug. 30, 2006 -- Seattle's Brightwater Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant pipeline will be "greener" and cheaper due to replacing cement with a waste-to-resource material called fly ash to make concrete. The project's east tunnel contractor Kenny/Shea/Traylor JV expects to save about 5 million pounds of cement by using the mix to build two 80 ft. deep tunnel access shafts at the North Creek portal site in Bothell. They're part of a 13-mile pipeline to and from the new treatment plant coming online in 2010...
Also see: "Brightwater treatment technology promotes Puget Sound salmon, orcas"

• Nighthawk Systems receives order from City Water, Light & Power of Springfield, Ill. -- Units used to enhance power quality -- SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 30, 2006 -- Nighthawk Systems Inc., a leading provider of intelligent wireless power control products, announced today that it has received an order from City Water, Light & Power (CWLP) for PT1000 logic boards to be used as capacitor bank controllers. CWLP, already a Nighthawk customer, tested this product in 2005 to provide better power quality to its customers. CWLP, certified by the American Public Power Association (APPA) with its highest Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) rating, continually looks for ways to improve their system for the residents and businesses of Springfield, IL. Nighthawk Systems enables its clients to save time and money by providing simple, efficient wireless solutions utilizing the proprietary Nighthawk logic board. Nighthawk's core technology, combined with customized software, enables CWLP to wirelessly implement energy-saving and voltage control programs throughout their territory...

• Sensor System Solutions Inc. reaches load cell business deal with Longacre Racing -- IRVINE, CA. Aug. 30, 2006 -- Sensor System Solutions Inc. (3S), a manufacturer of sensors, intelligent sensor interface electronics and intelligent embedded control systems, today announced that Longacre Racing Products Inc. has penned a development deal to perform R&D engineering services on a Race Industry Weighing project and to also begin supplying a primary component for four different units within their preeminent line of Computerscales®, used by all levels of the Competitive Motorsport Racing worldwide marketplace (Go Karting, Drag Racing, Oval Track & Road Racing). This is a new Agreement that will bring 3S a projected amount of more than $359,000 in revenues over the next 12 month period. It represents the expansion of 3S's technology into another market niche offering a high volume requirement...
Also see: "Sensor System Solutions reaches $600K load cell agreement for Honeywell HomMed's digital scales"

• Dr. Lieber to deliver Plenary Lecture at Pittcon 2007 -- PITTSBURGH, PA, Aug. 30, 2006 -- The Pittsburgh Conference announced today Dr. Charles M. Lieber, Mark Hyman Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University, will deliver a plenary lecture entitled Nanowire Nanoelectronic Devices for Detection of and Interfacing to Biological Systems at Pittcon 2007, Feb. 25-March 2, 2007, at McCormick Place in Chicago. The plenary lecture will kick off the Pittcon 2007 Technical Program on Feb. 25. Dr. Lieber holds joint appointments in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard. He's best known for his pioneering experimental work in molecular nanotechnology including the synthesis and characterization of unique physical properties of carbon nanotubes and nanowires. With his broad focus on science and technology at the nanoscale, Lieber is exploring a variety of devices including nanocomputers, sensors, and other devices at the interface between biology and nanotechnology...
Also see: "ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry joins forces with Pittcon 2007"

• Process Control Systems Forum releases summer report -- WASHINGTON, DC, Aug. 30, 2006 -- Published by the Process Control Systems Forum (PCSF), this publication is intended to report progress among PCSF Working and Interest Groups, stimulate discussion about control system security issues, and increase awareness of the PCSF and its activities. Highlights include:
-- PCSF Spring Meeting attracts over 160 control system and security professionals
-- Four seats on PCSF governing board filled
-- Control Systems Security Event Monitoring Working Group updates MSSP threat statistics
-- NIAC study gains from PCSF participants' input
-- A defense-in-depth approach to industrial security
-- I3P Workshop results available...

• New wastewater technology needs ABB reliability -- NORWALK, CT, Aug. 30, 2006 -- An ABB drives and motor control solution ensures reliability for sludge processing technology in the UK. The environmentally-friendly process developed by UK wastewater recycling company Agrivert is installed at a wastewater treatment plant at Howden in northeast England for Northumbrian Water, one of the country's largest water utilities. Agrivert's technology lime-treats and removes water from wastewater sludge, to produce a sterile, low-odor cake that can be used as agricultural fertilizer...
Also see: "Mikolajczak named product line manager, ABB Automation Products, Low-Voltage Drives"

• American Water initiates N.J.'s first residential reclaimed water application -- State-of-the-art reuse project strikes balance between economic development, environmental stewardship -- HILLSBOROUGH, NJ, August 21, 2006 -- The Applied Water Management Group of American Water today announced the initiation of New Jersey's first residential application of Reclaimed Water for Beneficial Reuse. The system activation ceremony will took place at Homestead of Mansfield, an Active Adult Community in Mansfield, N.J., on Aug. 25. American Water's Applied Water Management Group acquired the community's existing wastewater facility in 1999, and for the next six years conducted a series of upgrades developed in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and aided by a grant from the New Jersey 1981 Water Supply State Bond Fund. The upgrades made to the wastewater treatment system will enable the delivery of high-quality water that will be used to maintain the residential grounds of Homestead at Mansfield and help achieve multiple state goals related to Smart Growth...

• Lydall Industrial Thermal Solutions Inc. signs distributor agreement with Solid State Cooling Systems -- MANCHESTER, CT, Aug. 30, 2006 -- Lydall Industrial Thermal Solutions Inc., makers of Affinity^® chillers, on July 17 announced a distributor agreement with Solid State Cooling Systems. This distributor agreement with Solid State Cooling will cover the TR1200 and a cooperative development agreement for the Thermorack 3500. Solid State Cooling, a New York-based company, designs and manufacturers compact, reliable, thermoelectric temperature control products, compact liquid chillers, thermoelectric heat exchangers, DC power supplies and liquid cold plates...

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