WaterBriefs: PACS launches Activated Carbon Research Institute

In other news below:
-- Dallas files lawsuit to protect region's water plan
-- Pennichuck acquires community water system in Exeter, NH
-- JMAR enters microbial ID deal with Micro Imaging Technology
-- UCLA nano specialist team wins QuantumSphere water research grant
-- EnviroScape model hopes to make environmental education easier
-- Minn. egg processor pays $1 million in EPA clean water fines
-- Schwarzenegger to seek $6 billion in water infrastructure upgrades
-- Jacobs wins contract for Bakersfield Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion
-- Philadelphia selects basis2 for water, wastewater billing, customer care
-- EcoPlus updates commitment to develop alternative fuel production plants
-- Beckhoff Automation Canada hires new sales manager for SW Ontario
-- Noted mycologist, to advise Virginia-based testing lab

• PACS launches Activated Carbon Research Institute -- CORIAPOLIS, PA, Jan. 12, 2007 -- Professional Analytical and Consulting Services (PACS), a founding member of the International Activated Carbon Manufacturer's Association (IACMA), is initiating the Activated Carbon Research Institute near Pittsburgh.

This institute is a missing piece that the activated carbon manufacturers and users need to provide better performance and growth. The institute is open to all. All you need to do is send a few pages describing an activated carbon problem for solving. Problem solutions are paid for by the submitter or groups of interested parties.

PACS is in its third decade of providing services to the activated carbon industry. These services will not be interrupted by the initiation of the Activated Carbon Research Institute. PACS provides advanced and routine testing services, R&D, consulting, expert witness services, training courses for scientists and engineers and hosts the International Activated Carbon Conference (IACC).

In 2007, two International Activated Carbon Conferences and sh! ort course programs will be provided by PACS. IACC-19 will be in Sydney, Australia July 1-7, 2007 and IACC-20 will be held near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania October 13-20, 2007. One-page abstracts for oral, poster and abstract only presentations are ow being accepted. Vendor can send marketing sheets for inclusion in the Conference Proceedings without attending the Carbon Conference.

Also see:
-- "U.S. Department of Commerce Preliminarily Finds Unfair Dumping of Activated Carbon from China"
-- "Chinese steam-activated carbon duties skyrocket an average 72.52%"
-- "U.S. government to levy higher duties on activated carbon from China"
-- "ITC moves forward with activated carbon investigation"
-- "U.S. activated carbon industry charges China with unfair trade practices"

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Among other recent headlines:

• City of Dallas files lawsuit to protect region's water plan -- DALLAS, Jan. 12, 2007 -- The City of Dallas has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The City's lawsuit seeks to vacate a decision of the FWS establishing the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge and to obtain immediate injunctive relief prohibiting FSW from taking any further action to establish the refuge. The lawsuit contends that FWS' actions approving the refuge violated the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) because it failed to adequately consider the environmental impact of designating a 25,281-acre site within Anderson and Cherokee counties as a refuge in the same area as the planned Fastrill Reservoir. If the City of Dallas cannot develop Fastrill Reservoir, it will be forced to seek other water sources and more heavily rely on existing water sources. Both of these alternatives will result in significant environmental impacts which FWS did not consider. In addition, the City of Dallas maintains that FWS' actions violate the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by unlawfully infringing upon the traditional state and local role of water and land-use planning...
Also see: "Dallas Water Utilities picks Itron's Water Fixed Network for AMR"

• Pennichuck East acquires community water system in Exeter, NH -- Forest Ridge to receive service from Pennichuck -- MERRIMACK, NH, Jan. 11, 2007 -- Pennichuck East Utility Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pennichuck Corp., today announced that it has closed on the acquisition of the Forest Ridge community water system in Exeter, NH. The Forest Ridge community water system serves approximately 200 residents and is Pennichuck's first franchise in the Town of Exeter. The community is a new condominium development constructed by Chinburg Developers of Durham, NH...
Also see: "Pennichuck-Nashua eminent domain takeover fight goes before utility regulators" (Union Leader)

• JMAR enters OEM agreement with Micro Imaging Technology -- MIT system to complement validation of pathogen alerts from BioSentry continuous real-time water monitoring system -- SAN DIEGO, Jan. 11, 2007 -- JMAR Technologies Inc. announced today that it has entered into a non-exclusive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) agreement with Micro Imaging Technology (MIT). This agreement enables JMAR to sell MIT's table-top, rapid microbial identification system as a complement to its BioSentry™ Water Monitoring System or as a stand-alone unit for laboratory sample evaluation. JMAR's BioSentry System is a continuous, real-time, on-line monitor that provides an instant 'alert' of a biological contamination event in a water supply. As a validation tool, the MIT system would take a water sample from a BioSentry 'alert' and quickly identify specific species of bacteria, protozoa, fungi or other pathogens present in the water, minimizing confirmation time for contamination validation with culturing time as low as four hours and identification within minutes...

• QuantumSphere research grant awarded to UCLA civil, environmental engineering team -- Project to validate QSI-Nano materials for anti-microbial water purification -- SANTA ANA, CA, Jan. 10, 2007 -- QuantumSphere Inc., a leading manufacturer of nano metals and alloys for applications in renewable energy, electronics and other markets demanding advanced materials, has announced that Dr. Eric M.V. Hoek, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Henry Samueli Fellow at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, has been selected to receive a research grant from QuantumSphere to evaluate the use of QSI nanoparticles in water filtration applications. Anti-microbial nanoparticles, such as silver, already have shown great utility in the healthcare and clothing industries, and have the potential to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of water purification. Ongoing research at UCLA suggests integration of certain nanoparticles into Hoek's nanocomposite membranes (now under license from UCLA to NanoH2O LLC) can lead to more efficient and effective water filtration and desalination processes. Prof. Hoek and Dr. Asim K. Ghosh, a postdoctoral fellow in Hoek's research group at UCLA, will explore the use of QuantumSphere's anti-microbial nanoparticles in nanocomposite membranes designed for water filtration applications...

• EnviroScape hopes to make environmental education easier -- CHANTILLY, Va., Jan. 10, 2007 -- EnviroScape's just-released Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment Model demonstrates hands-on where drinking water comes from and how it is treated and delivered -- then shows what happens to water after we use it. The tabletop-size colored landscape map sits on a clear base with color-coded channels, or "pipes," running under removable road sections. The landscape depicts a typical community: a drinking water treatment plant, a wastewater treatment plant, water tower (or reservoir), homes and commercial buildings, urban and rural settings, a biosolids facility, and a water source such as a river. "We used this new EnviroScape(R) to educate more than 5,000 kids at our Children's Water Festival. Our educators thought the product was fantastic! The model exceeded our expectations," wrote Deanna Barrow of the Public Works Department of The Regional Municipality of Niagara, ON, Canada...

• Minn. egg processor pays $1 million in EPA clean water fines -- M.G.. Waldbaum Co. will comply with construction schedule for wastewater treatment plant -- WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2007 -- M.G. Waldbaum Company, a subsidiary of Minnesota-based Michael Foods Inc., has agreed to pay a $1.05 million penalty to resolve allegations that the company violated the Clean Water Act. Today's settlement, which is a joint federal-state effort, involves a large egg processing facility and seven associated poultry farms near the City of Wakefield, Neb. The civil penalty will be divided equally between the state and the federal government. The Clean Water Act violations concern allegations of overloading the wastewater treatment lagoons at Wakefield, MN's publicly owned treatment works (POTW); discharging pollutants from a large pile of poultry waste into Logan Creek without an NPDES permit at its Husker Pride poultry concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) -- one of seven Waldbaum poultry farms; and improperly dumping process sludge waste from its egg processing facility at two of its other poultry farms rather than spreading on the ground in accordance with state standards. As part of this settlement, Waldbaum has committed to comply with a schedule in its current NPDES permit for construction of a wastewater treatment plant to treat the effluent from its egg processing facility. Construction of the new plant will be completed in 2009 at an estimated cost of $16 million...
Also see:
-- "Star, Idaho, developer, construction company agree to pay $20,000 to resolve Clean Water Act violations"
-- "Bus companies will pay over $237,000, settling environmental violations in three New England states"
-- "EPA orders Indiana dairy to comply with CAFO discharge permit"
-- "EPA action protects over 100 acres of coastal wetlands in Washington"

• Gov. Schwarzenegger proposes major water infrastructure upgrades to meet Calif.'s future needs as part of state strategic growth plan -- SACRAMENTO, Jan. 9, 2007 -- To meet the needs of population growth and manage the effects of climate change on California's hydrology and water delivery systems, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed a $4.5 billion bond to build a comprehensive system for the storage and conveyance of water throughout the state. The new infrastructure will address California's critical need to compensate for decreasing snowpacks caused by global warming and runoff that would otherwise not be captured, as more people are expected to live in California in coming years. As part of his proposed 2007-08 budget, Schwarzenegger will propose a bond that includes $4.5 billion ($2.5 billion general obligation bonds and $2 billion revenue bonds) for projects that will provide up to three million additional acre feet of surface storage and up to 500,000 acre feet of annual supply. The plan also includes ground water storage that will produce 500,000 acre feet in annual water supply. The bond would be on the ballot in 2008...
Also see:
-- "Gov. Schwarzenegger tackles California's challenges, asks legislature to work together toward bipartisan solutions"
-- "ACWA lauds governor's call for water investment: Pledges to work with him to implement Delta vision, storage"

• Jacobs wins construction management contract for Bakersfield Wastewater Treatment Plant -- PASADENA, CA, Jan 9, 2007 -- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced today that it received a contract from the city of Bakersfield, CA, to provide construction management services for the city's Wastewater Treatment Plant #3 expansion. The three-year project has a value of $140 million. This is the second consecutive expansion project for wastewater plant that has been awarded to Jacobs. With this contract, it provides constructability reviews, construction management, inspection, surveying, and materials and soils testing. New facilities to be constructed include a headworks building, aeration basins, clarifiers, a tertiary treatment facility, and a cogeneration building. Upgrades to existing facilities will occur for several clarifying and trickling filters, while plant capacity will be increased from 16 to 32 mgd...

• Philadelphia selects basis2 for water, wastewater billing, customer care -- DENVER, Jan. 9, 2007 -- The City of Philadelphia has chosen Prophecy International's basis2 CIS and Revenue management application as its billing and customer care solution for the city's 600,000 residential, commercial and industrial water and wastewater accounts. Philadelphia is the fourth largest U.S. city and is replacing a 30-year-old legacy billing system. The licensing and implementation of basis2 is a continuation of Project Ocean that was suspended pending further evaluation and opportunity for success. The implementation of basis2 commenced on Dec. 11 with bill production targeted before Mayor Street leaves office in January 2008. While many of the basis2 customers run basis2 in an open applications environment, basis2 was developed in partnership with Oracle Corporation to complete the end to end integrated Oracle E-Business suite...

• EcoPlus updates pending commitment to develop its alternative fuel production plants -- CHARLOTTE, NC, Jan. 9, 2007 -- EcoPlus Inc. announced that it has made progress toward completing an agreement with Alliance Development Group LLC for the purchase of license rights to the company's patent-pending, commercially proven technology for turning brown grease restaurant refuse into a high quality, solid fuel product, as well as for the direct funding to build up to five fuel production plants in 2007. The measure is part of effort to reduce FOG -- fats, oils and grease -- that restaurants discharge to sewers, inhibiting wastewater treatment plant processes and potentially clogging lines leading to sanitary sewer overflows. Closing of the agreement first announced Nov. 3 is expected to take place within the next 30 days...

• Beckhoff Automation Canada hires new sales manager for SW Ontario -- GUELPH, ONT, Canada, Jan. 9, 2007 -- Beckhoff Automation Canada is pleased to announce that Calvin Wallace has been hired as Regional Sales Manager for Southwestern Ontario. Wallace will provide direct sales support to Beckhoff customers located in an area that extends from Windsor to Guelph. Wallace has over 15 years of automation and controls experience throughout Ontario. As Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Axiom Technologies, he managed several automation vendors' product lines, including Siemens and Phoenix Contact.Wallace is a graduate of Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, with an Electronics Technician degree specializing in Robotics and Process Control...

• Dr. De-Wei Li, noted mycologist, to advise Virginia-based testing lab -- Jan. 9, 2007 -- Dr. De-Wei Li, an internationally recognized mycologist, has been named technical advisor to SanAir Technologies Laboratory Inc., a Virginia-based environmental microbial testing facility. Dr. Li will supplement the technical training of SanAir's laboratory scientists and advise the company's management on new developments in the field of mycology. He'll advise SanAir while continuing his work as research scientist at the Valley Laboratory of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in Windsor, CT. Widely published in peer-reviewed journals, Dr. Li earned his doctorate in mycology from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 1994. He's a member of the Mycological Society of America, the British Mycological Association and the International Aerobiology Association...

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