The following is a transcript of the WaterWorld Weekly Newscast for October 29, 2018.
Hi, I'm Angela Godwin for WaterWorld magazine, bringing you water and wastewater news headlines for the week of October 29. Coming up...
Aqua America announces plan to acquire gas company
Water district breaks ground on Sterling Natural Resource Center
CDC seeks utility partners for water and health study
Seven submit bids for Sorek 2 desalination plant
Aqua America, a regulated water and wastewater utility, announced plans to acquire natural gas provider Peoples for $4.2 billion.
Peoples consists of Peoples Natural Gas Company LLC, Peoples Gas Company LLC and Delta Natural Gas Company Inc.
The combined company will operate regulated utilities over a 10-state footprint and will have its largest concentration in Pennsylvania, which will account for more than 77 percent of the company's total rate base.
Aqua America says the acquisition marks the creation of a new infrastructure company that will be uniquely positioned to have a powerful impact on improving the nation's infrastructure reliability, quality of life and economic prosperity.
In 2019, the new company will have approximately $10.8 billion in assets and a projected U.S. regulated rate base of over $7.2 billion.
The transaction is not expected to have any impact on rates.
California's East Valley Water District marked the start of construction last week on its state-of-the-art recycled water treatment facility and community center.
The Sterling Natural Resource Center aims to create a sustainable source of water for 800,000 area residents by treating up to eight million gallons of water per day, with the ability to expand to 10 million gallons daily, for recharging the local Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin.
Permitting and construction of the SNRC is expected to be completed in less than three years.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seeking utility partners for an ongoing project to help public health scientists better understand the links between water use and health in communities across the United States.
Project 4390, “Epidemiologic Study of Health Effects Associated with Low Pressure Events in Drinking Water Distribution Systems,” aims to understand water use and whether water use habits are linked to common illnesses.
Working with utility partners, CDC will survey water customers about recent water use and their health.
If you would like more information, please email [email protected] or visit cdc.gov/healthywater/study.html
In international news, seven entities are vying for the chance to build Israel's next desalination plant.
Referred to as Sorek 2, the new plant will produce 200 million cubic meters of water per year, superseding the existing Sorek facility's capacity of 150 cubic meters per year.
Bids were received from Hutchinson, GES, China-based PMEC, France-based SUEZ, a partnership between Spanish firm Acciona and Israel’s Allied, a partnership between Israel-based WPI and Spain-based Aqualia, and Israel-based IDE Technologies, who is the owner of the existing Sorek desalination facility.
If successful in its bid, IDE will sell some or all of its shares in Sorek 1 or Ashkelon to remain compliant with Israeli anti-trust laws.
When it becomes operational in 2023, Sorek 2 will be the largest desalination facility of its kind in the world.
For WaterWorld magazine, I'm Angela Godwin. Thanks for watching.
