France: Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, signed a major 30-year municipal outsourcing contract with V.A.K. Zlin, the water public authority for the eastern part of Moravia in the Czech Republic. The area includes 80 districts of which Zlin is the largest town. The contract covers water production and distribution, customer relations, and wastewater collection and treatment, and represents total revenue of around g360 million.
The company also signed a contract with Vodokanal, the St. Petersburg water company, on 6 July 2004 to build a sludge treatment unit for the North St. Petersburg wastewater treatment plant. The plant has a capacity of 1.2 million m3/d and , from 2006, its sludge treatment unit will be able to handle almost 45,000 metric tons of dry matter a year.
A consortium led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Develop-ment will finance 65% of the g70 million contract. Vodokanal will finance 35% of the contract.
Veolia Water Systems and its entities - OTV SA, Krüger and Clemessy, a subsidiary of Dalkia (Veolia Environnement's energy services division), will carry out the contract.
Ireland: The Dublin City Council and its consultant RPS-MC O'Sullivan awarded a g5.7 million contract to a consortium of Degrémont Ltd. and Pierse Contracting to upgrade and extend Dublin's Ballymore Eustace water treatment works in County Kildare, Ireland. PH McCarthy will provide civil engineering design work.
Degrémont will install lamella settlers, fitted into the existing clarifiers to maximise treatment capacity, and new Degrémont Aquazur rapid gravity filters incorporating the Degrémont Azur nozzle floor.
The design-build contract is seen as an interim step to increase capacity by up to 45 million litres a day (mld) ahead of a larger contract for the full upgrade, which will increase the works capacity to 320 mld of water.
UK: ACE Event Management is organising the Water Africa Sub-Sahara Exhibition and Seminar that will be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 16 to 18 March 2005, along with Mining & Electricity 2005 and East Africa Building & Construction 2005 exhibitions.
Tanzania's strong economy is attracting large investments in infrastructure, including water, construction, energy and mining. The World Bank, European Invest ment Bank and the African Development Bank approved a US$ 165-million project in 2003 to rehabilitate Dar es Salaam's water and sewage treatment plants.
The city also plans to install some 2,000 km of new pipelines and may build a new dam. Rural water supply and sanitation projects, estimated to cost US$ 25 million, include dug or drilled wells or boreholes, supply of electric or hand pumps, piping systems, water storage and community sanitation facilities.
The Tanzanian Ministry of Water & Livestock Development will help develop the seminar programme. For more information, visit www.ace-events.com.
