Clean Water Testing, a state-certified water laboratory located in Appleton, Wisc., has launched a new website designed to provide educational and water testing information as well as online ordering of testing supplies. The new offerings can be viewed at www.cleanwatertesting.com. ?
Keiser College has established a scholarship program for Certified Pool-Spa Operator® and Certified Pool-Spa Inspector® graduates. The $500 scholarship is applicable for the college’s two-year online Aquatic Engineering Degree program for students with either the CPO or CPI and a current certification from the National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF). ?
The NSPF and the Independent Pool and Spa Association, Inc., have signed an agreement to partner for the purposes of expanding IPSA’s education offerings to its members. ?
TEFSA-Group, an international designer and manufacturer of industrial filtration equipment, has formed a strategic partnership with Applied Process Equipment, Inc., a value-added wastewater technology distributor in Scottsdale, Ariz. ?
Applied Process Equipment, Inc. has also been appointed by Spartan Environmental Technologies LLC as its representative for Arizona and New Mexico. Spartan’s product line includes ozone generators, odor control systems and proprietary electrolytic systems for the removal of organics from water. ?
Spartan Environmental Technologies LLC has also appointed The Maher Corporation, a distributor and manufacturer of chemical oxidation and disinfection equipment, as its representative for the New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. ?
Construction of a new FilmTec Corporation facility is nearly complete and production at The Dow Chemical Company subsidiary’s new plant in Edina, Minn., will begin this summer. ?
The City of Nogales, Ariz. has selected Severn Trent Services to provide its SORB 33® arsenic removal technology at three water treatment facilities with a combined flow capacity of 2,000 gpm. ?
National Testing Labs, Ltd. has moved to new offices at 6571 Wilson Mills Road, Cleveland, OH 44143. For more information, contact NTL at (800) 458-3330, (440) 449-2525 or via fax at (440) 449-8585. ?
CDM of Kansas City, Mo. and Haley & Aldrich of New York, N.Y. have received the National Ground Water Association’s Outstanding Ground Water Remediation Project Award for, “outstanding science, engineering and/or innovation in the area of cleaning up groundwater and soil.” ?
Chemilizer Products, Inc. has been selected as a supplier to RE-Ox LLC, the proprietor of RE-Ox™, a successfully tested product using the Chemilizer CP33 volumetric injector, which can unclog municipal water pipes encrusted with calcium deposits as well as prevent solidified deposits. ?
The Fluid Controls Institute announces that all standards are now available online for sale in hardcopy and electronic forms. The standards may be purchased on the FCI website, www.fluidcontrolsinstitute.org. ?
Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. will feature the complete line of nanofiltration and RO membrane elements, as well as its various antiscalants, cleaners and maintenance chemicals for membranes, at WQA Aquatech USA in Chicago, Ill. ?
Flow Sciences, Inc. has launched new website features, including an online catalog, client extranet and eCommerce capabilities. The site, www.flowsciences.com, also includes videos, flash presentations, white papers and technical specifications. ?
Calgon Carbon has announced plans to relocate its industrial reactivation operation and the processing of certain specialty activated carbons from its Columbus, Ohio, facility to its Big Sandy plant in Catlettsburg, Ky. The company has also temporarily idled its reactivation facility in Blue Lake, Calif. ?
Acquisition activity in the fourth quarter of last year brought in a total of eight water and wastewater systems to Aqua America Inc., the company has announced. Over the course of 2005, Aqua America expanded its national footprint with a company record of 30 acquisitions. ?
Global residential water treatment tops $15 billion
The market for residential water treatment globally ballooned to $15 billion in 2005 and is forecasted to reach more than $41.5 billion by 2011, Frost & Sullivan reports. “Out of 550 million urban households globally, penetration of water treatment equipment has been less than 22 percent,” says Frost & Sullivan Manager and Senior Industry Analyst Sunitha Mysore Gopal. “There is a huge demand/supply gap, promising opportunities for everyone active in the residential water treatment equipment market.”
Water Pik sold for $380 million
The U.S.-based Carlyle Group and French aerospace equipment company Zodiac have purchased Water Pik Technologies Inc. for $380 million. Water Pik, a maker of pool products, shower systems, automatic toothbrushes and other systems, will be bought by Coast Acquisition Corp., which is 80 percent owned by Carlyle, 20 percent by Zodiac. The closure of the deal is pending shareholder and regulatory approval and expected to finalize at the end of April, CNN reports.
Membrana signs with wine producer
Membrana has signed an agreement with Memstar™, a division of Australian wine technology specialists Wine Network, which allows Memstar worldwide sales and distribution rights for Liqui-Cel® Membrane Perstractors™. Memstar has developed a patent-pending method for removing alcohol from wine without stripping away other essential components. It uses a two-stage process combining reverse osmosis and the Liqui-Cel system. Perstractors are the key to the process of evaporative perstraction used by Memstar for lowering the alcohol content of a wine. Higher alcohol content gives wine a hot and harsh taste and masks desirable fruit flavors.
United States
WQA input corrects Tenn. soft water misinformation
Publicity generated by the Water Quality Association has led water officials in Nashville, Tenn. to review online content pertaining to soft water and to remove an article that contained misinformation about water softeners and their safety, the association said. In November, the WQA sent a letter to Metro Water Services seeking to have the article, Soft Water: It’s Not For Drinking removed from the site because of a multitude of incorrect statements about softening and its affects on consumers. The letter went unanswered until the WQA published their complaint on www.wqa.org and in their January 2006 WQA Industry Update. Within days, the municipality for the water agency pulled the article off the website and has since referred staff to work with the WQA to clear up any additional misleading or inaccurate information about softened water.
Did U.S. troops receive tainted water in Iraq?
Contaminated water at the U.S. military base Camp Junction City in Ramadi, Iraq was provided to troops and civilians by military contractor Halliburton, despite attempts by the company’s employees to inform camp residents, the Associated Press reports. Halliburton disputes the allegations, even though they were made by its employees and documented in company e-mails. “The level of contamination was roughly twice the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River,” one internal company memo stated. The AP obtained the documents from Senate Democrats, who are holding a public inquiry into the allegations. A spokeswoman for Halliburton told the AP that the company found neither contaminated water nor medical evidence to substantiate reports of illnesses at the base and that it now operates its own water treatment plant there.
Perchlorate guidance: 24.5 ppb
The U.S. EPA has issued a new protective guidance for cleaning up perchlorate contamination, recommending a preliminary cleanup goal of 24.5 ppb in water. The agency had previously proposed that a safe level of the rocket fuel chemical would be one ppb, but revised its recommendation after input from the U.S. Department of Defense. According to the agency, the new guidance is derived from its reference dose for perchlorate which is based on the 2005 recommendations and conclusions of the nation’s foremost science advisory committee, the National Academy of Sciences. Perchlorate has been found in water in 35 states (see Viewpoint).
More EPA news…
The agency has also announced plans to allocate an additional $18 million for national water quality monitoring programs. These funds supplement an existing allocation of about $200 million to support state, interstate agency and tribal programs to combat water pollution. A detailed explanation of the supplemental funding and the prioritiza-tion structure for administering the funds can be found at www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/altformula-fy06.htm
AquaCell signs agreement with Winn-Dixie
AquaCell Technologies has announced that its subsidiary, AquaCell Media, has signed an agreement with Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. to install its self-filling water coolers in 434 supermarkets with pharmacies, the Soft Drink Letter reports. Additionally, test programs were continuing at CVS Pharmacy and Kmart, where coolers were installed in 2004 and 2005. AquaCell anticipates that over the next year, several thousand new locations will be added to its already extensive placement in 1,300 Rite Aid and Duane Reade drug stores. The expanded distribution creates increased advertising revenue, since these coolers feature ‘Coolertising’ ad panels. Unilever Inc. and CBS have advertised new soap products and television shows on the coolers in the past six months.
AFS adds benefits for sponsors
The American Filtration & Separations Society (AFS) has implemented new benefits and programs for corporate sponsors. These include on-site availability of the AFS Filtration Short Course program, a plant floor section added to all AFS Expos where users can view filtration and separation equipment and products operated in real time and admission to the AFS Filtration Pavilion at the 2006 Powder & Bulk Solids Show in May. Additionally, the Filtration Employment Opportunities Program facilitates networking between companies and qualified participants. For more information or to become a corporate sponsor, visit www.afssociety.org
It could be a contender…
Actor Sylvester Stallone has announced plans to produce his own brand of designer bottled water. Known as Sly, the water will be marketed to restaurants, hotels, gyms and on the Internet, United Press International reports. The 20-oz. bottles are expected to cost $2.50 each and will be sourced from Mount Rainier Carbon Glacier in Washington state.
Lead levels declining in S.C.
A host of corrosion controls have helped to improve drinking water in Richland County, S.C., only three months after their initial installation, The State newspaper reports. The controls have helped to make the water less corrosive and reduced the likelihood of lead leaching from water system pipes into neighborhood drinking water systems, according to city monitoring agencies. While welcome news, many residents are angry that it took so long to make the change, since the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control first pushed for the local water company to install the controls in 1985.
AC Hall of Fame nominees
Nomination letters are now being sought for the Activated Carbon Hall Of Fame Awards to be presented at the 18th and 19th International Activated Carbon Conference & Courses. Designed to recognize outstanding achievement and innovation in the AC industry, the nomination process is always open and considerations include inventions, new manufacturing, modification of carbons, stewardship, new products and services, educators and business developers (both domestic and international). For more information on the awards or to submit a nomination letter, visit www.pacslabs.com
City hall offered Brita donation
Brita Products Co. offered to donate water treatment pitchers to San Franciso City Hall, one day after a local newspaper reported that the city spent about $500,000 a year on bottled water. Since July 2001, city records show San Francisco spent $2.36 million in public funds on bottled water and related expenses like paper cups and dispensers, The Chronicle reported. Brita said it will send 10 free pitchers each to the mayor, 11 members of the Board of Supervisors and 47 city departments that used the bottled water last year. The company says its filters improve the taste and remove sediment that some municipal workers cite as justification for buying bottled water. “That’s very aquatically philanthropic of them,” Supervisor Jake McGoldrick told The Chronicle. The only member of the Board who does not have bottled water delivered to his office, McGoldrick has called for a hearing into the city’s spending on bottled water.
Detroit to increase water prices
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Board has increased water rates to cover more capital improvements to its system, which provides service in over 125 communities. Combined water and sewer rates for suburban customers increased by 5.3 percent and rose by 6.9 percent for city customers, the Detroit News reported. Effective on July 1 if approved by the Detroit City Council, the rise means an additional $1.15 monthly for suburban consumers and $3.10 for those living in Detroit.
Canada
CIPH requests uniform conservation plumbing
The Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating has issued a nationwide call for uniform implementation of conservation-type plumbing products for both new construction and replacements. The organization, which says the products will save millions of gallons of water each year, is lobbying individual provinces and territories to mandate the usage and has already successfully implemented similar plans in Vancouver, Calgary and the Province of Ontario.
Ontario starts $67.5 million tap water program
Ontario is pouring $67.5 million into a program to map out sources of Ontario drinking water and figure out how much can be tapped, the Canadian Water Quality Association reports. The five-year plan will be part of a larger effort to better safeguard drinking water, with most of the money (about $51 million) going to municipalities for technical studies that analyze water quality and flag potential threats. The remaining money will be used to fund about 100 more professional staff and resources to develop local source water protection plans.
Toxins found in Canadians’ blood
Environmental Defence, a group of environmental activists, has called upon the federal government to increase industry accountability for toxic chemical pollution in national waterways after releasing a report which shows that Canadians have more than 40 chemicals that can cause reproductive disorders, cancer or other diseases in their bloodstream. On average, 44 chemicals were found in each person studied, most likely from the ingestion of contaminated drinking water and food products, the Canadian Water Works Association reports.
Europe
Water cooler growth slows
While the number of bottled water coolers in Western Europe has grown by 6.4 percent to over 1.75 million, that growth is slowing, reflecting market maturation, Zenith International reports. Cooler volumes rose by 1.2 percent to reach 1,317 million liters, compared to an overall bottled water dip of 4.2 percent. With 33 percent of the 2004 volume, the United Kingdom remains the largest West European cooler market by a substantial margin; France retains 15 percent while Spain and Italy follow with 10 and nine percent, respectively. Over the next five years, Zenith forecasts doubling capacity in Italy, Spain and Portugal, with the region as a whole surpassing 2.7 million units and volume sales of 2,100 million liters.
Increasing Russian water financing
With the need to refurbish and upgrade the aging water treatment and wastewater infrastructure in Russia, international loans and financing programs in the nation have topped more than $1 billion. More than 25,000 municipalities in Russia are in urgent need of equipment upgrades and infrastructure renovations. Combined with the growing decentralization and privatization of water facilities, the upswing in financing programs will translate into a bolstering of the water treatment market in the coming years.
Asia
$3.3 billion for Songhua cleanup
The Chinese government has reportedly earmarked more than $3.3 billion for water remediation in the Songhua River basin where contamination poisoned drinking water supplies for millions late last year. The funds, part of a five-year cleanup plan, are aimed at providing safe drinking water by 2010 for more than 90 percent of the people living close to the river (an estimated 62.5 million people). An estimated 70 percent of China’s rivers are contaminated by pollution, raising serious questions about the cost of the country’s economic boom, Reuters reports.
Africa
Millions without water, food
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that 11 million people in the horn of Africa are on the brink of starvation and in desperate need of food aid, water, livestock and seeds, CNN reports. Recent severe droughts have compounded the already dire situation in the region and reports of deaths are beginning to mount in Somalia and eastern Kenya.