WWIF fundraiser a resounding success
The Wishing Well International Foundation’s First Annual Lighthouse Point Chili Cook Off and Tennis Round Robin, held in April in Florida, were deemed a great success. Tennis was played in the afternoon at two locations and afterwards, the players joined attending residents and competitors for an evening of chili tasting, music, dancing and fun. Mayor Fred Schor and Channel 10 News 
anchorwoman Jacey Birch were cook-off judges, while raffles, silent auctions and live auctions of products and services donated by local businesses were also featured. It truly was a community effort to support a great cause. Wishing Well International Foundation, a WQA member, is a non-profit organization bringing clean safe drinking water to developing areas. It will now shift its fundraising efforts to fellow WQA members in an effort to make its mission an industry mission.
Editorial Notice: In the April issue, in C. F. ‘Chubb’ Michaud’s article, the chloride level in Figure 3 should be 150, the silica level in Figure 4 should be 25 and the chloride level in Figure 6 should be 210. In June, we inadvertently added Ph.D. to author Ken Schaeffer’s byline and About the author section. Schaeffer holds Masters and Bachelor Degrees, rather than a Doctorate Degree.
North America
Hellenbrand honored
Hellenbrand, Inc. was honored with the Wisconsin Family Business of the Year Award in the medium category at a recent ceremony. Sponsored by Madison-based CPA consulting firm Smith & Gesteland, Associated Bank and Madison-based law firm DeWitt Ross & Stevens, award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges from nominations submitted by the companies. Six additional companies were also recognized. According to the Family Firm Institute, over 80 percent of all business enterprises in North America are family-owned. Nearly 35 percent of Fortune 500 Companies are family firms. Family businesses account for 78 percent of all new job creation, 60 percent of the nation’s employment and 50 percent of the GDP.
Trojan certifications announced
Trojan Technologies’ TrojanUVSwift™SC D03 and D18 drinking water UV systems have achieved the distinction of being the first-ever validated to fully comply with US federal regulations for delivering four-log inactivation of viruses, including the highly resistant adenovirus. Four units from the expanded product line offer third-party-witnessed validation to meet all the recommendations of US EPA’s UV Disinfection Guidance Manual. Water providers will be able to implement a fully compliant single-unit UV solution for the maximum required treatment of viruses.
IBWA recycling video launched
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA)’s consumer website (www.bottledwatermatters.com) has released a new YouTube video, Recycling Empty Plastic Bottles, that gives consumers a good look at how a PET recycling facility converts more than two billion PET plastic bottles each year into useful materials. Most single-serve beverage bottles, food container ‘clamshells’ and thousands of other products are made with PET plastic. To view the video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL_qH1ra7J0.
SBA mobile application now available
Smart phone users interested in starting or growing a small business can now find helpful resources at their fingertips via a new SBA mobile application from the US Small Business Administration. The SBA mobile app will make the search for extensive resources more efficient, whether users are starting a new business or taking an existing business to a new level. It will first be available for the Apple iPhone®, with future versions for other smart phone platforms. The app will help users connect with SBA district office staff and SBA-affiliated counselors and mentors who can provide free, personalized small business assistance. It also features a built-in startup cost calculator to help estimate the costs associated with getting a business off the ground, plus an SBA partner locator to help users find SBA offices, Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers and SCORE.
Canature control valves certified
Canature North America Inc. has received final NSF certification for its 565, 365, 265 and 165 control valve series. The control valves are available to professional water dealers exclusively through Independent WaterTech (IWT) in North America. This certification and the recent addition of NSF certification for the company’s larger fiberglass tanks demonstrates the company’s capability of developing and manufacturing products to the highest quality standards.
UV Pure honored with Artemis nod
UV Pure Technologies was recently chosen by The Artemis Project™ as a Top 50 Water Companies Competition winner. The water industry’s benchmark for recognizing innovation that will matter, The Artemis Top 50 identifies entrepreneurs that apply technology to meet the world’s water challenges. UV Pure Technologies makes technically advanced UV water purification systems. There are over 10,000 systems installed in residential, industrial, and municipal applications.
NewAge hose certification received from NSF
NewAge® Industries announced its Nylobrade braid-reinforced PVC hose has received certification by the NSF for Standards 51 and 61. Users can be assured of Nylobrade’s suitability and safety for use in drinking water systems (NSF-61) and food equipment machinery (NSF-51) through this important certification. Previously available only on a custom basis, the certification applies to all standard and custom Nylobrade products.
Regional pool and spa show in Atlanta
The Mid America Pool and Spa Show announced the premier of a new industry show in the Southeast region in 2012, to be held January 29-February 1 at Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA. In addition to two days of exhibits, the Southeast Pool & Spa show will offer manufacturer-based training courses and industry education to attendees, including APSP’s certification courses. For more information, contact Jocelyn Young at [email protected] or www.southeastshow.com.
Certification issued for emergency water treatment system
R&D Innovative Solutions Inc. recently completed benchmark-level performance validation of its new EDWS product line, which includes stationary, mobile and portable water purification devices for multiple applications, including commercial and residential applications. The products have met requirements to comply with multiple NSF standards including, but not limited to NSF-53. EDWS leverages the company’s Innosol contamination deflection technology and has been designed to promote water safety beyond the range of RO/MF/UF/NF systems. Parties interested in distribution and collaboration with R&D are encouraged to contact the company via email at [email protected] Principles of Operations and Technical Specifications can be found at www.dgrsol.com/tempWater/emergency/howItWorks.php.
IWQA annual banquet recap
Iowa Water Quality Association (IWQA) officers joined for a photo opportunity before the organization’s annual meeting with selected Iowa legislators, as a part of their recent convention. At the organization’s annual banquet, Immediate Past President Mike Hoyt was given plaque recognizing his years of service to the Iowa Association as Director and President. Public Relations Director Jim Boyt was presented with a plaque which read “For 40 years, you have given dedicated service to our organization. Your time and talent have made a positive difference in the way we do business and the way the state of Iowa views our industry. For everything you have done, thank you.” Convention speakers included L. D. McMullen, Ph.D., an internationally known consultant on water quality and delivery; Steve Switzer, Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office on fraudulent water conditioning devices and scams; Jerry Perkins, Editor of Biofuels Journal and an expert on ethanol; Roger Wolfert of Cargill and David Gisleson of North American Salt Company, who spoke on current conditions in the crucial world of salt.
NSPF/NEHA joint course announced
A new, online Certified Pool/Spa Inspector™ (CPI™) training program and handbook have been launched jointly by the National Swimming Pool Foundation® (NSPF®) and the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA). The course, available now at www.nspf.org and www.neha.org, is a national training program designed to help environmental health specialists to conduct effective pool and spa inspections and to minimize exposure to public health hazards. Additionally, many aquatic facility managers have taken the Certified Pool/Spa Inspector course when it was available on DVD to prepare for health department inspections. NSPF also offers an Aquatic Facility Audit online course to help facilities understand and manage risks.
Europe
LANXESS to move headquarters
Specialty chemicals group LANXESS has found a new home in Cologne, Germany. It will transfer its corporate headquarters from Leverkusen to the former Lufthansa headquarters in the second half of 2013 and will in the future steer its global business from Cologne. More than 1,000 employees will move to their new offices in 2013. The new company headquarters will bring almost all management functions under one roof.
Middle East
Pionetics product distribution set for Middle East
Pionetics Corporation’s LINX® Drinking Water Systems will now be available in the Middle East, North Africa and the CIS states. Through a recent partnership with DARCO Ltd. and its associated company, Waterpoint FZE in the UAE, LINX products will be distributed in Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestine, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates plus Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Libya in North Africa as well as Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Armenia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova in the CIS states.
Africa
Water filter factory in Ghana completed
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MIT News reported the completion of a Ghanaian factory to produce thousands of inexpensive water-filtration systems. The new factory will churn out filters that use a porous ceramic pot to filter sediment and bacteria out of the water. The flowerpot-like filter is set into the top of a plastic barrel, which is fitted with a spigot at the bottom to dispense water. Senior lecturer Susan Murcott (civil and environmental engineering) co-founded Pure Home Water in 2005 to start selling the filters, which were produced under contract in Accra, Ghana’s capital. So far, more than 16,000 have been sold, providing clean water to an estimated 100,000 people.