North America
Watts stock repurchase announced
Watts Water Technologies, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock from time to time on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. Repurchases may also be made under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, which would permit shares to be repurchased when the company might otherwise be precluded from doing so under insider trading laws. The repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. Any repurchased shares will be available for use in connection with its stock plans and for other corporate purposes. The repurchase program will be funded using the company’s available cash. As of April 1, the company had cash, cash equivalents and investment securities of approximately $235 million (USD). As of April 30, 2012, Watts Water Technologies, Inc. had an aggregate of 36,718,584 shares of common stock outstanding, consisting of 29,764,904 shares of Class A Common Stock and 6,953,680 shares of Class B Common Stock.
HM Digital sole provider for Zero Technologies
HM Digital announced an agreement with Zero Technologies, LLC to be the sole provider of electronic digital TDS meters in ZeroWater premium filtration pitchers and devices. These dual ion exchange tap water filtration pitchers and dispensers are the only ones to receive NSF certification for lead reduction. ZeroWater will continue to include HM Digital’s hand-held TDS meters in their various pitcher and dispensers. HM Digital’s basic ZT-2 TDS meter will serve as verification that the filter is delivering zero ppm TDS after filtration. ZeroWater uses a patented, five-level, dual ion exchange and carbon filtration process to filter water. It is also the only pitcher that meets Food and Drug Administration requirements for dissolved solids in purified bottled water.
NSF/ASPE agreement announced
NSF International and the American Society of Plumbing Engineers have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance and promote public health and sustainability initiatives within the plumbing industry. The MOU impacts the design, specifications, installation, inspection and regulation of plumbing systems. ASPE is the international organization for professionals skilled in the design, specification and inspection of plumbing systems. ASPE is dedicated to the advancement of the science of plumbing engineering, to the professional growth and advancement of its members and the health, welfare and safety of the public. Under the MOU, NSF International and ASPE will write standards that benefit public health and the environment by supporting each other’s missions: to advance the science of plumbing engineering and human health. This will be accomplished by jointly developing educational resources in addition to promoting conferences and publications that highlight water quality and conservation.
IDA issues call for papers
The International Desalination Association (IDA) has issued a Call for Papers for its 2013 World Congress, Desalination: A Promise for the Future, to be held October 20-25 at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin, China. Abstracts will be accepted from July 1 to October 1. Authors whose abstracts have been accepted will be notified in December, and the first draft manuscripts will be due February 1, 2013. The theme of the 2013 IDA World Congress emphasizes the importance of desalination as a sustainable, reliable source to meet the world’s growing water needs.
NGWA Keynote speaker announced
Tommy ‘Two Gloves’ Gainey has been slated to deliver the keynote address at the 2012 NGWA Groundwater Expo and Annual Meeting, which takes place December 4-7 in Las Vegas, NV. A former A.O. Smith Corp. employee, he will recount his story of making his dream come true. Gainey will share his journey from small-town beginnings in Bishopville, SC, to making it to the PGA Tour and the importance of staying true to your form.
Danfoss honored with global award
Danfoss Power Electronics has been named the Silver Winner for the 2011 Global Awards for Excellence in Business Process Management (BPM) and Workflow. This prestigious award has been granted to industrial organizations since 1996, in recognition of ground-breaking solutions leading to significant business benefits. The company received the award in the competitive North American region. The judges recognized the company’s skilled management of interdisciplinary competencies with basic technology applications in order to springboard a process management program. As a result of the BPM project, the company significantly reduced workload in several areas; for one, the master data on shipping information, price points, discounts and other variables is now far more accurate and no longer needs to be manually checked and entered, resulting in a 25- to 35-percent improvement in productivity for customer service personnel. The company also introduced a new, team-oriented culture aligned with the organization’s value stream and developed a competency toolbox for process management.
Europe
IFAT ENSORGA a huge success
After best-ever figures for exhibitor numbers and exhibition space, IFAT ENTSORGA set a new record with approximately 125,000 visitors. Of that number, approximately 75,000 were domestic with a good 50,000 from abroad. In addition to Germany, the top 10 visitor countries were, in order: Austria, Italy, Switzerland, the Russian Federation, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Poland and Spain. A total of 2,939 exhibitors from 54 countries presented on 215,000 square meters from May 7 to 11 in Munich, Germany. A further highlight was again the conference program, as confirmed by the poll conducted by tns infratest: ninety-seven percent of visitors to the events program scored it good to excellent. More than 16,000 visitors took part in approximately 320 lectures and discussions on top topics such as Mega Cities, Water Management, Phosphorus Recycling from Sewage Sludge, the Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act or Waste-to-Energy. The next IFAT ENTSORGA will take place May 5-9, 2014.
Asia
Seldon product approved in China
Seldon Technologies, Inc. has received formal product approval from the Chinese Ministry of Health (MOH) for its Nanomesh™ filter carbon nanotube drinking water cartridge in August of 2011. Nanomesh is a unique sieving and adsorptive disinfection technology that removes a wide range of harmful microorganisms while adsorbing contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides and many other harmful contaminants. The MOH issued the formal approval under a new process developed to ensure the safety and efficacy of new technologies employed in products that impact human health. Approval of the Seldon product allows the technology to be more easily integrated into OEM drinking water devices sold to Chinese consumers. The company will now begin to supply it to a variety of China-based partners.