Nelsen Corp. has opened a new, 24,000- square-foot distribution warehouse at 1012 Assembly Circle, Suite 100, Schertz, just off I-35 in San Antonio, TX. The facility compliments the other three Nelsen operations for sales and support for water equipment dealers in the South Central US and Mexico.
Canature North America, Inc. has launched the Canature Professional Water Dealer Program, designed to provide independent water dealers with a true competitive advantage. It offers a complete line of proprietary water softeners, whole-house filters, specialty systems and drinking water systems; protected territories plus a wide range of sales, technical and training support. For more information, visit www.canaturepro.com.
North America
WQA, IAPMO, ASPE to research water efficiency
The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials® (IAPMO), American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE) and the Water Quality Research Foundation (WQRF) will jointly fund a research project using data provided by Aquacraft Inc. to update Hunter’s Curve for estimating water supply for residential applications using waterefficient fixtures. The research project will provide statistical analysis of fixture use behavior in single-family residential homes, extended to include multi-family dwellings. Probabilities derived from this research will be used as a foundation to develop a statistical probability model for an estimating design curve for residential application.
IDA annual conference to be held in US
The International Desalination Association (IDA) has selected San Diego, CA as the site for its August 29–September 4, 2015 World Congress at the San Diego Convention Center. This will be the first time since 1999 the bi-annual event, focused on desalination and water reuse, will take place in North America.
Survey: children trading physical activity for electronics
A new Mason-Dixon survey, conducted on behalf of the Water Quality and Health Council, found that an overwhelming majority of parents (86 percent) are concerned that electronic devices are interfering with traditional family activities including swimming, and see potential negative health and social consequences as a result. Ninety-three percent are concerned that children are suffering negative health consequences from spending too much time on electronic devices instead of physical activities.
News from Severn Trent
Severn Trent Services has received the 2013 Global Water & Wastewater Disinfection Systems Technology Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan. Frost & Sullivan cited Severn Trent Services as “the undisputed technology leader in the field of electrochlorination disinfection.” Additionally, the company has transferred its ClorTec® on-site sodium hypochlorite generation product line to Severn Trent De Nora. Effective immediately, the line will be managed from Severn Trent De Nora’s corporate headquarters in Sugar Land, TX. Severn Trent Services also announced an agreement to acquire substantially all the remaining assets of SWWC Services, Inc. The acquired contracts represent approximately $8M in annual revenue.
MIOX investors announced
MIOX Corporation announced a strategic investment by TEL Venture Capital, Inc., the corporate investment arm of Japanese semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron Ltd. The investment complements grants awarded to MIOX by the National Science Foundation targeted toward the pursuit of coupling the company’s core on-site, oxidant-generation technology with UV photolysis in an effort to provide a powerful and cost-effective water remediation process.
Researchers developing treatment to remove hormonedisrupting contaminants
Chemists, biologists and engineers at the University of Texas at El Paso are developing a treatment to remove endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in reclaimed and drinking water. EDCs are chemicals commonly found in household and industrial products, including BPA in plastics and nonylphenols found in detergents and pesticides that are capable of disrupting hormonal balance within humans and wildlife and leading to reproductive disturbances. Wen-Yee Lee, PhD, Associate Professor of chemistry, was the principal investigator of the study. In order to remove the compounds from the water, the team constructed a small wastewater testing facility where they found that additional disinfection processes via UV rays and chlorination led to the removal of EDCs. The researchers hope to validate their results this summer by expanding the study to six existing municipal wastewater treatment plants in El Paso and Socorro, NM. Their goal is to develop an effective treatment for the complete removal of the compounds.
Patent issued to Envirogen
Envirogen Technologies, Inc. has been issued US Patent #8,323,496 for Methods for Treatment of Perchlorate Con-taminated Water, for enhanced, automated operation of its high-efficiency fluidized bed bioreactor (FBR) systems. This is the seventh FBR-related US patent awarded to Envirogen over the course of the technology’s development. Previous patents cover methods and systems for backflow reduction, biomass-media separation, two-stage oxygenation and an innovative bed-cleaning system.
Danfoss taking active role in water-energy programs
Danfoss recently joined with the Alliance to Save Energy to present during Energy & Water 2013: Integrated Solutions for Advancing Technology and Management, a conference and exhibition held by Water Environment Federation (WEF). John Masters, Vice President of Sales–Water at Danfoss, and Bruce Lung, Director of Industrial Programs at the Alliance to Save Energy, addressed the water/energy nexus in the US, focusing on energy management, policy mechanisms and technologies to optimize use in the energy-intensive water and wastewater treatment sector. In March, Danfoss, WEF and the alliance released a report developed from the jointly sponsored Water-Energy Future workshop held in Washington, DC, in November 2012. The workshop focused attention on the need for coordination among stakeholders in the water and energy sector to increase energy efficiency and generation in the water/wastewater treatment sector.
GE in the news
Tenaska Gateway Generating Station, a combined-cycle power plant in Texas, has reaped the benefits of GE’s advanced water treatment technology, saving the plant more than $3.2 million (USD) in operational expenses and significantly reducing its use of water treatment agents in the past three years. Also, the largest drinking water purification plant in Europe to feature GE’s ZeeWeed 500 advanced water treatment technology is under construction in Ravenna, Italy. This popular tourist destination needed a way to ensure increased water supply and high-quality drinking water for residents and visitors.
Dow alliance with Swiss company announced
The Dow Chemical Company and Switzerland-based RS Technik have established a global marketing alliance to promote a unique solution for large potable water lines by setting a new standard in the renewal of pressure pipes. In cooperation with Inland Pipe Rehabilitation (IPR), the companies will realize immediate opportunities to install an NSF/ ANSI 61-certified pipe-in-pipe system. In June, the first project started in Canada, followed by a large installation project in New York. Other large projects are being executed in Sao Paulo and Singapore, following the successful introduction of the product in the last two years in central and eastern Europe.
UCLA researchers win international award
A groundbreaking membrane material developed at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has received an international award for innovation at one of the water industry’s largest global conferences. The new technology holds great promise for cleaning up municipal and industrial wastewaters, in particular, water that is co-produced during oil and gas extraction. The technology cleans the water to a high level of purity so that it can be safely discharged or reused for beneficial purposes.
Europe
LANXESS certification announced
Lewabrane membrane elements manufactured by LANXESS in Bitterfeld, Germany for water treatment using RO comply with NSF/ANSI Standard 61 for health-related implications of drinking water system components. NSF International has certified that all brackish water membrane elements currently offered by LANXESS are safe for use in the treatment of drinking water.
Amsterdam RAI building expansion announced
This October, construction will start on a new, flexible and sustainable conference, meeting and office building on the northern side of Amsterdam RAI. The RAI complex has been designed to be as flexible as possible in order to accommodate all types of events, whether they occupy the entire complex or only use a part of it. The building will be opened on May 1, 2015.
Middle East
NSF Abu Dhabi office opened
NSF International has opened an office in Abu Dhabi to better meet the growing demand for testing, certification, auditing, consulting and training services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The office will provide auditing and product certification services for the water and food industries, as well as quality and environmental management systems certification.
Asia
Membrana contract announced
Membrana-Charlotte announced that Liqui-Cel® 8 x 80-inch membrane contactors have been selected as the deoxygenation technology for full-scale installation in two boiler feedwater capacity upgrade projects at a refinery in Turkey. The first system will process 200 m3/hr (880 gpm) and the second will process 80 m3/hr (352 gpm). Both systems are expected to reduce dissolved O2 levels from saturation down to two ppb (according to customer specifications) and based on results from a successful year-long pilot phase. The membrane contactors have shipped and the systems, designed by EKE Industrial Plants Cons. Co. located in Istanbul, are expected to start up in the second quarter.