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‘Design-build’ and ‘design-bid-build’ projects compared
NEWS
Siemens upgrades Wuxi drinkingwater facility
U
S-based Siemens Water Technologies has received a contract from Wuxi Water Supply General Co in China’s Jiangsu Province to supply a turnkey water treatment system for Wuxi Zhongqiao Water Supply Co Ltd. The centrepiece of the system will be a Memcor ultrafiltration (UF) membrane system. It will produce 150 000 m3 (39 625 810 gallons) of high-quality drinking-water per day for the residents of Wuxi – making it one of the largest membrane-based drinking-water treatment projects in China. The order volume amounts to 40 million renminbi (about E4.2 million). The plant is scheduled to start up at the beginning of 2010. Henrik Alt, who is responsible for Siemens Water Technologies’ business in China, said: ‘This project will make an important contribution to further improve the quality of drinking water for Wuxi’s citizens.’ The Memcor UF membranes provided by Siemens remove suspended solids, microbes, bacteria, viruses and turbidity without the need for chemical pretreatment. For many years industrial and municipal wastewater has been discharged into Taihu Lake – one of two tap-water resources for Wuxi City. Siemens Water Technologies says that its holistic solution to this problem will greatly enhance the quality of life for Wuxi citizens by improving the quality and reliability of tap water. Contacts: Siemens Water Technologies, 181 Thorn Hill Road, Warrendale, PA 15086, USA. Tel: +1 724 772 0044, www.industry.siemens.com Siemens AG, Industry Solutions, Schuhstrasse 60, D-91052 Erlangen, Germany. Tel: +49 9131 70, www.industry.siemens.com
Nephros develops water filtration systems for the ONR
I
n the USA, Nephros Inc, a medical device company that develops and markets filtration products for therapeutic applications, infection control and water purification, has received approval from the Office of Naval 6
Membrane Technology
Research (ONR) to expand development of new potable water filtration systems for use in the field by the military. The ONR has awarded Nephros a research contract to develop a potable, dual-stage, military water-purifying filter. This latest agreement is an expansion of the firm’s current ONR contract which is being performed as part of the Marine Corps Advanced Technology Demonstration project. The primary objective of this expanded research programme is to select concepts and vÕVÌ>Ê«ÀÌÌÞ«iÊvÌiÀÉ«Õ«ÊÕÌÃÊÜ V Ê were developed during the first phase of the project, and further develop them into smaller field-testable devices that can be used for military evaluation purposes. Nephros says that unlike off-the-shelf microfilter devices – which generally rely on a secondary chemical disinfection step to make the water safe to drink – its ultrafilter technology is able to directly remove viruses from water.
of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Jennifer Shane of Iowa State University were the main researchers for this one-year comparative evaluation. The team collected data on 100 projects (31 design-build and 69 design-bidbuild) completed since January 2003, each with total project costs of at least $3 million. The conclusions from this study of water and wastewater projects are consistent with similar studies performed for building and transportation projects. In the previous studies, projects completed using design-build were found to save both time and money compared with projects completed using design-bid-build. A summary of this study is available as a free download for visitors to the WDBC’s Web-site
Contact: Nephros Inc, 41 Grand Avenue, River Edge, NJ 07661, USA. Tel: +1 201 343 5202 www.nephros.com
PWT’s products receive approvals in the UK and Israel
‘Design-build’ and ‘design-bid-build’ projects compared
C
N
ew survey results show that ‘design-build’ projects for water and wastewater have a shorter duration for design and construction than ‘design-bid-build’ projects, and come in ahead of or on-schedule more often than design-bid-build projects. In addition, design-build projects are delivered at, or below, the owner’s budget almost twice as often. Most importantly, these efficiencies are realised with no significant difference in quality. These findings come from a new study performed by a consortium of universities commissioned by the US-based Water Design-Build Council (WDBC). Municipal agencies rely on a variety of project delivery methods to build or upgrade their water and wastewater infrastructure. The traditional delivery method is design-bid-build, but changes in procurement laws and the successes of alternative delivery methods are leading owners to choose other methods more often, including design-build. The public depends on these facilities, and utility owners have a responsibility to deliver facilities that excel in terms of cost, schedule and quality, says the WDBC. Professors Susan Bogus Halter of the University of New Mexico, Keith Molenaar
Contact: Water Design-Build Council, 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1204, Washington, DC 20036, USA. Tel: +1 202 833 1950, www.waterdesignbuild.org
anadian water treatment company H2O Innovation Inc has announced that products from its business unit Professional Water Technologies (PWT) have recently obtained new or renewed approvals in the UK and Israel. PWT products have also been certified kosher. PWT’s SpectraGuard SC liquid super concentrate anti-scalant for reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration membrane filtration systems has recently been approved by the Drinking Water Inspectorate for use in public water supplies in England and Wales. It has also received the corresponding approval for use in Scotland. The Department of Environmental Health, part of Israel’s Ministry of Health, has recently issued a renewed approval for SpectraGuard, enabling it to be used in RO systems that produce drinking water. This renewed approval is valid for five years and enables PWT to continue to serve its long-time customers in Israel, which include some of the world’s largest water desalination plants, and pursue the development of new client relationships. PWT’s line of membrane pretreatment chemicals – anti-scalants, biological fouling and organic fouling control products – have also been certified kosher according to Jewish laws. Contact: H2O Innovation Inc, 420 Boulevard Charest Est, Suite 240, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1K 8M4. Tel: +1 418 688 0170, www.h2oinnovation.com
October 2009
Siemens upgrades Wuxi drinkingwater facility
U
S-based Siemens Water Technologies has received a contract from Wuxi Water Supply General Co in China’s Jiangsu Province to supply a turnkey water treatment system for Wuxi Zhongqiao Water Supply Co Ltd. The centrepiece of the system will be a Memcor ultrafiltration (UF) membrane system. It will produce 150 000 m3 (39 625 810 gallons) of high-quality drinking-water per day for the residents of Wuxi – making it one of the largest membrane-based drinking-water treatment projects in China. The order volume amounts to 40 million renminbi (about E4.2 million). The plant is scheduled to start up at the beginning of 2010. Henrik Alt, who is responsible for Siemens Water Technologies’ business in China, said: ‘This project will make an important contribution to further improve the quality of drinking water for Wuxi’s citizens.’ The Memcor UF membranes provided by Siemens remove suspended solids, microbes, bacteria, viruses and turbidity without the need for chemical pretreatment. For many years industrial and municipal wastewater has been discharged into Taihu Lake – one of two tap-water resources for Wuxi City. Siemens Water Technologies says that its holistic solution to this problem will greatly enhance the quality of life for Wuxi citizens by improving the quality and reliability of tap water. Contacts: Siemens Water Technologies, 181 Thorn Hill Road, Warrendale, PA 15086, USA. Tel: +1 724 772 0044, www.industry.siemens.com Siemens AG, Industry Solutions, Schuhstrasse 60, D-91052 Erlangen, Germany. Tel: +49 9131 70, www.industry.siemens.com
Nephros develops water filtration systems for the ONR
I
n the USA, Nephros Inc, a medical device company that develops and markets filtration products for therapeutic applications, infection control and water purification, has received approval from the Office of Naval 6
Membrane Technology
Research (ONR) to expand development of new potable water filtration systems for use in the field by the military. The ONR has awarded Nephros a research contract to develop a potable, dual-stage, military water-purifying filter. This latest agreement is an expansion of the firm’s current ONR contract which is being performed as part of the Marine Corps Advanced Technology Demonstration project. The primary objective of this expanded research programme is to select concepts and vÕVÌ>Ê«ÀÌÌÞ«iÊvÌiÀÉ«Õ«ÊÕÌÃÊÜ V Ê were developed during the first phase of the project, and further develop them into smaller field-testable devices that can be used for military evaluation purposes. Nephros says that unlike off-the-shelf microfilter devices – which generally rely on a secondary chemical disinfection step to make the water safe to drink – its ultrafilter technology is able to directly remove viruses from water.
of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Jennifer Shane of Iowa State University were the main researchers for this one-year comparative evaluation. The team collected data on 100 projects (31 design-build and 69 design-bidbuild) completed since January 2003, each with total project costs of at least $3 million. The conclusions from this study of water and wastewater projects are consistent with similar studies performed for building and transportation projects. In the previous studies, projects completed using design-build were found to save both time and money compared with projects completed using design-bid-build. A summary of this study is available as a free download for visitors to the WDBC’s Web-site
Contact: Nephros Inc, 41 Grand Avenue, River Edge, NJ 07661, USA. Tel: +1 201 343 5202 www.nephros.com
PWT’s products receive approvals in the UK and Israel
‘Design-build’ and ‘design-bid-build’ projects compared
C
N
ew survey results show that ‘design-build’ projects for water and wastewater have a shorter duration for design and construction than ‘design-bid-build’ projects, and come in ahead of or on-schedule more often than design-bid-build projects. In addition, design-build projects are delivered at, or below, the owner’s budget almost twice as often. Most importantly, these efficiencies are realised with no significant difference in quality. These findings come from a new study performed by a consortium of universities commissioned by the US-based Water Design-Build Council (WDBC). Municipal agencies rely on a variety of project delivery methods to build or upgrade their water and wastewater infrastructure. The traditional delivery method is design-bid-build, but changes in procurement laws and the successes of alternative delivery methods are leading owners to choose other methods more often, including design-build. The public depends on these facilities, and utility owners have a responsibility to deliver facilities that excel in terms of cost, schedule and quality, says the WDBC. Professors Susan Bogus Halter of the University of New Mexico, Keith Molenaar
Contact: Water Design-Build Council, 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1204, Washington, DC 20036, USA. Tel: +1 202 833 1950, www.waterdesignbuild.org
anadian water treatment company H2O Innovation Inc has announced that products from its business unit Professional Water Technologies (PWT) have recently obtained new or renewed approvals in the UK and Israel. PWT products have also been certified kosher. PWT’s SpectraGuard SC liquid super concentrate anti-scalant for reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration membrane filtration systems has recently been approved by the Drinking Water Inspectorate for use in public water supplies in England and Wales. It has also received the corresponding approval for use in Scotland. The Department of Environmental Health, part of Israel’s Ministry of Health, has recently issued a renewed approval for SpectraGuard, enabling it to be used in RO systems that produce drinking water. This renewed approval is valid for five years and enables PWT to continue to serve its long-time customers in Israel, which include some of the world’s largest water desalination plants, and pursue the development of new client relationships. PWT’s line of membrane pretreatment chemicals – anti-scalants, biological fouling and organic fouling control products – have also been certified kosher according to Jewish laws. Contact: H2O Innovation Inc, 420 Boulevard Charest Est, Suite 240, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1K 8M4. Tel: +1 418 688 0170, www.h2oinnovation.com
October 2009