- Email: [email protected]
H2O Innovation awarded contract and aids Algeria
NEWS
Editorial Office: Elsevier Ltd P O Box 150, Kidlington Oxford OX5 1AS, UK Tel: +44 (0)1865 843239 Fax: +44 (0)1865 843971 E-mail: [email protected] Programme Editor: Steve Barrett Editor: Simon Atkinson Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1904 630505 Email: [email protected] Production Editor: Alan Stubley Editorial Advisory Board: Dr P Ball (Pall Europe), Dr D Bessarabov (Ballard Power Systems), Prof. M Cheryan (University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign), Prof. A Fane (University of New South Wales), Dr T Franken (Membrane Application Centre Twente), Prof. E Gobina (Robert Gordon University), Dr A Merry (Aquious–PCI Membranes), Prof. M Nyström (Lappeenranta University of Technology), Dr G Pearce (Kalsep), Dr P Pfromm (Institute of Paper Science & Technology, GA, USA), Dr R Philpott (Whatman International), Dr A Turner (AEA Technology), Prof. R Wakeman (Loughborough University of Technology), Prof. A Yaroshchuk (Ukrainian Academy of Sciences). Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Rights & Permissions Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; tel: +44 (0)1865 843830, fax: +44 (0)1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@ elsevier.com. You may also contact Rights & Permissions directly through Elsevier’s home page (http://www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Customer Support’, then ‘General Information’, then ‘Permissions Query Form’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; tel: 978 7508400, fax: +1 978 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; tel: +44 (0) 171 436 5931; fax: +44 (0)171 436 3986. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Contact the publisher at the address indicated. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Rights & Permissions Department, at the mail, fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer. 02095 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Limited.
2
Membrane Technology
Dow helps alleviate water supply problems in Australia
F
ilmtec membrane technology developed by Dow Water Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company and its affiliates, is at the heart of Western Australia’s largest sea-water desalination facility. The recently-commissioned Perth Seawater Desalination Plant, believed to be the largest in the southern hemisphere, significantly improves the availability of drinking water for more than 200 000 Perth residents. ‘Previously, the high costs associated with desalination hindered interest in using abundantly available sea water as a potential fresh water source,’ said Karen Dobson, Dow Water Solutions Global Product Market Manager for Filmtec membranes. ‘The successful operation of the Perth desalination plant is further proof that we have in our hands a technology that can help alleviate water supply problems in an affordable and sustainable way.’ The facility, which cost AU$324 million, is located in Kwinana, 40 km south of Perth. It became fully operational during April 2007 and is run by Degrémont in alliance with the Water Corporation of Western Australia. Filmtec seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) and brackish water RO (BWRO) elements from Dow, used at the facility, desalinate 144 000 m3 (over 38 million gallons) of sea water per day. The facility, which is powered by wind, draws sea water from Cockburn Sound. The feed-water is pretreated and then passed through a two-pass RO system. After the firstpass, which consists of six SWRO membrane trains, the permeate passes through six secondpass BWRO membrane units. The recovery rates of the first and second passes are 45% and 90%, respectively. After post-treatment, the water enters the Integrated Water Supply Scheme (IWSS) – Australia’s largest public water supply system – for distribution. The specific energy consumption (SEC) of the first pass SWRO component is 2.6 kWh/m3, which, along with other energyreducing measures, contributes to a total plant SEC of less than 3.8 kWh/m3. This includes energy for the drinking-water forwarding pumps. The plant shows that desalination can be an effective and affordable option for producing water in water-stressed regions, as well as in municipalities looking to diversify their water supply sources, says Dow.
‘Combined with our expertise in water-treatment system design, the high performance of Filmtec membrane technology allows us to provide high purity water to the residents of Perth in an affordable way,’ said Gontzal Lorenzo of Degrémont, a joint-venture partner responsible for design and construction. The plant was built by a joint venture between Multiplex and Degrémont. Gary Crisp of the Water Corporation of Western Australia said: ‘Solving the growing problem of water shortage in this region requires unconventional sources – the most obvious being the ocean. Dow is providing the right medium for turning sea water into drinking water, which helps to meet the daily needs of 17% of Perth’s population, as well as its needs for energy conservation and consistent system performance.’ Contacts: The Dow Chemical Co, Liquid Separations, Customer Information Center, PO Box 1206, Midland, MI 48642-1206, USA. Tel: +1 989 636 9086, www.dowwatersolutions.com, www.dow.com Dow Customer Information Group, Prins Boudewijnlaan 41, B-2650 Edegem, Belgium. Tel: +32 3 450 2240
H2O Innovation awarded contract and aids Algeria
C
anada’s H2O Innovation (2000) Incorporated has signed a contract to supply a treatment plant to a provider of potable water in the USA. The company is also working with a Canadian engineering firm to offer water desalination plants in Algeria. Secured by its US subsidiary Membrane Systems Incorporated (MSI) the drinking-water contract with the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) is worth about CAN$1.7 million. H2O Innovation says that general contractor Wharton-Smith Incorporated has chosen the MSI membrane technology to treat the groundwater taken from a well field that has high levels of total dissolved solids, chlorides and hardness. MSI is designing and providing the equipment for the treatment system that will consist of four low-pressure reverse osmosis (RO) skids, each of which is designed to produce 3.9 m3 (1042 gallons) per minute. The system will incorporate an inter-stage hydraulic turbocharger for flux balancing and energy consumption optimization.
October 2007
NEWS In other news, H2O Innovation has formed a partnership with S.M. Group International Incorporated (SMI) to offer turn-key water desalination plants in Algeria. Following a trade mission sponsored by the Canadian Embassy in Algeria, the two companies agreed to unite their expertise to offer the country’s people safe drinking water – processed from sea water, an unending resource. The companies are already working on the first request for bids by L’Algérienne des Eaux (ADE), a Crown Corporation responsible for the implantation of a drinking-water supply programme in Algeria. ‘By teaming up with SMI – well known for its involvement in large-scale water filtration plants in Quebec and abroad – we will be in position to present a vertically integrated team offering analysis, design, manufacture, construction and operation services. This partnership is a strategic move to respond to Algerian tenders for turn-key facilities,’ commented Guillaume Clairet, H2O Innovation’s Director of Business Development. SMI is currently involved in a number of projects in Algeria at the implementation stage. ‘As we are already well established in Algeria, we had to take into consideration the expanding water desalination market. By teaming up with H2O Innovation, we are well positioned to approach this market with very competitive and comprehensive proposals,’ commented Gérard Laganière, Vice-President of SMI. Contact: H2O Innovation (2000) Inc, 420 Boulevard Charest Est, Suite 240, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1K 8M4. Tel: +1 418 688 0170, www.h2oinnovation.com
WEFTEC 07 sets new records
T
he Water Environment Federation (WEF), based in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, says that its annual technical exhibition and conference has set two new records. This year’s exhibition, which is scheduled to be held on 13–17 October in San Diego, California, will host 1013 companies occupying 24 860 m2 (267 585 net square feet) of exhibition floor space, continuing a three-year trend of record-breaking numbers for the federation. The previous records of 965 companies and 22 776 m2 (245 155 net square feet) were set in 2006 when the event was held in Dallas. Now celebrating its 80th year, WEFTEC has not only grown in its technical scope but has become one of the largest annual water quality
October 2007
exhibitions in the world and shows no signs of slowing down, claims its organizer. ‘More and more companies are realizing that WEFTEC is the place to conduct business in the water and wastewater fields. This year alone we have had a 5% increase in the number of companies and a 9% rise in the amount of assigned floor space,’ said Nannette Tucker, Director of Sales. A wide range of topics in nine different focus areas allow attendees to design their own, unique learning experience while earning up to 35 contact hours for continuing education units and nine professional development hours, says WEF. Focus areas include membrane technologies, plant operations and treatment, regulations, utility management, water reuse and recycling, and water quality and watershed management. Contact: Water Environment Federation, 601 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1994, USA. Tel: +1-703-684-2552, www.wef.org
Canadian energy company selects GE’s technologies
E
nergy company Suncor Energy Incorporated has selected GE Water & Process Technologies’ membrane and boiler feed-water systems for its upgrader expansion project located in the Canadian oil sands, Fort McMurray, Alberta. The Suncor Energy site will install a twotrain water treatment system rated at 4.6 m3 (1220 gallons) per-minute, which includes GE ZeeWeed ultrafiltration (UF) membranes, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and sodium cycle softeners. GE’s boiler feed-water process is expected to help improve the expanded site’s up-time, water quality, cycle rates, water consumption, asset protection and operational costs. Suncor requires large amounts of high-quality water for steam generators that are used in upgrading naphtha, a component of synthetic crude oil. The firm’s planned naphtha treatment facility will draw water from the Athabasca River, which is susceptible to large variations in raw water quality. The company says that total suspended solids can rise as high as 3000 mg/l. GE claims that ZeeWeed UF membranes provide a robust and reliable method of handling such variations and can consistently outperform conventional clarifiers. Suncor plans to
In Brief Water filtration plant honoured by APWA The Columbia Heights Membrane Filtration Plant (see Membrane Technology March 2006, page 4) in Minnesota, USA, has been named a ‘Public Works Project of the Year’ by the American Public Works Association (APWA), according to a report in the US press. The plant, which uses ultrafiltration technology, removes impurities more effectively than required by emerging and increasingly stringent federal drinking-water standards. The facility, which processes up to 265 000 m3 (70 million gallons) of water per day, features high-tech and redundant security measures to protect the water supply in a new ‘post-9/11’ environment. Donaldson reports eighteenth consecutive earnings record US-based Donaldson Company Incorporated has reported its eighteenth consecutive year of record earnings. For fiscal 2007, earnings per share (EPS) were $1.83 – up 18% from $1.55 a year earlier. Net income increased by 14% to $150.7 million, compared with $132.3 million posted for the previous twelve-month period. Sales totalled $1.919 billion – up 13% from $1.694 billion in fiscal 2006. ‘We made great progress on the operating issues that impacted our results earlier in the year, delivering a 12.3% operating margin in the fourth quarter, and bringing our operating margin back to our 11% target for the full year,’ said Bill Cook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. The company’s advanced materials division – Donaldson Membranes – manufactures Tetratex expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membranes. Veolia Environnement agrees to acquire Thames Water businesses Veolia Water UK, a subsidiary of Veolia Water, the Water Division of Veolia Environnement, has successfully concluded negotiations with Thames Water for the acquisition of a number of unregulated business interests, at a price of around 115 million. Antoine Frérot, Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Water said: ‘This acquisition offers Veolia Water significant growth opportunities in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.’ Siemens opens water R&D centre in Singapore and appoints director Siemens Water Technologies recently opened its new Global Water Research and Development Center at the Public Utilities Board’s (PUB) WaterHub building in Singapore (see Membrane Technology February 2007, page 1). Dr Ruediger Knauf has been named director and will oversee Siemens’ research and development activities in the region. This is the first step towards the company’s previously announced 25-million investment in water technology research and product development in the Asia–Pacific region.
Membrane Technology
3
Editorial Office: Elsevier Ltd P O Box 150, Kidlington Oxford OX5 1AS, UK Tel: +44 (0)1865 843239 Fax: +44 (0)1865 843971 E-mail: [email protected] Programme Editor: Steve Barrett Editor: Simon Atkinson Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1904 630505 Email: [email protected] Production Editor: Alan Stubley Editorial Advisory Board: Dr P Ball (Pall Europe), Dr D Bessarabov (Ballard Power Systems), Prof. M Cheryan (University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign), Prof. A Fane (University of New South Wales), Dr T Franken (Membrane Application Centre Twente), Prof. E Gobina (Robert Gordon University), Dr A Merry (Aquious–PCI Membranes), Prof. M Nyström (Lappeenranta University of Technology), Dr G Pearce (Kalsep), Dr P Pfromm (Institute of Paper Science & Technology, GA, USA), Dr R Philpott (Whatman International), Dr A Turner (AEA Technology), Prof. R Wakeman (Loughborough University of Technology), Prof. A Yaroshchuk (Ukrainian Academy of Sciences). Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Rights & Permissions Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; tel: +44 (0)1865 843830, fax: +44 (0)1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@ elsevier.com. You may also contact Rights & Permissions directly through Elsevier’s home page (http://www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Customer Support’, then ‘General Information’, then ‘Permissions Query Form’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; tel: 978 7508400, fax: +1 978 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; tel: +44 (0) 171 436 5931; fax: +44 (0)171 436 3986. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Contact the publisher at the address indicated. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Rights & Permissions Department, at the mail, fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer. 02095 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Limited.
2
Membrane Technology
Dow helps alleviate water supply problems in Australia
F
ilmtec membrane technology developed by Dow Water Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company and its affiliates, is at the heart of Western Australia’s largest sea-water desalination facility. The recently-commissioned Perth Seawater Desalination Plant, believed to be the largest in the southern hemisphere, significantly improves the availability of drinking water for more than 200 000 Perth residents. ‘Previously, the high costs associated with desalination hindered interest in using abundantly available sea water as a potential fresh water source,’ said Karen Dobson, Dow Water Solutions Global Product Market Manager for Filmtec membranes. ‘The successful operation of the Perth desalination plant is further proof that we have in our hands a technology that can help alleviate water supply problems in an affordable and sustainable way.’ The facility, which cost AU$324 million, is located in Kwinana, 40 km south of Perth. It became fully operational during April 2007 and is run by Degrémont in alliance with the Water Corporation of Western Australia. Filmtec seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) and brackish water RO (BWRO) elements from Dow, used at the facility, desalinate 144 000 m3 (over 38 million gallons) of sea water per day. The facility, which is powered by wind, draws sea water from Cockburn Sound. The feed-water is pretreated and then passed through a two-pass RO system. After the firstpass, which consists of six SWRO membrane trains, the permeate passes through six secondpass BWRO membrane units. The recovery rates of the first and second passes are 45% and 90%, respectively. After post-treatment, the water enters the Integrated Water Supply Scheme (IWSS) – Australia’s largest public water supply system – for distribution. The specific energy consumption (SEC) of the first pass SWRO component is 2.6 kWh/m3, which, along with other energyreducing measures, contributes to a total plant SEC of less than 3.8 kWh/m3. This includes energy for the drinking-water forwarding pumps. The plant shows that desalination can be an effective and affordable option for producing water in water-stressed regions, as well as in municipalities looking to diversify their water supply sources, says Dow.
‘Combined with our expertise in water-treatment system design, the high performance of Filmtec membrane technology allows us to provide high purity water to the residents of Perth in an affordable way,’ said Gontzal Lorenzo of Degrémont, a joint-venture partner responsible for design and construction. The plant was built by a joint venture between Multiplex and Degrémont. Gary Crisp of the Water Corporation of Western Australia said: ‘Solving the growing problem of water shortage in this region requires unconventional sources – the most obvious being the ocean. Dow is providing the right medium for turning sea water into drinking water, which helps to meet the daily needs of 17% of Perth’s population, as well as its needs for energy conservation and consistent system performance.’ Contacts: The Dow Chemical Co, Liquid Separations, Customer Information Center, PO Box 1206, Midland, MI 48642-1206, USA. Tel: +1 989 636 9086, www.dowwatersolutions.com, www.dow.com Dow Customer Information Group, Prins Boudewijnlaan 41, B-2650 Edegem, Belgium. Tel: +32 3 450 2240
H2O Innovation awarded contract and aids Algeria
C
anada’s H2O Innovation (2000) Incorporated has signed a contract to supply a treatment plant to a provider of potable water in the USA. The company is also working with a Canadian engineering firm to offer water desalination plants in Algeria. Secured by its US subsidiary Membrane Systems Incorporated (MSI) the drinking-water contract with the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) is worth about CAN$1.7 million. H2O Innovation says that general contractor Wharton-Smith Incorporated has chosen the MSI membrane technology to treat the groundwater taken from a well field that has high levels of total dissolved solids, chlorides and hardness. MSI is designing and providing the equipment for the treatment system that will consist of four low-pressure reverse osmosis (RO) skids, each of which is designed to produce 3.9 m3 (1042 gallons) per minute. The system will incorporate an inter-stage hydraulic turbocharger for flux balancing and energy consumption optimization.
October 2007
NEWS In other news, H2O Innovation has formed a partnership with S.M. Group International Incorporated (SMI) to offer turn-key water desalination plants in Algeria. Following a trade mission sponsored by the Canadian Embassy in Algeria, the two companies agreed to unite their expertise to offer the country’s people safe drinking water – processed from sea water, an unending resource. The companies are already working on the first request for bids by L’Algérienne des Eaux (ADE), a Crown Corporation responsible for the implantation of a drinking-water supply programme in Algeria. ‘By teaming up with SMI – well known for its involvement in large-scale water filtration plants in Quebec and abroad – we will be in position to present a vertically integrated team offering analysis, design, manufacture, construction and operation services. This partnership is a strategic move to respond to Algerian tenders for turn-key facilities,’ commented Guillaume Clairet, H2O Innovation’s Director of Business Development. SMI is currently involved in a number of projects in Algeria at the implementation stage. ‘As we are already well established in Algeria, we had to take into consideration the expanding water desalination market. By teaming up with H2O Innovation, we are well positioned to approach this market with very competitive and comprehensive proposals,’ commented Gérard Laganière, Vice-President of SMI. Contact: H2O Innovation (2000) Inc, 420 Boulevard Charest Est, Suite 240, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1K 8M4. Tel: +1 418 688 0170, www.h2oinnovation.com
WEFTEC 07 sets new records
T
he Water Environment Federation (WEF), based in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, says that its annual technical exhibition and conference has set two new records. This year’s exhibition, which is scheduled to be held on 13–17 October in San Diego, California, will host 1013 companies occupying 24 860 m2 (267 585 net square feet) of exhibition floor space, continuing a three-year trend of record-breaking numbers for the federation. The previous records of 965 companies and 22 776 m2 (245 155 net square feet) were set in 2006 when the event was held in Dallas. Now celebrating its 80th year, WEFTEC has not only grown in its technical scope but has become one of the largest annual water quality
October 2007
exhibitions in the world and shows no signs of slowing down, claims its organizer. ‘More and more companies are realizing that WEFTEC is the place to conduct business in the water and wastewater fields. This year alone we have had a 5% increase in the number of companies and a 9% rise in the amount of assigned floor space,’ said Nannette Tucker, Director of Sales. A wide range of topics in nine different focus areas allow attendees to design their own, unique learning experience while earning up to 35 contact hours for continuing education units and nine professional development hours, says WEF. Focus areas include membrane technologies, plant operations and treatment, regulations, utility management, water reuse and recycling, and water quality and watershed management. Contact: Water Environment Federation, 601 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1994, USA. Tel: +1-703-684-2552, www.wef.org
Canadian energy company selects GE’s technologies
E
nergy company Suncor Energy Incorporated has selected GE Water & Process Technologies’ membrane and boiler feed-water systems for its upgrader expansion project located in the Canadian oil sands, Fort McMurray, Alberta. The Suncor Energy site will install a twotrain water treatment system rated at 4.6 m3 (1220 gallons) per-minute, which includes GE ZeeWeed ultrafiltration (UF) membranes, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and sodium cycle softeners. GE’s boiler feed-water process is expected to help improve the expanded site’s up-time, water quality, cycle rates, water consumption, asset protection and operational costs. Suncor requires large amounts of high-quality water for steam generators that are used in upgrading naphtha, a component of synthetic crude oil. The firm’s planned naphtha treatment facility will draw water from the Athabasca River, which is susceptible to large variations in raw water quality. The company says that total suspended solids can rise as high as 3000 mg/l. GE claims that ZeeWeed UF membranes provide a robust and reliable method of handling such variations and can consistently outperform conventional clarifiers. Suncor plans to
In Brief Water filtration plant honoured by APWA The Columbia Heights Membrane Filtration Plant (see Membrane Technology March 2006, page 4) in Minnesota, USA, has been named a ‘Public Works Project of the Year’ by the American Public Works Association (APWA), according to a report in the US press. The plant, which uses ultrafiltration technology, removes impurities more effectively than required by emerging and increasingly stringent federal drinking-water standards. The facility, which processes up to 265 000 m3 (70 million gallons) of water per day, features high-tech and redundant security measures to protect the water supply in a new ‘post-9/11’ environment. Donaldson reports eighteenth consecutive earnings record US-based Donaldson Company Incorporated has reported its eighteenth consecutive year of record earnings. For fiscal 2007, earnings per share (EPS) were $1.83 – up 18% from $1.55 a year earlier. Net income increased by 14% to $150.7 million, compared with $132.3 million posted for the previous twelve-month period. Sales totalled $1.919 billion – up 13% from $1.694 billion in fiscal 2006. ‘We made great progress on the operating issues that impacted our results earlier in the year, delivering a 12.3% operating margin in the fourth quarter, and bringing our operating margin back to our 11% target for the full year,’ said Bill Cook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. The company’s advanced materials division – Donaldson Membranes – manufactures Tetratex expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membranes. Veolia Environnement agrees to acquire Thames Water businesses Veolia Water UK, a subsidiary of Veolia Water, the Water Division of Veolia Environnement, has successfully concluded negotiations with Thames Water for the acquisition of a number of unregulated business interests, at a price of around 115 million. Antoine Frérot, Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Water said: ‘This acquisition offers Veolia Water significant growth opportunities in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.’ Siemens opens water R&D centre in Singapore and appoints director Siemens Water Technologies recently opened its new Global Water Research and Development Center at the Public Utilities Board’s (PUB) WaterHub building in Singapore (see Membrane Technology February 2007, page 1). Dr Ruediger Knauf has been named director and will oversee Siemens’ research and development activities in the region. This is the first step towards the company’s previously announced 25-million investment in water technology research and product development in the Asia–Pacific region.
Membrane Technology
3