- Email: [email protected]
MDG on drinking water “almost there” says report
NEWS
In Brief
General Electric’s SeaTECH 84 sea-water reverse osmosis system can produce over 900 000 litres (200 000 gallons) of desalinated water per day.
With the commissioning of the Tarpum Bay/ Rock Sound Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant, there are now three GE water-treatment facilities on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera. Contact: GE Water & Process Technologies, 4636 Somerton Road, Trevose, PA 19053-6783, USA. Tel: +1 215 355 3300, www.gewater.com
Amiad awarded new project in Korea
W
ater treatment and filtration systems company Amiad Water Systems Ltd has entered into an agreement with one of South Korea’s largest steel factories for the next stage of a water filtration project. This new agreement is worth $2.85 million and is expected to be implemented in 2012. It follows the successful completion of the initial two phases of the project, valued at approximately $3 million, which were carried out between 2007 and 2011. As part of this project the company will install its micro-fibre filtration system in order to treat wastewater and protect the factory’s reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. Traditional methods use a large amount of chemicals and energy to pretreat the water, to remove dirt and other impurities, which are harmful to the RO membranes. Amiad says that its micro-fibre filtration process is chemical-free and polymer-free, and designed to provide continuous performance even under difficult water and weather conditions.
Contact: Amiad Water Systems Ltd, D.N. Galil Elyon 1, 12335 Israel. Tel: +972 4 690 9500, www.amiad.com
February 2012
MDG on drinking water “almost there” says report
U
NICEF and the World Health Organization have released a report showing that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of improving access to safe drinking water is likely to be achieved considerably ahead of the 2015 target date. ‘The good news is that almost 1.8 billion more people now have access to drinking water compared with the start of the 1990s. The bad news is that the poorest and most marginalised are being left behind,’ said Sanjay Wijesekera, who is UNICEF’s associate director, and water and sanitation chief. The report, entitled ‘Drinking Water Equity, Safety and Sustainability’, by the UNICEF/ WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, says that between 1990 and 2008, the proportion of the world’s population with access to improved drinking water sources increased from 77% to 87%. That means the world will soon meet the MDG target to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinkingwater. However, the report stresses, even though good progress has been made, at the current rate 672 million people will still not be using improved drinking water sources in 2015. According to the report, there are many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia, Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia that are not on track to meet the target despite progress. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, total access has significantly increased since 1990 – jumping from 49% to 60%, and reaching an additional 126 million people in urban and
Filtration Society issues a call for papers The Filtration Society has issued a call for papers for its Filter Testing and Characterisation Conference and Exhibition, which is scheduled to be held in Chester, UK, on 17–18 October 2012. Relevant to the conference programme are all aspects of testing and analysis associated with liquid and air (gas) filtration, including technical topics, standards and regulatory matters. Prospective authors are invited to submit a 250-word abstract of their planned paper for consideration by the scientific committee by 1 April 2012. This should be sent by email to Professor Richard Wakeman, the Honorary Secretary of The Filtration Society. More information: www.filtsoc.org Email: [email protected] ThermoEnergy completes installation of RO system for US military ThermoEnergy Corp, which specialises in wastewater recovery and power-generating technologies, has announced that it has completed the installation and testing of a reverse osmosis (RO) drinking-water plant for a major US military base at an undisclosed location in the Africa/Middle East region. The system pulls brackish water with high-solids content from wells that are influenced by volcanic contributions and sea-water intrusion, and processes it into safe, potable drinking-water. The system will serve military and civilian personnel as a permanent water source. Ahlstrom acquires a 49% stake in Porous Power Finland’s Ahlstrom Corp has purchased a 49% stake in US-based Porous Power Technologies Llc, the manufacturer of Symmetrix battery separators. The firms say that together they will commercialise a new generation of engineered battery separators for electric vehicles and other lithium-ion battery applications. ‘This partnership represents an important transition. We have moved from being a highly-promising technology developer to an established entity with the backing of a $2.5-billion global company,’ commented Tim Feaver, Chief Executive Officer, Porous Power. Porous Power says that its membrane technology is compatible with Ahlstrom’s nonwovens and opens up new areas for Ahlstrom beyond energy storage. Sartorius completes Biohit acquisition German process and laboratory technology provider Sartorius Group reports that it has successfully completed its acquisition of the liquid-handling business of Finnish laboratory supplier Biohit Oyj. ‘The liquid-handling business will make an important contribution to the growth strategy of our laboratory unit,’ commented Dr Joachim Kreuzburg, Chief Executive Officer, Sartorius Ag.
Membrane Technology
5
NEWS 111 million in rural areas. However, population growth has outstripped the progress to the extent that the actual number of people without access was greater in 2008 than it was in 1990. The report found that the richest 20% in sub-Saharan African countries are more than twice as likely to use an improved drinkingwater source as the poorest 20%. In addition, poor people in rural areas have the lowest access to safe drinking water, with the greatest burden of collecting water falling to women and girls. Globally, more than eight out of ten people without an improved drinking water source live in rural areas. However, the proportion of the rural population in developing regions using piped drinking-water on premises was still only 31% in 2008, up from 21% in 1990. In urban areas it went from 71% to 73% during the same period. This proves, says the report, that investment in water and sanitation is not being optimised – almost two-thirds of total official development assistance for drinking water and sanitation goes to the development of large urban systems. The report says that even when there is access to water, it is often not safe for drinking. Water quality surveys show that many improved drinking water sources – such as piped supplies, boreholes and protected wells – do not conform to WHO guidelines. On average, half of all protected dug wells may be contaminated, along with one-third of protected springs and boreholes. Climate change also poses threats to water infrastructure. The increasing frequency of droughts and floods could lead to a loss of functioning which would set back progress in drinking water supply, and affect other MDG targets. Investments should, therefore, be aimed at making systems and services more resilient in the face of extreme weather conditions. Contacts: UNICEF, UNICEF House, 3 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA. Tel: +1 212 326 7000, www.unicef.org World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 791 2111, www.who.int
Membrana unveils its latest high-pressure Liqui-Cel contactors
U
S-based Membrana-Charlotte recently added 8 x 40-inch and 8 x 80-inch Liqui-Cel membrane contac6
Membrane Technology
tors to its family of degassing products. This new product design uses ASME code-rated reverse osmosis (RO) vessels for contactor housings. These devices are both rated to 300 psi and use combined NPT and Victaulic connections on the shell-side to create a stacked system design that reduces system footprint and weight. Both contactors also use cartridges of polypropylene hollow-fibres inside the RO vessel. An individual 8 x 40 module has a processing rate of 5.7–28.4 m/h, while the 8 x 80 module can operate at 11.4–34.1 m/h. Multiple contactors can be piped together to handle higher flow rates. The use of the RO vessels makes system design simple and easy because the vessels are already familiar to operators, says the company. In addition, the reduced weight, small footprint and the ability to operate at a high pressure make these devices especially suited to sea-water degassing – specifically on offshore platforms. Other water degassing uses are being evaluated. Membrane contactors use thousands of Celgard microporous hollow fibres knitted into an array that is wound around a distribution tube with a central baffle. During operation, the liquid flows over the shell-side of the fibres. They use what is referred to as an ‘Extra-Flow’ baffle – in the middle of the contactor – which directs the liquid radially across the array. A strip gas or vacuum, either separately or in combination, is applied on the lumen side of the hollow fibres. Because of its hydrophobic nature the membrane acts as an inert support to enable direct contact between a gas and liquid phase without dispersion. The dissolved gas in the liquid travels through the pore structure by applying a higher pressure to the liquid stream relative to the gas stream. Contacts: Membrana-Charlotte, 13800 South Lakes Drive, Charlotte, NC 28273, USA. Tel: +1 704 587 8888, www.liquicel.com Polypore International Inc, 11430 N. Community House Road, Suite 350, Charlotte, NC 28277-1591, USA. Tel: +1 704 587 8409, www.polypore.net
launched the SIRTainty Class III HDAC assay for detection of sirtuin activity with increased sensitivity, flexibility and reliability. According to Millipore, the assay uses a novel, patent-pending technology for the sensitive detection of all known sirtuin family members. Unlike conventional assays, which are dependent on a single, pre-labelled fluorescent tagged substrate, this new assay employs untagged acetylated peptide substrates. This design enables unparalleled flexibility in the choice of sirtuin isoform and peptide substrate, and eliminates the potential for artefacts resulting from the use of artificial substrates containing bulky fluorophores, says the company. This product is ideal for a range of applications including: • assays of peptide substrate panels to determine enzyme-substrate specificity; • screening for sirtuin activators and inhibitors, and assessment of potency; • activity comparisons of sirtuin family members; and • enzyme kinetics studies. The assay offers a limit of detection as low as 0.16U of purified sirtuin – a sensitivity that is nearly five times greater than that of assays dependent on a fluorescent labelled substrate, says Millipore. This homogenous, no-wash, 96-well format minimises hands-on time, speeds up the overall workflow and can be completed in 90 minutes. ‘The SIRTainty assay enables researchers to reliably measure sirtuin activity using a wide variety of substrates and also greatly facilitates the discovery and characterisation of sirtuin modulating compounds,’ noted Dr Basil Hubbard, a research fellow at Harvard Medical School. ‘Previous assays have employed artificial substrates bearing large, bulky fluorophores, not found within the cell. This complication has made it difficult to translate LQYLWUR findings on activators/inhibitors to a cellular context. Because the SIRTainty assay uses native peptides, it can be used to study the effects of previously reported modulators, and to screen for new compounds in a more physiological manner.’
Assay is designed for sensitive detection of sirtuin activity
Contacts: EMD Millipore, 290 Concord Road, Billerica, MA 01821, USA. Tel: +1 978 715 4321, www.millipore.com
E
Merck KgaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany. Tel: +49 6151 720, www.merck.de
MD Millipore, the life science division of Germany’s Merck KgaA, has
February 2012
In Brief
General Electric’s SeaTECH 84 sea-water reverse osmosis system can produce over 900 000 litres (200 000 gallons) of desalinated water per day.
With the commissioning of the Tarpum Bay/ Rock Sound Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant, there are now three GE water-treatment facilities on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera. Contact: GE Water & Process Technologies, 4636 Somerton Road, Trevose, PA 19053-6783, USA. Tel: +1 215 355 3300, www.gewater.com
Amiad awarded new project in Korea
W
ater treatment and filtration systems company Amiad Water Systems Ltd has entered into an agreement with one of South Korea’s largest steel factories for the next stage of a water filtration project. This new agreement is worth $2.85 million and is expected to be implemented in 2012. It follows the successful completion of the initial two phases of the project, valued at approximately $3 million, which were carried out between 2007 and 2011. As part of this project the company will install its micro-fibre filtration system in order to treat wastewater and protect the factory’s reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. Traditional methods use a large amount of chemicals and energy to pretreat the water, to remove dirt and other impurities, which are harmful to the RO membranes. Amiad says that its micro-fibre filtration process is chemical-free and polymer-free, and designed to provide continuous performance even under difficult water and weather conditions.
Contact: Amiad Water Systems Ltd, D.N. Galil Elyon 1, 12335 Israel. Tel: +972 4 690 9500, www.amiad.com
February 2012
MDG on drinking water “almost there” says report
U
NICEF and the World Health Organization have released a report showing that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of improving access to safe drinking water is likely to be achieved considerably ahead of the 2015 target date. ‘The good news is that almost 1.8 billion more people now have access to drinking water compared with the start of the 1990s. The bad news is that the poorest and most marginalised are being left behind,’ said Sanjay Wijesekera, who is UNICEF’s associate director, and water and sanitation chief. The report, entitled ‘Drinking Water Equity, Safety and Sustainability’, by the UNICEF/ WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, says that between 1990 and 2008, the proportion of the world’s population with access to improved drinking water sources increased from 77% to 87%. That means the world will soon meet the MDG target to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinkingwater. However, the report stresses, even though good progress has been made, at the current rate 672 million people will still not be using improved drinking water sources in 2015. According to the report, there are many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia, Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia that are not on track to meet the target despite progress. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, total access has significantly increased since 1990 – jumping from 49% to 60%, and reaching an additional 126 million people in urban and
Filtration Society issues a call for papers The Filtration Society has issued a call for papers for its Filter Testing and Characterisation Conference and Exhibition, which is scheduled to be held in Chester, UK, on 17–18 October 2012. Relevant to the conference programme are all aspects of testing and analysis associated with liquid and air (gas) filtration, including technical topics, standards and regulatory matters. Prospective authors are invited to submit a 250-word abstract of their planned paper for consideration by the scientific committee by 1 April 2012. This should be sent by email to Professor Richard Wakeman, the Honorary Secretary of The Filtration Society. More information: www.filtsoc.org Email: [email protected] ThermoEnergy completes installation of RO system for US military ThermoEnergy Corp, which specialises in wastewater recovery and power-generating technologies, has announced that it has completed the installation and testing of a reverse osmosis (RO) drinking-water plant for a major US military base at an undisclosed location in the Africa/Middle East region. The system pulls brackish water with high-solids content from wells that are influenced by volcanic contributions and sea-water intrusion, and processes it into safe, potable drinking-water. The system will serve military and civilian personnel as a permanent water source. Ahlstrom acquires a 49% stake in Porous Power Finland’s Ahlstrom Corp has purchased a 49% stake in US-based Porous Power Technologies Llc, the manufacturer of Symmetrix battery separators. The firms say that together they will commercialise a new generation of engineered battery separators for electric vehicles and other lithium-ion battery applications. ‘This partnership represents an important transition. We have moved from being a highly-promising technology developer to an established entity with the backing of a $2.5-billion global company,’ commented Tim Feaver, Chief Executive Officer, Porous Power. Porous Power says that its membrane technology is compatible with Ahlstrom’s nonwovens and opens up new areas for Ahlstrom beyond energy storage. Sartorius completes Biohit acquisition German process and laboratory technology provider Sartorius Group reports that it has successfully completed its acquisition of the liquid-handling business of Finnish laboratory supplier Biohit Oyj. ‘The liquid-handling business will make an important contribution to the growth strategy of our laboratory unit,’ commented Dr Joachim Kreuzburg, Chief Executive Officer, Sartorius Ag.
Membrane Technology
5
NEWS 111 million in rural areas. However, population growth has outstripped the progress to the extent that the actual number of people without access was greater in 2008 than it was in 1990. The report found that the richest 20% in sub-Saharan African countries are more than twice as likely to use an improved drinkingwater source as the poorest 20%. In addition, poor people in rural areas have the lowest access to safe drinking water, with the greatest burden of collecting water falling to women and girls. Globally, more than eight out of ten people without an improved drinking water source live in rural areas. However, the proportion of the rural population in developing regions using piped drinking-water on premises was still only 31% in 2008, up from 21% in 1990. In urban areas it went from 71% to 73% during the same period. This proves, says the report, that investment in water and sanitation is not being optimised – almost two-thirds of total official development assistance for drinking water and sanitation goes to the development of large urban systems. The report says that even when there is access to water, it is often not safe for drinking. Water quality surveys show that many improved drinking water sources – such as piped supplies, boreholes and protected wells – do not conform to WHO guidelines. On average, half of all protected dug wells may be contaminated, along with one-third of protected springs and boreholes. Climate change also poses threats to water infrastructure. The increasing frequency of droughts and floods could lead to a loss of functioning which would set back progress in drinking water supply, and affect other MDG targets. Investments should, therefore, be aimed at making systems and services more resilient in the face of extreme weather conditions. Contacts: UNICEF, UNICEF House, 3 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA. Tel: +1 212 326 7000, www.unicef.org World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 791 2111, www.who.int
Membrana unveils its latest high-pressure Liqui-Cel contactors
U
S-based Membrana-Charlotte recently added 8 x 40-inch and 8 x 80-inch Liqui-Cel membrane contac6
Membrane Technology
tors to its family of degassing products. This new product design uses ASME code-rated reverse osmosis (RO) vessels for contactor housings. These devices are both rated to 300 psi and use combined NPT and Victaulic connections on the shell-side to create a stacked system design that reduces system footprint and weight. Both contactors also use cartridges of polypropylene hollow-fibres inside the RO vessel. An individual 8 x 40 module has a processing rate of 5.7–28.4 m/h, while the 8 x 80 module can operate at 11.4–34.1 m/h. Multiple contactors can be piped together to handle higher flow rates. The use of the RO vessels makes system design simple and easy because the vessels are already familiar to operators, says the company. In addition, the reduced weight, small footprint and the ability to operate at a high pressure make these devices especially suited to sea-water degassing – specifically on offshore platforms. Other water degassing uses are being evaluated. Membrane contactors use thousands of Celgard microporous hollow fibres knitted into an array that is wound around a distribution tube with a central baffle. During operation, the liquid flows over the shell-side of the fibres. They use what is referred to as an ‘Extra-Flow’ baffle – in the middle of the contactor – which directs the liquid radially across the array. A strip gas or vacuum, either separately or in combination, is applied on the lumen side of the hollow fibres. Because of its hydrophobic nature the membrane acts as an inert support to enable direct contact between a gas and liquid phase without dispersion. The dissolved gas in the liquid travels through the pore structure by applying a higher pressure to the liquid stream relative to the gas stream. Contacts: Membrana-Charlotte, 13800 South Lakes Drive, Charlotte, NC 28273, USA. Tel: +1 704 587 8888, www.liquicel.com Polypore International Inc, 11430 N. Community House Road, Suite 350, Charlotte, NC 28277-1591, USA. Tel: +1 704 587 8409, www.polypore.net
launched the SIRTainty Class III HDAC assay for detection of sirtuin activity with increased sensitivity, flexibility and reliability. According to Millipore, the assay uses a novel, patent-pending technology for the sensitive detection of all known sirtuin family members. Unlike conventional assays, which are dependent on a single, pre-labelled fluorescent tagged substrate, this new assay employs untagged acetylated peptide substrates. This design enables unparalleled flexibility in the choice of sirtuin isoform and peptide substrate, and eliminates the potential for artefacts resulting from the use of artificial substrates containing bulky fluorophores, says the company. This product is ideal for a range of applications including: • assays of peptide substrate panels to determine enzyme-substrate specificity; • screening for sirtuin activators and inhibitors, and assessment of potency; • activity comparisons of sirtuin family members; and • enzyme kinetics studies. The assay offers a limit of detection as low as 0.16U of purified sirtuin – a sensitivity that is nearly five times greater than that of assays dependent on a fluorescent labelled substrate, says Millipore. This homogenous, no-wash, 96-well format minimises hands-on time, speeds up the overall workflow and can be completed in 90 minutes. ‘The SIRTainty assay enables researchers to reliably measure sirtuin activity using a wide variety of substrates and also greatly facilitates the discovery and characterisation of sirtuin modulating compounds,’ noted Dr Basil Hubbard, a research fellow at Harvard Medical School. ‘Previous assays have employed artificial substrates bearing large, bulky fluorophores, not found within the cell. This complication has made it difficult to translate LQYLWUR findings on activators/inhibitors to a cellular context. Because the SIRTainty assay uses native peptides, it can be used to study the effects of previously reported modulators, and to screen for new compounds in a more physiological manner.’
Assay is designed for sensitive detection of sirtuin activity
Contacts: EMD Millipore, 290 Concord Road, Billerica, MA 01821, USA. Tel: +1 978 715 4321, www.millipore.com
E
Merck KgaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany. Tel: +49 6151 720, www.merck.de
MD Millipore, the life science division of Germany’s Merck KgaA, has
February 2012