pdf-09-2010

SEPTEMBER 2010

PLUS:

Marketplace Tenders & Contracts Classifieds Events Watch

APPLYING THOUGHT TO WATER IN THE MIDDLE EAST

ON THE RECORD

• Dave Tredinnick, President, Emerson Process Management, Middle East & Africa

AUTOMATION SPECIAL

• Advanced process automation at Tlemcen-Honaine desalination plant • SCADA-facilitated data analysis helps plug water leakage

FEATURES

• Mapping the underworld • Advantage UV

NEWS

• Tunisia announces desal programme • Siemens awarded Yanbu water treatment contract • Ultrasound cleaning improves membrane efficiency

Water Analysis •

Rapid Results

•

Analytical Notes

Legionella detection just got quicker

The significance, methods and instruments of water analysis Visit our website at www.h2ome.net

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ

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Celebrating the outstanding achievements of MENA Water Sector

25th of November 2010 Atlantis The Palm, Dubai H20 Water Awards will be presented to outstanding nominations in the following categories: • Best Water Project • Best Waste-Water Project • Innovative Use / Application of Technology

• Water Efficiency Leader • Build Water • Best Water Consultancy

• Water / Energy Nexus • Best Facility Manager - Water • Water Communications & Marketing

GOLD SPONSORS:

To submit your nominations, please visit www.h2ome.net/awards For event enquiries, contact: Deep Karani (Events & Marketing Manager) Tel: +971 4 375 6839 GSM: +971 50 8585 905 E-mail: deep@cpi-industry.com

For sponsorships enquiries, contact: Vedran Dedic (Group Sales Director) Tel: +971 4 375 6834 GSM: +971 55 8644831 E-mail: vedran@cpi-industry.com

CONTENTS

applying thought to water in the middle east SEPTEMBER 2010 COVER STORY

Water Analysis • Rapid Results Legionella detection just got quicker • Analytical Notes The significance, methods and instruments of water analysis

06 Happenings

• Round Up • The Region • At Large

20 MARKET PLACE 22 ON THE RECORD

Dave Tredinnick, President, Emerson Process Management, Middle East & Africa

AUTOMATION SPECIAL 32 CASE STUDY Total control Process automation played a key role in ensuring operational efficiency, safety and reliability at the 200,000m3/day TlemcenHonaine desalination plant 34 SCADA Data to the rescue How advanced detection techniques, relying on data analysis, can plug leakages in water transmission and distribution mains

24 07

10

14

22

FEATURES

36 Advantage UV

A case for wastewater re-use using ultraviolet (UV) disinfection technology 38 Mapping the underworld A UK-based initiative is aiming to develop tools that will achieve complete location, positioning and digital recording of buried utilities

42 TENDERS & CONTRACTS 45 CLASSIFIEDS 46 EVENTS WATCH

SEPTEMBER 2010

PLUS:

Marketplace Tenders & Contracts Events Watch

APPLYING THOUGH T TO WATER IN MIDDLE EAST THE

ON THE RECORD

• Dave Tredinnick, Presiden t, Emerson Process Management Middle East & Africa

AUTOMATION SPECIA

Did you know that H2O is also available electronically? Get a digitised copy of the magazine before the issue goes for print!

As a bonus, the digital version includes such features as a keyword search, annotation, highlight, note-making and hot links.

For more details, please access www.cpi-industry.com/digital

L • Advanced process automat Tlemcen-Honaine desalination at ion plant • SCADA-facilitated data analysis helps plug water leakage FEATURES

• Mapping the underwo rld • Advantage UV

NEWS

• Tunisia announces desal programme • Siemens awarded Yanbu water treatment contract • Ultrasound cleaning improves membrane efficiency

Water Analysis •

•

Rapid Results

(Zinio is a digital publishing firm based in the USA.)

Legionella detectio

Analytical Notes

Get the next issue of H2O early!

n just got quicker

The significance, method s and instruments of water analysis, control and monitor ing PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ

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4

SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

Publisher Dominic De Sousa Managing Director & Associate Publisher Frédéric Paillé • fred@cpi-industry.com Editorial Director & Associate Publisher B Surendar • surendar@cpi-industry.com Editor Anoop K Menon • anoop@cpi-industry.com Sales Director Vedran Dedic • vedran@cpi-industry.com Events & Marketing Manager Deep Karani • deep@cpi-industry.com Design Rey Delante • rey@cpi-industry.com Ulysses Galgo • uly@cpi-industry.com Webmaster Troy Maagma • troy@cpidubai.com Database/Subscriptions Manager Purwanti Srirejeki | purwanti@cpi-industry.com ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Frédéric Paillé: +971 50 7147204 fred@cpi-industry.com Vedran Dedic: +971 50 3756834 vedran@cpi-industry.com Euro Zone and UK Joseph Quinn, HORSESHOE MEDIA Tel: +44 (0)20 8687 4139 Fax: +44 (0)20 8687 4130 Marshall House, 124 Middleton Road Morden, Surrey, SM4 6RW, UK North America Rakesh Saxena, CPI INDUSTRY North America Branch Tel: +1 905 890 5031 Fax: +1 905 890 5031 GSM: +1 416 841 5050 rakesh@cpi-industry.com Published by

Head Office PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 3756830 Fax: +971 4 4341906 Web: www.cpi-industry.com Printed by: Excel Printing Press, Sharjah, UAE © Copyright 2010 CPI. All rights reserved.

While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

Power & Water Conference & Exhibition 4-6 October 2010 Qatar International Exhibition Centre, Doha, Qatar www.power-gen-middleeast.com

Under the Patronage of His Excellency Mr. Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy & Industry

New Solutions for the Region’s

Power & Water Challenges INVITATION TO ATTEND POWER-GEN Middle East is the region’s premier event dedicated to the water and power industries of the Gulf region and has a reputation for providing the best networking opportunities available in the Middle East.

Informative Conference Its leading conference programme covers strategic and technical water and power issues across the Middle East and aims to enhance dialogue for developing solutions to the region’s issues.

Speakers Include: Frank Wouters Chief Executive, Masdar Power, UAE

Yousuf Ahmed Janahi Manager Corporate Planning & Business Development, Kahramaa, Qatar

Dr. Abdulmajeed Ali Al-Awadhi Chief Executive, Bahrain Electricity & Water Authority, Bahrain

Leading Exhibition Discover new ideas, technologies and developments at the leading exhibition for the water and power industry and Source the latest products and services from leading companies and suppliers from around the world.

If you are involved in water and power industries and are looking to increase your business and knowledge in the region, POWER-GEN Middle East is the must attend event.

Use Promotional Code When Registering: H2O-02 For exhibition opening hours. full conference programme, exhibitors, products and services and to register online visit www.power-gen-middleeast.com Owned and Produced By:

Co-Host:

Flagship Media Sponsors:

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Supporting Regional Publication: Middle East

Happenings > ROUND up Tunisia plans three desalination plants The Tunisian Water Distribution Utility (SONEDE) will build three desalination plants in the southern region of Gabes, reports the Tunisian Press Agency. The project, which will be

Tunisia hopes to double its desalination capacity to 200,000 m3/day by 2014

TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION

6

launched in 2011, will cost an estimated Tunisian Dinars 14 million (about $11. 5 million) and will supply Zarrat, Matmata and Menzel Habib with drinking water.

Earlier this month, SONEDE awarded a €70-million contract for the building of a second Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination plant on the island of Djerba to the Tunisian-Spanish Group Princesse Befesa. The plant is expected to be the country’s largest desalination facility. The water utility company, which operates four plants in southern Tunisia, has also launched an international tender for brackish water and desalination plants in the southern areas of Medenine, Tozeur, Gafsa, Sidi Bouzid, Gabes and Kebili. About 86% of Tunisia’s fresh water resources are situated in the north of the country. In order to meet the growing demands of the population in the drier, arid and semi-arid southern regions, the government has set up a plan to develop unconventional resources by reusing wastewater and desalinating seawater and brackish water. The country hopes to double its desalination capacity to 200,000 m3/day by 2014 against 103,000 m3/day, currently.

DESAL COSTS

Water supply in Jeddah up

UAE spends Dh11.8 billion on desalination

The National Water Company (NWC) has managed to increase water supply to different districts in Jeddah from 850,000 m3/day to nearly a million cubic metres a day, reports The Saudi Gazette. NWC said that 60% of the city’s areas are now receiving an uninterrupted supply of water. The increase in water supply has been made possible through Saline Water Conversion Corporation’s (SWCC) Al-Shu’aibah desalination plant, which supplies 150,000m3/day to the Jeddah governorate. The total quantity of water pumped through the Jeddah network ranges between 900,000 and 950,000m3/day.

The UAE spends nearly Dh11.8 billion per year on the production of desalinated water, the semi-official Arabic language daily, Al Ittihad has reported. The english version of the report, published in the online business daily Emirates Business 24/7, quoted Dr Mariam Al Shenasi, a spokesperson for the UAE Ministry of Water & Environment as saying that UAE has nearly 70 desalination plants, accounting for around 14% of the world’s total output of desalinated water. “The costs of production of desalinated water in the UAE are estimated at Dh11.8 billion annually, an average Dh7.16 per cubic metre,” she said. Her figures showed Abu Dhabi, the main oil producer

SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

DESAL COSTS

in the UAE, accounts for nearly 67% of the country’s desalination capacity, followed by Dubai at 18%, Sharjah at 10% with the rest accounted for by other emirates.

DAMS Saudi Arabia to build more dams Saudi Arabia’s Beesh Dam, one of the largest in the kingdom, currently holds nearly 150 million cubic metres of water (equivalent to the five-year output of a desalination plant) following heavy rains, reported Arab News, quoting the Saudi Water and Electricity Minister, Abdullah Al-Hussayen. The minister also revealed that plans are being drawn up to construct more dams to increase the total capacity of dams to 1.5 billion cubic metres annually. At present, there are nearly 250 dams in the country with a storage capacity of about one billion cubic metres. The Beesh Dam, which is located 33 kilometres southeast of Beesh in Jazan, is the highest dam in the Kingdom with a height of 106 metres, and can hold 192.75 million cubic metres of water. Interestingly, Saudi Arabia occupies the fourth position in the Middle East in terms of number of dams, after Turkey, Iran and Syria.

WATER CONSERVATION Doha Marriott initiative to cut water wastage Doha Marriott Hotel is set to launch an environment-friendly laundry facility, which promises to cut water consumption by 10 litres per kilogramme of fabric, reports The Peninsula. Saeid Heidari, General Manager, Doha Marriott Hotel, said, “For years we have been running one of the largest laundry facilities in town. To keep up with the growing demand, a new facility will be opened in association with Qatar National Hotels, most probably by October. The new facility has been established with a long-term view of protecting the environment.” The existing laundry unit at Marriott receives approximately 25,000-kilogrammes of cloth equalling 60,000 pieces of fabric. The new facility has the capacity to handle 70,000kilogrammes, and uses just five litres of water instead of the current 15-20 litres,

was first designed to serve a population of 50,000. The effluent lake has been drained and the wastewater is being managed at the new site pending completion of the new treatment plant. The NGEST is the fourth in a series of water and sanitation projects supported by the World Bank, through the Trust Fund for Gaza and West Bank, since 1993. World Bank contribution to the project has totalled $26.8 million.

thereby saving 10 litres per kilogramme. In terms of electricity too, the new facility will reduce existing electricity consumption by 35-50%.

PROJECTS Doosan bags Ras Azzour project Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction has been awarded a $1.46-billion contract for building a desalination plant by Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC).

Under the contract, the company will build a 1.025 million m3/day desalination plant at Ras Azzour, on the Gulf coast. The desalinated water will be supplied to the Saudi capital Riyadh. The plant, claimed to be the world’s largest, would be completed in January 2014, Doosan said in a statement on the Korea Stock Exchange. The project will be a hybrid of evaporation (727,000 m³/ day) and reverse osmosis (307,000 m³/day).

SEWA commissions new desal capacity Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) has announced the commissioning of a new Reverse Osmosis (RO)-based 3MGPD desalination unit in Kalba. Eng. Rashid Ibrahim Demas, Deputy Director General of SEWA, said his organisation was carrying out water and electricity improvement projects in the Eastern Region to meet growing demand for these services due to urban and demographic expansion. Eng. Muza Al Za’abi, head of operations at Kalba station, said the construction of the unit, which started in November 2007, cost Dh29.6 million while the turbines cost Dh39 million. She continued, “Trial operation commenced in May 2010 after a new reservoir was built in January 2010 at a total cost of Dh7.4 million. The pumping of water from the Kalba station will increase to 24 hours from 17 hours.

The new unit will secure water to the city up to 2020.”

Empower adopts water recycling Emirates Central Cooling Corporation (Empower), the largest

DWEER units for Salalah IWPP

Ahmad Bin Shafar

district cooling service provider in the region, has announced adoption of a world class innovative system in water recycling to reuse the chilled water several times.

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, said: “Empower accords high priority to preserving water resources through reducing the consumption of water used in providing district cooling services to its clients. The Executive Council in Dubai has ordered all district cooling companies in the emirate not to use desalinated water in its operations and to use seawater and recycled sewage water instead. This aims at conserving the energy resources of the Emirate for sustainable development.”

More funds for North Gaza STP The World Bank Board of Directors has approved additional financing grant of $7 million for the North Gaza Emergency Sewage Treatment (NGEST) project. The grant will support the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant under the second phase of the project and will provide a long-term solution to the treatment of wastewater in the Northern Governorate of Gaza. The project benefits a population of about 250,000 people living in the communities of Jabalya, Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Um Al Nasser. The primary objective of the first phase of the project was to mitigate the immediate health and environmental safety threats to the communities surrounding the effluent lake at the old Beit Lahiya wastewater treatment plant that

Flowserve has received an order for CALDER Dual Work Exchanger Energy-Recovery (DWEER) units from Hydrochem, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyflux. The DWEER energy-recovery systems will be used in the Salalah Independent Water and Power Plant (Salalah IWPP) in Oman to recover energy from the high-pressure brine stream in the seawater reverseosmosis (SWRO) process. The Salalah IWPP, which consists of a 445 MW gasfired power plant and a 68,000 m3/day SWRO desalination plant, is expected to begin full commercial operation in the first half of 2012. “Flowserve was selected for this project because of the energy efficiency of the CALDER DWEER technology,” said Tom Ferguson, president, Flow Solutions Group. “This Flowserve technology can help reduce energy consumption and emissions, allowing our customers to efficiently meet global demand for fresh water.”

Norit bags order for China’s private desal project Norit X-Flow has been selected to supply the ultra-filtration (UF) pre-treatment technology for the Qingdao Desalination Project facility.

Qingdao is the second largest commercial port in northern China, located in the Shandong Province along the Yellow Sea. The desalination plant is designed to process 100,000 m3/day, which is enough to supply drinking water for a population of 500,000 people. The plant uses Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology with Norit’s UF membrane pre-treatment. Norit X-Flow is the first membrane manufacturer to supply a membrane specifically designed to pretreat seawater. The Qingdao Desalination Project marks the first privately financed www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

7

Happenings > ROUND up desalination facility in China, with funding provided entirely by local banks. The project is expected to be commissioned in 2012. Norit X-Flow will supply Norit X-Flow SEAGUARD UF technology that uses Norit SMART intelligence control for system optimisation. The Qingdao plant will contain 2,280 SEAGUARD membrane modules arranged on 20 skids, each with a 120 UF module configuration.

World Bank loan for Morocco IBRD has signed an agreement with Morocco for two loans for a cumulative amount of $218 million equivalent to improve access to water supply and expand wastewater systems in the North African country. The objective of the Regional Potable Water Supply Systems project (MAD1,740 million supported by a $175 million equivalent IBRD Loan) is to increase access to potable water supply for selected local communities in the provinces of Nador, Driouch, Safi, Youssoufia, Sidi Bennour and Errachidia. The project will finance significant infrastructure investments in water supply production, transmission and distribution systems to meet the growing needs of urban and rural populations in the six targeted provinces. The ‘Oum Er Rbia’ Sanitation project (MAD569 million supported by a $43 million equivalent IBRD Loan) has two objectives: first, to increase access to sewerage services and reduce wastewater-related pollution in selected towns of the Oum Er Rbia river basin, and second, pilot non-conventional technologies for wastewater collection and treatment and the implementation of gap filling measures required for the use of Morocco’s Environmental and Social framework for Bank’s funded project.

QEWC’s new desal plant on track Ras Abu Fontas A1 will begin operation soon, reports The Peninsula. Located adjacent to the Ras Abu Fontas A station, RAF A1 station will have a capacity of 45 MIGD. Data provided by QEWC indicate that its power generation capacity would reach 5461MW and water desalination will reach 248 MIGD with 8

SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

the completion of plants now under construction. The company commenced operations by owning and managing Ras Abu Fontas Station-B, which has an hourly design output capacity of 60MW of power and 33 MIGD of water.

The electricity and water produced at the station is sold to Kahramaa (Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation). In 2003, the company acquired Dukhan Desalination Station (2 MIGD), which was previously owned by Qatar Petroleum. In the last 10 years, the company increased its output capacity by regularly developing and expanding its stations. They include 376.5MW of electricity at Ras Abu Fontas Station-B1, 567MW of electricity and 30 MIGD of water at Ras Abu Fontas Station-B2 and 45 MIGD of water at Ras Abu Fontas Station-A1.

NUCLEAR DESALINATION AEHI CEO urges wider use of nuclear desalination Don Gillispie, CEO of Alternate Energy Holdings, an Idaho-based developer of large-scale nuclear and green energy projects, including nuclear power plants and nuclear desalination reactors, has called for wider deployment of nuclear desalination reactors. He said, “As per United Nations data, the world is in the midst of a water crisis with one in six people worldwide without sufficient amounts of fresh water. The worldwide fresh water crisis, which is expected to outstrip supply by 2025, could be helped significantly by using desalination systems powered by commercial nuclear reactors.

Seawater desalination, as an alternative source of fresh water, has been used primarily with fossil plants around the world, but until now there hasn’t been a pairing of large commercial nuclear reactors with desalination systems.

Nuclear-powered desalination not only provides more affordable fresh clean water, but also excess electricity and carbon credits.” Gillispie’s AEHI subsidiary Green World Water plans to produce and market one of the world’s first large commercial nuclear desalination reactors. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a recent report stating that 2.3 billion

people live in water-stressed regions.

“Lack of fresh water greatly constrains a country’s development in all respects.

Nuclear desalination, thus, becomes a popular solution,” the IAEA report emphasised.

R&D Helping water quality engineers optimise Water quality engineers seeking the most appropriate way to assure water quality standards can get easyto-follow, step-by-step instructions on how to select the best-suited local or global optimisation routines, from the Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG) Library, by making use of the Decision Trees for optimisation (http://www. nag.com/market/techtip027.asp). The NAG Decision Trees are part of the documentation for one of the most rigorously tested and documented sets of optimisation routines and other mathematical and statistical algorithms in the world, collected into the Numerical Algorithms Group Library (http://www.nag.com/numeric/ numerical_libraries.asp). The NAG Library of routines, including the optimisation chapters, can be called from diverse environments such as C++, Fortran, MATLAB and R. Dr David Sayers, a Principal Technical Consultant at NAG commenting on the complexities of selecting optimisation algorithms, said: “For maximum efficiency, different algorithms should be used for a different problem types. Often, these types are characterised by the type of objective function – that is to be minimised or maximised – and by the types of constraints that are to be applied. Objective functions might be linear, quadratic (positivedefinite or indefinite) or nonlinear. They may have a special form, like a sum of squares. They may be sparse or dense and they may be smooth or discontinuous.

Combine these with the options for constraints: none, simple bound, linear or genuine nonlinear and we can see that a comprehensive chapter of optimisation routines can be very large. To help the user to choose the right routine decision trees are invaluable.”

...WHO, WHERE, WHEN, WHY & HOW OF THE MIDDLE EAST POWER INDUSTRY www.megawhatme.com

Tel: +971 4 3756830 • Fax: +971 4 4341906 www.cpi-industry.com

Happenings > the region

On schedule

DEWA raises Station M desalination capacity, completes 82% of new water network project

H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer

DEWA has increased the electricity and desalination capacity of Station M, installing two units of water desalination units and an auxiliary boiler during the second quarter of 2010. H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said, “During the second quarter of this year, two water desalination units have come into service with a production capacity of 17.5 million gallons each, in addition to one assisting boiler.” On the power side, two gas turbines have come into service with production capacity of 200MW each. Al Tayer pointed out that Station M is one of DEWA’s biggest projects, with a power production capacity of 2,000MW and desalination capacity of 140MIGD. “This station constitutes a basic pillar of DEWA’s production capacity,” he added.

The remaining months of this year will witness the commissioning of two more gas turbines with total production capacity of 400MW, in addition to two desalination units with total production capacity of 35 million gallons, and four auxiliary boilers as well.

DEWA has also reported significant progress in its water network expansion 10

SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

project, which involves setting up a 59-kilometre-long pipeline network to serve Al Barsha South, Wadi Al Safa, Nad Al Sheba, Ras Al Khor and Nad Al Hamr areas. Al Tayer said, “We have completed 48.458 kilometres of water pipelines so far, accounting for 82% of the project target. The work on the project began in June 2008, and we expect to complete the work by February 14, 2011.” The project includes laying 1,200-mm diameter water transport pipelines at an estimated total cost of Dh450 million.

Al Tayer said the peak load of electricity increased this year to 9.6%, while the maximum demand for water touched 5.9%. In 2009, DEWA’s desalination capacity stood at 330MIGD compared to 275MIGD in 2008.

Other initiatives launched last month include a ‘Key Account Management’ section, which includes VIP customers’ unit. The new service aims to strengthen the strategic partnerships with DEWA’s major stakeholders through the allocation of dedicated account managers to speed up processes and provide high-quality services.

Another announcement was making the DEWA website compatible with mobile phones. DEWA provides 118 different types of electronic services (informational, procedural, and interactive).

126.47 USD million. World Bank funding to Tunisia for water and environment projects Source: World Bank

20

Per cent. Jeddah water supply lost in leaks

Source: National Water Company

86.2

Billion cubic metres. Egypt’s water demand by 2017 against resources of 71.4 billion cubic metres Source: tsehainy.com

7.16

Dirhams per m3. Average production cost from the UAE’s 70 seawater desalination plants

Source: Water Desalination Repor t

"We have completed 48.458 kilometres of water pipelines so far, accounting for 82% of the project target"

2.85

USD million. Damages to be paid by Chevron for the restoration of 200-plus acres of San Francisco Bay wetlands Source: Associated Press

Maximum water Siemens to provide demineralisation and condensatepolishing equipment for Marafiq’s Yanbu power Plant Hanwha Engineering & Construction (HENC) of Korea has selected Siemens to provide demineralisation equipment and condensate polishing systems for Marafiq’s new power plant in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. The new plant will allow Marafiq to increase its power-generation capacity to better serve industries based in the cities of Yanbu and Jubail. The multi-million dollar water treatment systems are scheduled for start-up in 2011.

The steam generator’s (boiler) turbines at the Yanbu plant requires water that is essentially free of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), so that the equipment will not become corroded, scaled or fouled.

Three Siemens mixed-bed demineraliser systems will polish desalinated water from the Red Sea to boiler feed-water quality before it is fed to the plant’s boilers.

Demineralisation with ion exchangers is an electrochemical batch process for removing TDS from water.

Further, when the steam from the boiler cools, condensate is formed, which can be collected and reused as boiler feed. However, prior

water. Four high-pressure spherical to reuse, the condensate must be purified condensate polishers with the Fullsep or ‘polished’ to remove impurities. external regeneration system will remove Condensate-polishing systems, also impurities such as metal oxides, trace referred to as deep-bed systems, use strong-acid and strong-base ion exchange ionic contaminants and silica from the condensate cycle to produce very high quality CST-2052 resins H2O to Mag 4.72x7.09 4/27/10 10:57 AM Page 1 maximise water

What do you want to know about Storage Tanks?

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With over 100 years of storage manufacturing experience, CST Industries has the information, know-how and practical advice you need. When you’re ready to begin the planning process, to consider tank selection, to prepare project budgets or to prepare specifications for bidding, we can help.

Before you make a decision, make us your go-to resource for storage tank information. To receive factual, explanatory “Think Tank” bulletins, register online at www.tanks.com or call your CST sales professional today.

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11

Happenings > the region use and improve and maintain boiler chemistry.

When the mixed-bed resin capacity is used up, the ‘spent’ resin will be transferred to the three-vessel external system for separation, backwashing and regeneration. Deep-bed condensate polishers are typically used in applications

where the feed water contains very low levels of TDS and where the power plant may have minor condenser leaks.

The equipment for the power plant in Yanbu will be designed, engineered and manufactured by Siemens in Singapore.

HENC chose Siemens’ Fullsep external regeneration system, because it offers

minimum cross-contamination levels of the anion and cation resin and thus, ensures efficient resin regeneration for consistent water quality. The consistent performance of the condensate polisher system extends the life of the power plant and makes it more sustainable by reusing the return condensate.

ACWA Power enters Oman

Leading Saudi developer acquires 58% stake in Oman’s Barka 1 IWPP

Barka 1 is ACWA Power’s first venture outside Saudi Arabia and is also its first step towards planned internationalisation of operations

ACWA Power International, the Saudi Arabia-based developer, owner and operator of power generation and desalination plants, has purchased a 58% stake in the Barka 1 Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) in Oman based on a share-purchase agreement with The AES Corporation, IDB Infrastructure Fund and their subsidiaries. The remaining stake in Barka 1 IWPP is owned by Multitech at seven per cent, while the other 35% is publicly owned as shares floated in the Muscat Security Market.

Last December, ACWA Power had announced the winning of the bid for Barka 1 IWPP in Oman, subject to customary stakeholder and regulatory approvals. It had competed with developer consortia from around the world for the Omani water and power production facility. The bidding culminated with final bids submitted

by ACWA Power and two other bidders representing a consortia of international water and power companies. ACWA beat rival bids from Qatar Water 12

SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

and Electricity Company, Oman Oil, International Power, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company. and a fund by ADICUBS, Reuters had reported.

Having received all the required approvals, including that of Oman’s Authority for Electricity Regulation, the lenders of the project’s finance facility, and the Capital Markets Authority, Oman, the acquisition transaction was completed after transfer of funds to the sellers and in parallel transfer of ownership to the purchasers in August.

Paddy Padmanathan, ACWA Power’s President & CEO, said: “We are delighted to add this asset into our portfolio and to take the first step beyond our home country. We are even more pleased to welcome the team of 60 professionals of whom more than half are Omani citizens, who are all currently managing this enterprise and operating and

Barka 1 IWPP, which is located 60 kilometres northwest of Muscat, can deliver 456MW of power and 91,000 m3/day of desalinated water

maintaining this facility, into the expanding team at ACWA Power and its operation and maintenance subsidiary companies.”

Oman follows a single buyer model and thus, Oman Power & Water Procurement Company is the off-taker of both power and water. Barka 1 IWPP, which is located 60 kilometres northwest of Muscat, can deliver 456MW to the Oman Electricity grid and 91,000 m3/day of desalinated water. The plant is connected and exports to the North Oman Grid; however, the power predominantly is consumed in the Muscat Governorate. It is equipped with dual fuel capability, with natural gas being the main fuel and diesel fuel oil as a back-up.

ACWA Power’s entry to the Oman market with Barka 1 IWPP is the first step of the company’s strategy to internationalise its business by building on the solid foundation of successes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Padmanathan continued: “Having achieved the objectives we set for the first five years of building a team and assembling a world-class portfolio of projects producing over 6,000MW of electricity and 2.3 million m3/day of desalinated water, we are now embarking on our next five-year plan, which is founded on our proven ability to reliably dispatch water and power.”

He emphasised that Barka 1 IWPP is important to ACWA Power’s ambitious but well-defined target of growing its asset base to 30,000MW gross contracted capacity of power and five million cubic metres per day of gross desalinated water by the year 2014.

Phase one of Watersavers on target Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) successfully installs 76,494 water-saving devices in the Tourist Club area

Watersaver installer van

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has announced it is on target for phase one of its Watersavers Campaign.

EAD’s team has so far installed 76,494 water-saving aerators in 4,563 apartments, commercial buildings, hotels, offices and in a hospital and a mosque in Abu Dhabi’s Tourist Club Area, according to figures for the first four weeks of the campaign.

EAD has estimated that the watersaving aerators, which are being installed free of charge in homes, mosques, schools, offices and government buildings throughout Abu Dhabi can reduce the Emirate’s domestic water consumption by as much as 30% per household. In phase one of the campaign, which ends in December 2010, EAD is targeting 55,000 homes (averaging five to six devices each) in Abu Dhabi’s Tourist Club area.

“For the next 3-5 years, we are going to continue to install these water-saving devices in every home, office and business in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This will save the equivalent of up to 30,000 Olympic-size swimming pools every year,” said Laila Yousef Al Hassan, EAD official spokesperson.

These tiny water-saving devices, which comprise of a steel O-ring and mesh gauze, are being installed by a team of accredited water installers who are visiting buildings in the Tourist Club area during the evenings. Importantly, there is no cost to building tenants or other users; EAD

www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

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Happenings > the region is installing the devices freeof-charge. Tenants are being informed of the campaign via house-to-house marketing and an intensive local advertising drive in the district, directing the public towards a dedicated website at www.watersavers.ae.

This ensures that residents are fully aware of the urgent need to have these devices installed in their homes and the benefits it has to the environment.

In 2009, EAD had commissioned a report into water and electricity demand across the Emirate (titled ‘Water and Electricity Demand Side Management Report’) which found that taps, faucets, showers and kitchen mixers account for around 60% of household water consumption in Abu Dhabi. Following the issue of this report, EAD devised and executed a pilot study during which watersaving devices were installed in a selected number of schools, mosques, hotels, labour camps and government buildings in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

EAD received overwhelmingly positive feedback from mosque Imams, school administrators and tenants. For example, water-saving devices were installed in buildings at the Abu Dhabi Industrial City (ICAD) labour camp in Al Mussafah. Each building subsequently reported a saving of 27,000 litres of water per day, representing a total of 540,000 litres per day across ICAD’s 20 buildings.

The Watersavers Campaign is supported by the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), the Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Distribution Companies respectively, and the Emirates Wildlife SocietyWorld Wide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF).

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No certification without completion Operational Rating is mandatory for permanent Pearl Rating Certification; UPC kick-starts training programme for Pearl-qualified professionals and assessors The Operational Rating certificate is mandatory to complete Estidama Pearl Rating Certification, an Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council spokesperson has confirmed. Replying to an e-mailed questionnaire from H20, John Madden, Senior Planning Manager, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), said: “The Pearl Operational Rating is the most important and final rating because it confirms that the occupied building operates as anticipated during design and demonstrates reduced consumption of energy and water. The Operational Rating must be completed for the project to have a permanent Pearl Rating Certification.”

The final stage of the Pearl Rating System, the Pearl Operational Rating, is awarded only after two years and a minimum 80% occupancy. Some projects that reach high occupancy quickly may obtain the Operational Rating after completing 12 months of continuous operation, Madden pointed out.

Replying to a question on the extent to which planning and building codes for Abu Dhabi have integrated Estidama’s goals and Pearls requirements into them, Madden said the Pearl Rating Systems (PRS) for Estidama for communities, buildings and villas have been carefully crafted to match the Abu Dhabi Plan 2030 urban structure framework plan and the new zoning Development Code. “The PRS is synchronised to a new international building code to be adopted soon,” he added.

On the progress in terms of developing Pearls Assessors and the mandatory Pearls Qualified Professionals (PQP), Madden pointed out that Pearl Assessors (tasked with reviewing and certifying PRS applications) are currently in the UPC’s Estidama team and will soon be in the municipal offices

John Madden, Senior Planning Manager, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC)

throughout the Emirate. Trainings and written exams to become Pearl Qualified Professionals (PQP) have already started.

In fact, UPC has launched an extensive training programme for the PRS in the first half of August. The Estidama Pearl Rating System Training Programme will build capacity at three levels, namely, Understanding and Awareness, Application of the PRS for Industry Professionals, and Administration of the PRS. Application of the PRS course will prepare delegates to undertake the PQP exams for the Building Rating System and the Communities Rating System. “A PQP is part of each development team during Design Rating and Construction Rating for communities and buildings. The PQP is the primary contact for the Pearl Assessor and provides quality assurance of documents prior to submission for a Pearls Rating,” said Madden. The Administration of the PRS course will train individuals to become assessors. The entire training programme will continue up to January 2011.

Plants against oil BAUER Group constructs the world’s largest commercial reed bed water treatment plant in Oman Bauer Group has started constructing in the Gulf what it claims to the world’s largest commercial reed bed water treatment plant for the purification of oil-contaminated process water. In the Nimr oil field in Oman, only a 10th of the production is pure crude oil. One of the little understood facts about oil production is that oil rarely comes up to the surface by itself. As soon as the pressure inside a newly opened up reservoir declines, water has to be injected in order to eject the oil to the surface, at another location. Thus, a large volume of saline process water is produced along with oil production. This water contains oil residues along with some heavy metals. The Nimr field generates nearly 250,000 m3/day of oil-contaminated process water.

On a daily basis, much of this produced

water was disposed off through deep water disposal wells. This process is expensive with high injection pressures, requiring a significant energy input. With large volumes of saline process water being produced with oil, there was a need for a more environment-friendly and energy-efficient method to dispose the contaminated process water.

A 10-year pilot project, using locallygrown reed plants, demonstrated the efficacy of the treatment process. In the pilot, oil-contaminated water was filtered in the reed beds and subsequently used to irrigate bio-saline trees and bushes. By using the process water in this way, it was transformed from a waste product and liability into an asset.

In 2008, following the success of the pilot project, the local subsidiary of the Bauer Group was given a Design, Build,

Own, Operate and Transfer (DBOOT) contract to set up a large-scale reed bed plant to treat the entire volume of produced water. After completion of the plant, Bauer Nimr will also operate and maintain the plant for a period of 20 years.

The overall contract value for the entire duration is around $174 million.

Based on the four-stage pilot, Bauer’s environmental engineer, Dr Roman Breuer, together with his team, developed a suitable concept for a large-scale plant.

The treatment plant will be capable of removing any dissolved and residual organic matter in the water. What remains is clean water, which can also be used for agricultural irrigation purposes.

The treatment process also produces biomass which can be used as a source of energy, like generating electricity. Another valuable by-product is salt produced in evaporation ponds, which can be used by industry.

The actual treatment plant will cover a total area of 235 hectares, equivalent to 450 football pitches. The vast area is already levelled and reed beds have been constructed. Initially, around 1.2 million plants will be grown in the uppermost soil layer. As with every effluent treatment plant, the subsoil must be properly sealed.

In selecting suitable sealants, synthetic materials were rejected in favour of natural products. The surrounding desert areas were searched for suitable rocks until an appropriate sealant mixture was found.

The treatment plant will not only save an enormous amount of energy and real money, but also curb CO2 emissions.

Reeds grow almost anywhere and the energy consumption for the effluent is almost zero. As a result, the project is ground-breaking for the management of production water in the oil industry, which is located in desert areas. Reed bed treatment plants can also be applied to the treatment of domestic effluent of entire towns. www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

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Happenings > at large

Ultrasound cleaning improves membrane efficiency

The EU-funded Agroiwatech project investigated the use of ultrasound for cleaning bio-membrane filters contaminated with organic material Agricultural industries such as brewing and food processing require enormous amounts of water which become contaminated with organic matter. This material is contained in wastewater, requiring biological treatment at a water treatment plant before being discharged into large settlement tanks.

By replacing the use of tanks with a membrane biological reactor (MBR) system, the concentration of dry material can be increased. The material can, then, be reused in the form of fertiliser and soil conditioner.

The use of membrane technology also increases the concentration of beneficial micro-organisms which help boost the cleaning ability of the system. The drawback to MBR is that its effectiveness is reduced through scaling and the build-up of unwanted matter. The result is that large quantities of chemicals and considerable

time and effort are required to clean and maintain these membranes.

The Agroiwatech project investigated the use of ultra sound for cleaning membranes while still in the system to improve their efficiency. This technology has a lower environmental impact than conventional techniques, because it uses fewer chemicals and less energy. The consortium studied different membranes with test substances at different ultra sound frequencies to determine the flux rate compared to pressure.

Researchers selected one membrane in particular, for further study, subjecting it to ultra sound at a frequency of 15.5 kHz. Results showed that ultra sound did not damage the membrane and improved the flux rate. However, after nine hours, the membrane surface required cleaning in the conventional way. Following these initial tests, researchers built small modules and

an MBR system for further study.

Wastewater was treated with activated sludge and filtered using the membrane module. Activated sludge is wastewater containing air and micro-organisms causing the aggregation of organic matter. Following this dual treatment both the organic and ammonia content were significantly reduced, giving a much more efficient result than using the membrane alone.

Cost-effective recovery of potentially useful resources from wastewater constitutes an extra bonus in the bid to clean up Europe’s heavily polluted waterways. Fertiliser and biogas fuel produced with a low energy bill will almost certainly prove to be very attractive possibilities for the direction of agroindustry.

Source: research*eu results supplement

Ultra pure water system contract GE’s ultra pure water system will provide 2,400 gallons per minute of ultra pure water for world’s largest silicon solar manufacturing factory SunPower Corp has selected GE to supply the new SunPower-AUO joint venture solar cell fabrication plant in Malaysia with an ultra pure water system to meet the needs of its next generation manufacturing facility. The GE system will save more than 230 million gallons of water relative to other technologies – sufficient to meet the daily water needs of more than 8,300 community residents.

The SunPower-AUO facility will be the largest silicon solar manufacturing factory in the world and is expected to begin operations near the end of 2010 and ramp production during the following two years.

The factory, known as Fab 3, is located 20 16

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kilometres north of Melaka, Malaysia, in a region that has experienced prior water shortages and drought.

“SunPower is committed to helping protect the quantity and quality of our water resources, and we’re proud that, with GE, we’re able to achieve new environmental and performance benchmarks in our industry. SunPower’s unique PV manufacturing process produces the highest-efficiency solar cells on the market today, and we expect the same from our water systems. Our collaboration with GE on this project will not only benefit our community but ultimately our customers as we continue

Sunpower Malaysia Fab

to drive down the cost and impact of manufacturing,” said Rob Vinje, Managing Director, SunPower.

GE will design, supply and install an advanced ultra pure water system

Happenings > at large

Nanotechnology for water purification

GE will design, supply and install an advanced ultra pure water system featuring Nanotechnology can be useful in developing safe its internationally drinking water solutions for a growing population Researchers from the D J Sanghvi that toxic trace elements ,such as arsenic, and patented high College of Engineering in Mumbai, India viscous liquid impurities, such as oil, can also efficiency reverse have examined the role of nanotechnology be removed using nanotechnology. in developing safe drinking water solutions “The main advantages of using osmosis (HERO) in the recent issue of International Journal nanofilters, as opposed to conventional process. the of Nuclear Desalination. “Water treatment systems, are that less pressure is required devices that incorporate nanoscale materials pass water across the filter, they are system, operating are already available, and human development tomore efficient, and they have incredibly on a challenging needs for clean water are pressing,” they wrote. large surface areas and can be more easily cleaned by back-flushing compared with and variable feed conventional methods,” the team said. water source For instance, carbon nanotube membranes can remove almost all kinds of water will provide contaminants, including turbidity, oil, bacteria, 2,400 gallons per viruses and organic contaminants. Although their pores are significantly smaller, carbon minute of ultra nanotubes have shown to have an equal or a pure water for faster flow rate as compared to larger pores, possibly because of the smooth interior of sunpower’s pv the nanotubes. Nanofibrous alumina filters Nanotechnology refers to a broad range manufacturing and other nanofibre materials also remove of tools, techniques and applications negatively-charged contaminants, such as that simply involve particles on the facility viruses, bacteria, and organic and inorganic approximate size scale of a few to

featuring the internationally patented high efficiency reverse osmosis (HERO) process. The system, operating on a challenging and variable feed-water source, will provide 2,400 gallons per minute of ultra pure water for the manufacturing facility.

“With operating efficiencies exceeding 90%, the HERO system will not only conserve water, but through advances in technology and its implementation, we’ll also see an immediate positive return on environment for our customer,” said Jeff Connelly, vice president, engineered systems—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water. “This is exactly the type of project that reflects GE’s ecomagination commitment, delivering innovative solutions to environmental challenges that help our customers.”

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hundreds of nanometers in diameter.

Particles of this size have some unique physicochemical and surface properties that lend themselves to novel uses. There are several nanotechnology approaches to water purification currently being investigated and some already in use. Water purification using nanotechnology exploits nanoscopic materials such as carbon nanotubes and alumina fibres for nanofiltration. It also utilises the existence of nanoscopic pores in zeolite filtration membranes, as well as nanocatalysts and magnetic nanoparticles.

Nanosensors, such as those based on titanium oxide nanowires or palladium nanoparticles, are used for analytical detection of contaminants in water samples.

The impurities that nanotechnology can tackle depend on the stage of purification of water to which the technique is applied.

It can be used for removal of sediments, chemical effluents, charged particles, bacteria and other pathogens. The researchers explain

colloids at a faster rate than conventional filters.

“While the current generation of nanofilters may be relatively simple, it is believed that future generations of nanotechnology-based water treatment devices will capitalise on the properties of new nanoscale materials,” the team said.

The researchers pointed out that several fundamental aspects of nanotechnology have raised concerns among the public and activist groups. They concede that the risks associated with nanomaterials may not be the same as the risks associated with the bulk versions of the same materials. The much greater surface area to volume ratio of nanoparticles can make them more reactive than bulk materials and lead to so far unrecognised and untested interactions with biological surfaces. Water purification based on nanotechnology has not yet led to any human health or environmental problems but the team echoes the sentiment of others that further research into the biological interactions of nanoparticles should be carried out.

market marketplace

Dissolved Oxygen Analyser system

The new Triton DO8 Dissolved Oxygen Analyser System from ElectroChemical Devices (ECD) is targeted for monitoring applications in drinking water, surface water, aquaculture, municipal wastewater treatment and industrial water treatment. Triton DO8 Sensor couples precision FQ optical technology with intelligent microprocessor-based electronics.

According to ECD, the self-monitoring DO8 stores calibration data within the sensor, which minimises maintenance over long service intervals while providing what it claims to be stable, dependable DO measurement. The company claims that the Triton DO8 Sensor features a maximum error rate of less than two per cent, repeatability of ±0.5 per cent and resolution of 0.01 ppm or 0.01 per cent saturation. It operates over a wide measurement range with three different outputs from 0 to 20 mg/l (0-20 ppm), 0-200 percent saturation or 0-500 hPa (0-6 psi). The Triton DO8 Sensor, EDC 20

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further claimed, can withstand ambient temperatures from -20 to 60°C (0140°F), records measurements at temperatures from -5 to 50°C (20120°F) and withstands pressures up to a maximum of 10 bar (145 psi).

Triton DO8 Sensor determines the oxygen concentration in water through the fluorescence quenching method.

Here, a circular layer of opticallyactive, oxygen-sensitive molecules is integrated into a replaceable cap. This layer is highly permeable to oxygen and rapidly equilibrates to its surroundings.

The cap aligns the optically-active fluorescence layer above two optical components inside the sensor, an emitter and a detector. After the sensor’s emitter flashes a green light at the layer, the layer fluoresces back a red light. The duration and intensity of the fluorescence are directly dependent on the amount of oxygen in the layer. With little to no oxygen in the layer, the response is longer and more intense. The presence of more

oxygen, however, quenches (reduces) the fluorescence effect.

The Triton DO8 Sensor calculates dissolved oxygen values by continuously analysing the oxygen level, water temperature and air pressure. Via digital communications, the DO8 sends DO data to ECD’s C-22 Controller, which provides a 4-20mA output signal to a water treatment plant’s control room.

ECD claims that the RS-485 digital signal is nearly immune to common EMI/RFI noise that is typically a problem in many plant environments.

The Triton DO8 has no membranes to replace, no electrolytes to refill and no anode/cathode assemblies to service or replace compared to amperometric sensors. The only service required is the simple replacement of the DO8’s sensor cap, which lasts two years or longer, and the occasional wiping of the sensor head with a damp rag. For further details, contact Joe Bradley: +1-949-336-6060.

The Triton DO8 has no membranes to replace, no electrolytes to refill and no anode/cathode assemblies to service or replace compared to amperometric sensors

Wilden H800 high pressure pumps

Yokogawa rolls out ISA100.11abased field wireless devices Yokogawa Electric Corporation has launched what it claims to be the world’s first field wireless devices based on the ISA100.11a industrial wireless communications standard. [Following approval by ISA and ANSI, this standard will be published and submitted for the review of the IECSC65C Subcommittee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)] The new wireless products include an EJX-B series differential pressure and pressure transmitter, YTA series temperature transmitter, and an integrated field wireless gateway for field sensor networks. An integrated wireless gateway connects field wireless devices with a host system and provides a number of field wireless network setting and management functions.

Key applications for such devices include temperature, flow, and differential pressure/pressure measurement in plant processes.

The major target markets are water

treatment, waste water, oil & gas, LNG, refining, petrochemicals, chemicals, iron & steel, pulp & paper, power, and food & beverages.

1

Suitability for monitoring, diagnostics, and control

With bidirectional digital wireless networks based on the ISA100.11a standard, the production, device diagnostic, and parameter data transferred between a control system and field devices are securely encrypted, which Yokogawa claims, makes the technology ideal for status monitoring, device diagnostics and control applications.

2

Multiple power sources

Yokogawa also claimed that these wireless devices are designed to run on explosion-proof batteries that can easily be replaced in hazardous locations. On the anvil are easy-to-maintain solar batteries for use with these devices.

Wilden, a leading player in air-operated double-diaphragm pump technology, has launched its H800 High Pressure Pump for use in filtration, chemical sludge transfer and general industrial applications. The H800 pump is designed to transfer viscous, solid-laden slurries at high discharge pressures by utilising a 3:1 pressure ratio of inlet air supply to discharge fluid. Available in stainless steel and ductile iron bolted construction, this high-pressure pump can achieve discharge fluid pressures up to 17.2 bar (250 psig).

Wilden has claimed that the H800 also help avoid costly external boosters or amplifiers to achieve the pressure output for high pressure applications. The H800 includes a ringed air valve piston for added on/off reliability and life along with DIN or ANSI compatible flanges.

The maximum flow rate for the H800 is 360 lpm (95 gpm), with a maximum inlet air pressure of 5.9 bar (85 psig). The H800 is manufactured with simplex and duplex diaphragm and piston pump technologies to maximise pump performance in chemical, food processing, paint and resin, pressure spraying, and well injection applications.

For more information, contact Krystal Jaekel krystal.jaekel@pumpsg.com

ON THE RECORD

The usability imperative Dave Tredinnick is the President of Emerson Process Management Middle East & Africa. Tredinnick began his career with Emerson in 1980 with Brooks Instruments.

He held a number of sales and marketing leadership roles in the US and Asia Pacific, and in 1999, became managing director for Asia Pacific at the Daniel division. In 2003, he was promoted to vice president sales for Daniel Asia Pacific, and in 2005, he became vice president Southeast Asia for Emerson Process Management Asia Pacific. He was appointed to his current position in 2008. Tredinnick spoke to H20 on how Emerson Process Management has fared in its key ME&A markets, and on the new focus areas driving the company’s development efforts, especially wireless and Human-Centred Design (HCD).

How would you describe the past two years for Emerson Process Management Middle East & Africa?

The last couple of years were tough, especially on the consumer side of our business. But the process side has held up quite well. Our sales in the ME&A region rose in 2009 and in FY2010, our sales were up about 24%. Of course, due to the economic slowdown, many projects were put on hold or delayed all over the Middle East. However, these delays were not so much about lack of capital than about securing better prices, because commodity prices (steel, copper, cement) had dropped by 20-25% and companies wanted to take advantage of that. In some cases, the resultant savings ran into billions of dollars per project.

What are your key markets in the ME&A region?

Our largest market space is oil& gas, refining and power that account for 60% of our business. But we also we serve many different industries like pulp & paper, water & wastewater and life sciences. We have many brands within the group catering to multiple industries. So when one is down, the other is up, which has helped the company ride the business cycles. In fact, two-thirds of Emerson Process Management’s business is international and so is a very large percentage of our work force. We regard ourselves as a truly global company even though we are headquartered in the US. What is the strategy you have adopted to build your market share or leadership?

An Emerson business unit is either number 22

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one or two in its business, and if that is not the case, the business in question will get a lot of help to achieve that objective. Every brand we have is in the leadership position or number two position in their market spaces. Overall, Emerson Process invested $700 million in R&D in 2009. Our brands are ever-green in the sense that nearly 35% of our sales come from products that are less than five years old. In fact, we are constantly re-inventing ourselves every day for our customers.

Could you also highlight the key technologies that you are focussing on for the long term?

Among the new technologies we are focussing on is wireless, because we believe it is a market space which will continue to expand. We expect to see greater wireless infiltration into the process industry as more wired devices become wireless, battery life improves and customer acceptance eases. In fact, we have put our wireless standards in the public domain like we did with our Foundation Fieldbus technology some years ago. I believe that wireless portends a major change for the process industry; the other big change is our latest control systems.

We are basically introducing products that allow you to engineer your projects quite rapidly, and support the (inevitable) changes along the way. Today, when you are executing detailed engineering, you are constantly changing the Input / Output (I/O), which often impacts project schedules because of the revision

requirements. Invariably, when you get large complex projects to site, there are more changes.

In the newly launched Version 11 of our DeltaV system, we have introduced I/O on Demand functionality, which basically allows you to assign I/O in the field. You can literally go to a junction box or the control room area, and change the input from a device by plugging in the appropriate Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter module called a characterisation module, or CHARM. This allows you to execute projects more rapidly without being burdened by the numerous changes on the way. You can make the changes on-site without disturbing the cabling layout or cabinet designs. Apart from capex savings, you also get opex savings because you can add I/O anywhere, in the field in the junction boxes or in the marshalling area.

This technology has been well received in the Middle East by end-users as well as contractors. The latter can implement jobs quicker with less engineering and accommodate more changes from the customers, who also benefit by being able to really distribute their wiring. Instead of chasing down the wiring maze in a marshalling box, you can keep it in the field and bring it back over an Ethernet type connection. What we have is a hardware that reduces complexity in terms of marshalling or assignment of I/O long before you get into the build-stage.

This also makes it easier to interface with our systems. I/O on Demand is one of the main outcomes of Emerson’s focus on

Not only can we get this information to the operator, but if we see a device–say a control valve or a flow device or pressure temperature transmitter not acting the way it should, we can take that information and send it via SMS or e-mail to the maintenance head. If he is not on-site, he can, through the company’s Virtual Private Network (VPN), drill down to the field device, diagnose the problem and instruct his team on what actions to take.

For example, in the North Sea, there are 1,700 control valves on a drilling platform that are monitored onshore by Emerson constantly. The valves are sending us information. When a valve or actuator encounters a problem, we get a message.

Then we are able to diagnose the problem, drill down to the device, see what the problem is and despatch the right guy with the right parts to fix it.

Dave Tredinnick

HCD or Human-Centred Design. What HCD is doing is unleashing the technology that is available on the device and giving it to the operator, the maintenance person and the plant manager in a usable format. Part of the problem we all suffer from today is too much technology or information, so much so that we find ourselves at a loss on how to deal with the deluge. HCD converts that complexity and puts it in front of the user in a manageable, easy-to-understand format.

Are we making process control more user-friendly by taking the cue from consumer technologies?

I wish my DVD player was as easy to use as some of the stuff we have introduced over the last couple of years (laughs).

What HCD is doing is to make it easier for users to come up-to-speed with complex technologies and processes.

Part of the issue is that there are only so many trained operators in the world. It is hard for the industry to produce in large numbers people who understand the technology, the application or even the process. Some of our customers have trouble keeping trained staff. In the Middle East, you now have four or five major refineries coming up. Operators are going to struggle with that, while customers are going to struggle getting trained

operators. Trained people are key to this business, and whatever we do to help our customers bring complex technologies into manageable formats would definitely be very helpful for them.

What are the other customer priorities or pain points that HCD can address?

For example, in the hydrocarbon industry, the number one (and numbers two and three, as well) concern is safety, and HCD is geared towards that. It was the result of our experiences with customers who suffered major plant upsets or encountered safety problems at their plants. We studied some of the things that occurred prior to the shutdowns or unplanned or unscheduled events. We found that operators were so inundated with information that they couldn’t get to the critical items quickly. The same goes for power plants, too, where you have fossil fuels, high pressure, high temperature and high-speed rotating equipment. The technology we are introducing addresses safety by getting the right information to the right people.

We are also introducing the ability to provide intuitive information, a kind of knowledge-based system where the operator not only gets a high-level alarm, he will also be advised on what the problem is and what actions to take.

Re-visiting Emerson’s focus on wireless, issues like latency and battery-life have stood as obstacles to its adoption in the industrial environment. How has Emerson addressed these issues? Any developments on the standard or the products side you can share with us?

The standards address the communications side of things. With regard to battery life, frequency is the key because higher the frequency, lower the battery life.

The standard battery-life is five years.

Applications like temperature, vibrations and pressure need higher monitoring frequency which translates to a battery-life less than five years. We are constantly looking to stretch the battery-life. We are also looking to scavenge power by exploiting the vibration or heat within the processor itself.

What are your plans for the water and wastewater sectors?

From a field device standpoint, we have existing brands like Rosemount (pressure, temperature, level, and flow measurement), Fisher (control valves), El-O-Matic (valve actuators) and TopWorx (valve control, position sensing, and field networking).

We have the Ovation distributed control system for the power generation and water/wastewater treatment industries. In fact, Ovation has emerged as a very strong brand for Emerson Process in the ME&A region. We do brown-field and new-builds www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

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Cover Story: Water Analysis

Rapid results Neil Polwart is the founder of Hydrosense, which manufactures an innovative on-site test for detecting Legionella pneumophila bacteria in water. He spoke to H20 on the benefits of the test and how it can be used in tandem with traditional laboratory tests to manage the risk from Legionella.

According to a recent report in The National newspaper, 80 of 100 water samples analysed by Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) this year tested positive for the Legionella bacteria. Are you surprised about the positive tests for Legionella?

No. Legionella is found everywhere, and without good management programmes in place, it will proliferate and become a problem. The proportion of positive results was exceptionally high, but given 24

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the temperatures and type of water systems, it’s not surprising. However, the surprising thing is that you don’t have more outbreaks of disease, although it’s possible that many people who do get infected are wrongly diagnosed with straight forward pneumonia rather than Legionnaires’ Disease.

Could you tell us about the Hydrosense Rapid Legionella Test?

The test was developed to provide a

much faster way of detecting Legionella bacteria in water systems. It is specific to detecting the form of the bacteria that is most infectious and accounts for over 90% of Legionnaires’ Disease outbreaks – so a positive result is an immediate indicator of a problem that requires remedial action.

The underlying technology of the test is used in numerous medical diagnostics and so, is well proven. But the key challenges were achieving the level of sensitivity that is required to provide an early warning of a problem as well as being robust enough to deal with water from a whole variety of sources – from spa pools, to cooling towers and hot water systems to fountains – anywhere in the world. The validation work was spread across three continents to ensure that we were able to get consistent results.

We have cooling towers, water storage tanks on villas and air-conditioning in every property. How often would you recommend tests for Legionella and how do we prevent it from occurring?

The first step in managing the risk from Legionella is to understand the problem.

You need to identify every possible risk, from spa pools, to car washes and hot water systems to sprinklers – anywhere water is used that might produce a mist or spray that can be inhaled is a risk. How big the risk is depends on who might be exposed as the elderly, those with underlying health problems and smokers are all more vulnerable to the disease – so hospitals and nursing homes need to be especially careful. But water which sits stagnant in dead-legs of unused pipes are a particular problem, too, so hotel rooms or villas sitting empty for a few weeks can become a problem. The rapid test is helpful here – letting you quickly get a picture of the condition of your system or establish how widespread a problem is. You should really test every separate water system to start with, and on large systems at multiple locations, for example, one test per floor.

The other major contributor to bacteria colonising a water system is how clean the water, tanks and pipe work are.

If there is visible slime, sludge, rust or scale in a system, it will be almost impossible to guarantee Legionnella can’t grow and a much more regular testing programme will be required (possibly every week) until

remedial action can be taken to clean or replace the affected areas.

There are two main approaches to controlling Legionella. Firstly, temperature: keeping hot water hot and cold water cold. The hot water should quickly get to over 55 degree C when you turn on any tap in the building. If it doesn’t, the bacteria can survive. However, you need to be aware of the risk of scalding so the water temperature needs to be tightly controlled. In most part of the world, cold water supplies are too cold for Legionella to grow, but in Dubai it’s quite possible that the temperature can exceed 20 degree C – in which case you are into the danger zone. Monitoring the temperatures is the first line of defence against Legionella in hot and cold water systems (most experts suggest monthly monitoring). When they fall outside the limit, it is a good time to test for Legionella.

The other approach to control is to add a biocide to the water, like chlorine, chlorine dioxide or copper and silver ions. Regular testing is required to ensure the dosing is correct, and Legionella testing should be used as a backup if it is not. Even with a good biocide control programme, many building managers like to do monthly Legionella tests, especially in the first year until they build up confidence in the control system; if they manage a whole year without a positive result, they may reduce the frequency of testing or the number of places they take samples from. If you already have a serious problem, it is probably time to call in a specialist water treatment company.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of your test versus a laboratory test?

The primary benefit is speed. With our test you get a result in minutes, with a lab test you need to wait two weeks. This way you can take immediate action based on the risk right now rather than second guessing the result or responding to an event that has exposed everyone to risk for two weeks. However, there are other benefits, too – we can detect the bacteria when it is in a form that won’t grow on culture plates, or even detect free antigen from large numbers of dead cells in the system – alerting you to a risk that would

go undetected with traditional lab tests.

Our test only detects Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 – the main cause of Legionnaires’ disease. To get a complete picture, for example, in a hospital with vulnerable patients, it is useful to use the laboratory test to get the full spectrum of strains some of which can cause infections. In many cases, people use a mixture of tests, for example, doing laboratory tests three or four times a year but running the Hydrosense test every month.

Is this test for homes and villas or for hotels and commercial buildings only?

The test will work just as well in the home as a large hotel or an industrial site. It is possible to get Legionella from your home water supply although the larger and more complicated the water system the harder it is to manage effectively. the product. n

Rapid Hydrosense Legionella Test • Results in 25 minutes • Easy to use • Accurate and fast • No Laboratory • No Waiting • Confidential Results

Blue Gold Technology FZC Tel: +971 50 871 4184 Email: ceo@bluegold.ae www.BlueGold.ae www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

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Cover Story: Water Analysis

Analytical Notes The significance, methods and instruments of water analysis and monitoring Drilled down to basics, water quality may be defined as ‘a measure of the suitability of water for a particular use based on selected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.’ Awareness about water quality, be it for domestic or industrial purposes, has taken off in a big way in the past few years with water contamination emerging as a serious problem in both the developing and developed worlds. Rapid expansion of agricultural, industrial, residential, commercial activities as well as climate change are impacting the availability and quality of water resources. For example, according to a study by the Ralph Nader Study Group, the US drinking water reportedly contains more than 2,100 toxic chemicals that can cause cancer. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking Water include an assessment of the health risks presented by the various microbial, chemical, radiological and physical constituents that may be present in drinking water, which if some accounts are to be believed, number up to 200 or more.

Water has become contaminated with fertilisers, pesticides, drugs, hormones, heavy-metal compounds, body care and synthetic products due to its widespread use as source of food and energy, as a solvent, cleaning agent, coolant, means of transportation and discharge system for effluents. Faced with this growing problem, countries around the world are extending existing or developing new legal requirements, often stringent, on the qualities of various types of water. These requirements call for the measurement of many different substances, a large proportion of which must be measured and controlled at very small concentrations. Most environmental analyses are measuring very low concentrations of substances, in milligrams per litre or mg/L. Since a milligram is 26

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one thousandth of a gram, and a litre of water weighs about a thousand grams, a mg/L is approximately equal to one part per million by weight. A part per million (ppm) is only one ten thousandth of one per cent. For toxic metals and organic compounds of industrial origin, measurements are routinely made in the part per billion (microgramme per litre) range or even lower. At such low levels, sensitive equipment and careful technique are clearly necessary for accurate results.

In fact, there have been considerable developments in the analytical techniques and procedures applied to make such measurements, with automatic procedures –semi or fully–being increasingly employed to meet the challenge of greater numbers of samples.

Parameter watch The most frequently measured parameter of aqueous solutions, ranging from measurement in drinking water, surface water, groundwater and wastewater through to precise measurement for pharmaceutical use is the pH value, a measure of how acidic or alkaline a solution is. A pH of 7 is neutral; a pH above 7 is alkaline (basic) while below 7 is acidic. The scale runs from about zero, which is very acidic, to 14, which is highly alkaline. Although there are some microorganisms which can function at extreme pHs, most living things require pHs close to neutrality. In waters with low dissolved solids, which consequently have a low buffering capacity or low internal resistance to pH change, changes in pH induced by external causes may be quite dramatic. Besides the harm to aquatic life in natural waters, pH imbalances can inhibit or completely wipe out biological processes in wastewater treatment plants, resulting in incomplete treatment and pollution of the receiving waters. Low (acidic) pHs cause corrosion in sewers

systems and increase the release hydrogen sulphide gas. Apart from the above, pH values govern the behaviour of several other important parameters of water quality like ammonia toxicity, chlorine disinfection efficiency, and metal solubility.

In fact, chlorine becomes toxic as the pH level of the water drops, and it becomes even more toxic when it is combined with other toxic substances such as cyanides, phenols and ammonia. Higher the pH and the warmer the water temperature, the more toxic the ammonia.

While pH measures the strength of an acid or base; alkalinity indicates a solution’s power to react with acid and “buffer” its pH — that is, the power to keep its pH from changing. Alkalinity is a total measure of the substances in water that have ‘acid-neutralising’ ability.

The main sources of natural alkalinity are rocks, which contain carbonate, bicarbonate, and hydroxide compounds.

Borates, silicates, and phosphates may also contribute to alkalinity. The parameter is of interest to water engineers in that it is a factor concerned in the computation of the Langelier ‘Saturation Index’ which relates to the corrosion of or deposition of scale in distribution networks.

Chlorine is a universal and costeffective drinking water disinfectant. It is also used as a disinfectant in wastewater treatment plants and swimming pools, as a bleaching agent in textile factories, paper mills and an important ingredient in many laundry bleaches. Free chlorine (chlorine gas dissolved in water) is toxic to fish and aquatic organisms, even in very small amounts. However, chlorine reacts quickly with other substances in water (and forms combined chlorine) or dissipates as a gas into the atmosphere.

But if the water contains a lot of decaying materials, free chlorine can combine with them to form compounds called trihalomethanes or THMs. Some THMs in high concentrations are carcinogenic to people. Unlike free chlorine, THMs are persistent and can pose a health threat to living things for a long time.

Nitrite exists normally in very low concentrations, and even in waste treatment plantS, effluents levels are relatively low, principally because the nitrogen will tend to exist in the more reduced (ammonia) or more oxidised

Selected standards relating to water analysis Parameter

Standard

Matrix

Method

pH value

DIN 38404-5

All types of water

pH measurement

EPA 150.1

Acid rain

pH measurement

Drinking water Seawater 6 Wastewater

Conductivity

USP <791>

Ultrapure water for pharmaceutical use

DIN EN 27888

Drinking water

pH measurement Conductivity measurement

EPA 120.1

Acid rain

Conductivity measurement

Drinking water Seawater Wastewater

Total hardness

USP <645>

Ultrapure water for pharmaceutical use

Conductivity measurement

EPA 130.2

Drinking water

Titration

Ca, Mg

Wastewater EN ISO 9963

Drinking water

Titration

Wastewater DIN 38406-3

Drinking water

Titration

Wastewater Alkalinity as CaCO3

EPA 310.1

Drinking water

Titration

Seawater Wastewater Cl-

DIN 38405-1

Drinking water

Titration

Wastewater Anions, e.g. F–, Cl–, Br–, NO2, NO3–, SO42–, etc.

EPA 300.1, Part A

Oxyhalides

EPA 300.1, Part B

Drinking water

Ion chromatography

Wastewater Drinking water

Ion chromatography

Wastewater EPA 317.0

Cations, e.g. Li+, Na+, K+, NH4+, Mg2+, Ca2+, etc.

Drinking water

Ion chromatography

EPA 326.0

Drinking water

Ion chromatography

ASTM D 6581

Drinking water

Ion chromatography

ASTM D 6919

Drinking water

Ion chromatography

Wastewater ISO 14911

Ultrapure water

Ion chromatography

Wastewater pH value

Various

All types of water

Conductivity

TitrIC* (Titration and Ion Chromatography)

Anions Cations Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu, Tl, Ni, Co

DIN 38406-16

Drinking water

Voltammetry

Wastewater U

DIN 38406-17

Drinking water

Voltammetry

Groundwater Raw water CN–

Sample preparation acc. to DIN 38405-13

Drinking water

Voltammetry

Wastewater Cd, Pb, Cu, FeII/FeIII, CrVI

Seawater

Voltammetry

Cu, Fe, Zn, Co

Boiler feed water

Voltammetry

Cooling water pH value, conductivity and parameters that can be determined by titration or voltammetry

Process-dependent specifi cations

Boiler feed water

Process analysis

Cooling water Drinking water Process water Wastewater

* TitrIC is a unique system supplied by Metrohm which combines titration and ion chromatography.

Table courtesy: Metrohm

www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

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Cover Story: Water Analysis

(nitrate) forms. Nitrites are relatively short-lived because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re quickly converted to nitrates by bacteria. Nitrates can be traced to organic and inorganic sources, the former including waste discharges and the latter comprising chiefly artificial fertilisers. Because nitrite is an intermediate in the oxidisation of ammonia to nitrate, because such oxidation can proceed in soil, and because sewage is a rich source of ammonia nitrogen, waters which show any appreciable amounts of nitrite are cause for suspicion of past sewage pollution or of excess levels of fertilisers or manure slurries spread on land. Most importantly, high nitrate levels in waters to be used for drinking will render them hazardous to infants as they induce the Blue Baby syndrome. In addition, nitrites can give rise to the presence of nitrosamines by reaction with organic compounds and there may be carcinogenic effects. Because it is the nitrite rather than nitrate which is the direct toxicant, there is a stricter limit for nitrite in drinking waters.

Aluminium is monitored in boiler make-up water, where aluminium sulphate or alum has been used (alum is typically used for colour- and colloid-removal in the treatment of water) to determine whether aluminium is present after pre-treatment.

Residual aluminium may consume ion exchange capacity or consume boiler water treatment chemicals added to stoichiometrically chelate hardness ions (calcium and magnesium) in boiler feed water. Aluminium is monitored in cooling water make-up, since its presence may result in deactivation of anionic substances in scale or corrosion inhibitor treatment chemicals, or both. Deactivation may result in decreased performance of inhibitors.

Ammonia is generally present in natural waters, though in very small amounts, as a result of microbiological activity which causes the reduction of nitrogen-containing compounds. When present in levels above 0.1 mg/l , sewage or industrial contamination may be indicated.

Ammonia is toxic to fish and aquatic organisms, even in very low concentrations and when water contains very little dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide.

High ammonia levels interfere with chlorination processes in water treatment.

The formation of chloramine compounds 28

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(which are much less potent disinfectants than free chlorine) by reaction between the added chlorine and the ammonia present in the water necessitates an increased use of chlorine if disinfection efficiencies are to be maintained.

Phosphates (chemical compounds containing the element, phosphorous) are found in nearly all fertilisers. Phosphate is a major constituent of detergents, particularly those for domestic use.

The significance of phosphorous is principally in regard to the phenomenon of eutrophication (over-enrichment) of water bodies. If too much phosphate is present, algae and water weeds grow wildly, choke the water body and use up large amounts of oxygen. Many fish and aquatic organisms may die.

Cyanide is a common constituent of industrial wastes, especially in mining, metal finishing and plating industries because of its ability to bind very strongly to metals to form water-soluble complex ions. This same property makes it highly toxic to living things because it prevents the normal activity of biologically important, metal-containing molecules.

It is, however, biodegradable by some bacteria in low concentrations; and they can become acclimated to higher concentrations if given enough time.

Heavy metals contamination of water can be traced to effluent discharges, or from distribution piping or geological formations. Heavy metals imply antimony, arsenic, beryllium , cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, tellurium, tin, titanium, uranium, vanadium, zinc. They are toxic to humans (to a degree varying greatly from metal to metal) and to fish (the hazard levels for which are generally very much lower).

Because they are easily accumulable in fish and other tissue, they are liable to enter the food chain. The US EPA lists nine metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver, and zinc) as toxic â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;priority pollutantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; metals.

Boron is a naturally occurring trace element, and is present in seawater around 5 mg/l. The element is not considered a problem in drinking water but could endanger crops when present in irrigation water at the 1-2 mg/L concentration range.

Bromate, which is formed when bromide

ions present in water are oxidised by ozone and some other oxidising agents (including chlorine), can be both carcinogenic and mutagenic.

Analytical methods In volumetric titration, chemicals are analysed by titration with a standardised titrant. The titration end-point is identified by the development of colour resulting from the reaction with an indicator, by the change of electrical potential or by the change of pH value.

Gravimetric analysis is more common with water solutions that are more concentrated such as chemicals used in water or wastewater treatment. Analytical balances routinely used for gravimetric analysis are sensitive to one tenth of a milligram, or one ten-thousandth of a gram. Most laboratories use electronic balances with direct digital readouts.

Colorimetric methods are based on measuring the intensity of colour of a coloured target chemical or reaction product. The optical absorbance is measured using light of a suitable wavelength. The concentration is determined by means of a calibration curve obtained using known concentrations of the determinant. The UV method is similar to this method except that UV light is used.

Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) is used for determination of metals.

It is based on the phenomenon that the atom in the ground state absorbs the light of wavelengths that are characteristic to each element when light is passed through the atoms in the vapour state. Because this absorption of light depends on the concentration of atoms in the vapour, the concentration of the target element in the water sample is determined from the measured absorbance. The Beer-Lambert law describes the relationship between concentration and absorbance.

For ionic materials, the ion concentration can be measured using an ion-selective electrode. The latter are part of laboratory electrochemistry instruments for water analysis that also include titrators, pH meters, conductivity meters as well as other meters or probes for measuring specific analytes, as well as dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical

oxygen demand (BOD). In-field and process electrochemistry techniques include systems to measure pH, oxidation reduction potential conductivity, DO, and selected ions. The measured potential is proportional to the logarithm of the ion concentration.

Electrochemical procedures involve placing electrodes in a water sample and measuring either an electrical potential (voltage), in millivolts, or a current, in milliamperes, which is related to the concentration of analyte. Depending on what they are designed to measure, electrodes can be simple pieces of metals such as gold, silver or they may be elaborate systems with semi-permeable membranes and several internal electrodes and filling solutions. The instrumentation may be capable of reading out directly in concentration units. Usually, some sort of calibration procedure is necessary, using one or more standard solutions of known concentration. Electrochemistry techniques make up the largest segment of the laboratory and process water testing and analysis market.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a test for measuring the amount of biodegradable organic material present in a sample of water. Depletion of oxygen in receiving waters has historically been regarded as one of the most important negative effects of water pollution. The (five-day) BOD of water is the amount of dissolved oxygen taken up by bacteria in degrading oxidisable matter in the sample, measured after five days incubation in the dark at 20°C. The BOD is simply the amount by which the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level has dropped during the incubation period. This technique is the basis of BOD analyses for all types of sample even though considerable extensions of procedure are necessary in dealing with wastewaters and polluted surface waters.

Monitoring BOD removal through a treatment plant is necessary to verify proper operation. However, because the test takes too long to be useful for shortterm control of the plant, the chemical or instrumental surrogate tests are often used as guides. The five-day BOD value in a properly conducted test usually amounts to some 65% of the total carbonaceous oxygen demand. To measure the latter

in the BOD test would take some four times as long and would involve special measures to counter the side-effects of oxidation of nitrogenous matter. So chemical methods have been devised to obtain a rapid, accurate measurement of the total carbonaceous oxygen demand.

In any such method, the only organic compounds affected will be those amenable to oxidation by the particular chemical agent used. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) refers to the test in which potassium dichromate is used to carry out the oxidation. The COD test procedure involves the use of additional reagents to catalyse the oxidation of organic matter and to suppress the effects of interfering substances such as chloride, and, as a result, in many cases the oxidation achieved is at or very near the maximum level. Application of the COD/BOD ratio to the results of a quickly performed COD test is very useful for the analyst and for the plant manager.

The determination of total organic carbon (TOC) is complementary to the oxygen demand analyses (BOD and COD) and is regarded as a better indicator of organic content in that it is a direct measurement of the key element. Also, it is theoretically independent of the form in which the carbon exists in the water and the analyses should therefore be comparable for a wide range of organically polluted waters. The TOC is done instrumentally. The organic carbon is oxidised to carbon dioxide by burning or by chemical oxidation in solution.

The carbon dioxide gas is swept out and measured by infrared spectrometry or by re-dissolving it in water and measuring the pH change (the gas is acidic.) Both COD and TOC can often be correlated with

BOD for a specific wastewater sample Chromatography is a separation method based on the affinity difference between two phases, the stationary and mobile phases. This technique got its name, which means ‘colour picture,’ because it was first used to separate coloured pigments from a single spot on a piece of paper. A solvent, such as alcohol, is allowed to move slowly across the paper, and the different components of the pigment travel at different rates.

The result is a series of separated spots of different colours. They move at different rates because of differences in the pigments’ relative attraction to the paper (the ‘stationary phase) and their solubility in the solvent (the mobile phase). This principle is used in modern instrumentation to separate mixtures of organic chemicals or inorganic ions.

The components can be identified by their retention times or how long it takes them to pass through the instrument, and detectors can be used to measure the amount of each component.

Gas Chromatography (GC) permits the identification and quantification of trace organic compounds. In GC, gas is used as the mobile phase, and the stationary phase is a liquid that is coated either on an inert granular solid or on the walls of a capillary column. When the sample is injected into the column, the organic compounds are vaporised and moved through the column by the carrier gas at different rates depending on differences in partition coefficients between the mobile and stationary phases. The gas exiting the column is passed to a suitable detector. A variety of detectors can be used, including flame ionisation (FID), electron capture (ECD) and nitrogen–phosphorous. Since www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

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Cover Story: Water Analysis separation ability is good in this method, mixtures of substances with similar structure are systematically separated, identified and determined quantitatively in a single operation.

A more positive identification is possible using a mass spectrometer (MS) as the detector. In a MS, an ionised vapour is passed between magnets or radio frequency coils which separate the ions by mass (actually by charge to mass ratio). The pattern produced is characteristic of the particular substance, which can be identified by comparison with computerised ‘libraries’ of mass spectra. In the GC/MS method, as the gas emerges from the end of the GC column opening, it flows through a capillary column interface into the MS. The sample, then, enters the ionisation chamber, where a collimated beam of electrons impacts the sample molecules, causing ionisation and fragmentation. The next component is a mass analyser, which uses a magnetic field to separate the positively charged particles according to their mass. Several types of separating techniques exist; the most common are quadrupoles and ion traps.

After the ions are separated according to their masses, they enter a detector.

For substances which cannot easily be vaporised because of high boiling point or instability at higher temperatures, there is a liquid version of this technique called High Performance Liquid Chromatography or HPLC. Organic solvents are used as the mobile phase. Detection of the separated compounds is achieved through the use of absorbance detectors for organic compounds and through conductivity or electrochemical detectors for metallic and inorganic compounds. UV light absorption is often used for detection.

In Ion Chromatography (IC), the target analytes are charged inorganic or organic substances. The mobile phase is an aqueous (water-based) solution, and the stationary phase is made up of an ion-exchange resin. Colorimetric, electrometric or titrimetric detectors can be used for determining individual anions.

This technique can be used to measure the concentrations of several important inorganic anions, such as fluoride, sulphate, phosphate, and nitrate all in one analysis. IC provides for both qualitative and quantitative determination of anions n the mg/L range from a single analytical 30

SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

operation requiring only a few millilitres of sample and taking approximately 10 to 15 minutes for completion. IC can be used to monitor suspected carcinogenic by-products formed by oxidation of the halides–chlorate, chlorite and bromate– when drinking water and mineral water are disinfected Voltammetric trace and ultratrace analysis of drinking water, groundwater, surface water, seawater and wastewater is used to determine electrochemically active inorganic ions. It is frequently employed to complement and validate spectroscopic methods. Its features are compact equipment, relatively low investment and running costs, simple sample preparation, short analysis times and high accuracy and sensitivity.

In addition, unlike the spectroscopic methods, voltammetry is able to distinguish between different oxidation states of metal ions (speciation) as well as between free and bound metal ions. This provides important information regarding the bioavailability and toxicity of heavy metals. Important fields of application include environmental monitoring, limnology, hydrography, oceanography, marine biology and soil science. Many toxic transition metals and a few anions can be determined voltammetrically with a high degree of sensitivity and without prior sample preparation in drinking water and groundwater. These include zinc, cadmium, lead, copper, thallium, nickel, cobalt metal ions and even uranium (For adults, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a drinking water limit of 15 μg/L for uranium, which is radioactive and highly toxic.) Apart from heavy metals, voltammetry can also be used for trace analysis of a few anions. For example, free cyanide in a concentration range of 0.01 - 10 mg/L can be determined easily and reliably even in sulphidecontaining solutions with a large excess of phosphate, nitrate, sulphate and chloride.

Apart from its use to determine total metal concentration, voltammetry makes it possible to distinguish between the different oxidation states and also between free and bound metal ions. Important applications in seawater analysis include the determination of a series of transition metals, some of them toxic like chromium, cadmium, lead, copper and iron. n

Process analysers

A

t-line, In-line, and On-line are three terms used to describe the degree of connection of the analyser to the process stream.

The first step away from off-line testing (laboratory separated from the production plant), would be atline testing. This is the movement of process dedicated testing equipment to the production line to provide rapid results. One advantage is elimination of the transfer of samples involving time delays. At-line analysers can be used in drinking water treatment to determine pH value, alkalinity and active chlorine and determine pH value, conductivity, chloride and total hardness in cooling water and boiler feed water. In wastewater plants, they are useful to carry out frequently repeated tasks like filtering of wastewater samples automatically and cut the time spent on routine analysis both in the production plant and in the laboratory. On-line testing draws samples or monitors periodically while in-line testing, places probes in constant contact with the product to be analysed. The advantage of on/in-line testing is better control of the process. For example, on-line analysers are used to monitor the concentrations of sodium and silica in power plant cooling water systems, analysis of ammonia in drinking, waste or cooling water, and hardness of drinking, industrial waste and surface water, among many applications.

References:

1 WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (3rd Edition) 2 Process Analytical Technology: Applications to the Pharmaceutical Industry by Peter Scott, Quality Assurance Analytical Services, AstraZeneca, Westborough, MA 3 Parameters of Water Quality: Interpretation & Standards by Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland 4 Water pollution and how we prevent it by Joel Gordon (www.flushgordon.info) 5 American Society for Testing and Materials (www.astm.org) 6 H20 University (www.h2ou.com) 7 Water Analysis: Quality Assurance of Water (Metrohm)

APPLYING THOUGHT TO WATER IN THE MIDDLE EAST

www.h2ome.net Water evokes a deep sense of responsibility among the governments, people and businesses in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, which is the most water scarce region of the world.

Since 2006, H20 has been catering to this growing sensibility with insightful content that promotes the stewardship of this scarce resource.

Tel: +971 4 3756830 â&#x20AC;˘ Fax: +971 4 4341906 www.cpi-industry.com

AUTOMATION SPECIAL: CASE STUDY

Total control

Process automation played a key role in ensuring operational efficiency, safety and reliability at the 200,000m3/day Tlemcen-Honaine desalination plant GEIDA, a consortium of Spanish companies made up of Befesa Agua from Abengoa and Sadyt from Sacyr Vallehermoso, focuses on the construction and operation of desalination plants in Algeria. Together with Algerian Energy Company (AEC), GEIDA is developing the 200,000 m3/ day seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant in Honaine, Tlemcen under a 25-year Build, Own, Operate (BOO) contract. In addition to the desalination plant, the Tlemcen-Honaine complex also includes a ‘University of Water’ and a development centre.

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

At its third plant in Algeria, GEIDA took on the huge challenge to build the plant (its third such project in Algeria) that would treat seawater and produce drinking water for more than 750,000 people in the region. In order to accomplish this task, the company decided to partner with Honeywell Process Solutions as its automation and control provider.

Miguel Larrinaga, Instrumentation, Control & Electricity Assembly Manager, Befesa Agua International División, said: “We had specific requirements of the automation and control provider that we would select.

The company had to demonstrate its ability

to execute a project of size and scope and provide the maintenance and onsite staff, which we felt were imperative to make this project a success.”

Desalination is a continuous process, from sea water intake to product output; hence, the process control is similar to other industrial processes. However, desalination is also different from typical industrial processes due to discontinuous processes in the filtration stage, related to the cleaning operation of those filters.

Honeywell’s scope included Experion PKS automation system with an operator console, engineering station and six C300 redundant controllers. The controllers are centralised, while four remote locations, physically distributed and communicating through a redundant fibre optic, accomplish the I/O integration.

Javier Casado, Account Manager-Business Development, Honeywell Process Solutions said: “The operational priorities for an RO desalination plant operator are maximum plant availability, minimum downtime,

production adjustment to demand and reduction of electricity consumption. This justifies the need for remote operation and visualisation. Experion PKS, through the DSA (Distributed Server Architecture) integration, facilitates monitoring and integration of plants located in different control centres, while maintaining a unique database. Experion PKS allows integration, through the plant information network, with other control networks.”

The equipment managed by the controllers includes field process instrumentation with HART communications and a motor control centre for command and diagnostics and monitoring of the electrical substation.

The four locations are physically sequenced, following the entire desalination process as follows: • First, the location where the seawater intake happens • Second, the two-phase filtration process • Third, the main osmosis process • Fourth, where the pure water is mixed with additives like salt to make it fit for human consumption.

Honeywell also installed a second fibre optic network for integrating electrical information from motor control centres (MCCs), both low and medium voltage. This is also subdivided in the four phases with the integration allowing the C300 controllers to perform commands to the MCC through Modbus protocol communications, where the auxiliary motor information is coming from. Experion controllers can directly communicate with these devices without the need for cumbersome gateways. The Ethernet electrical network also travels to the main location where an electrical substation is integrated.

The sequential control was implemented through Experion Control Builder by configuring control modules and sequential control modules that also provide real-time graphical monitoring of control execution to greatly ease process troubleshooting.

Additionally, the project incorporates Honeywell eServer and a Honeywell Field Device Manager (FDM) for management of smart devices using HART. Drawing attention to some of the project-highlights, Casado said: “There was a significant use of generic control programming, as well as generic operation graphics, sometimes referred to as

Javier Casado

templating. A specially designed asset tree gives operators an overview of the Experion PKS and sub-system assets. This templating system has been extensively used in the filter network, leading to a significant reduction in time for implementation of work and tests. It will also further simplify maintenance tasks in

Honeywell has designed the I/O signals to I/O processors/ channels in order to allow for the assignment of multiple cables. In this way, cross-wiring in marshalling cabinets has been minimised and helped speed up the deployment process

the system application.”

On the incorporation of redundancy, Casado pointed out that redundant controllers have been taken into account.

He said, “Input and output modules are non-redundant, although a line distribution for filtration and reverse osmosis was designed in order to ensure availability and to maintain production plant capacity at 80%.”

Elaborating on the networking and communication protocols used in this project, Casado said, “A Modbus TCP helps integrate the MCC diagnostics and substation. HART has been used for field instrumentation. There was also a need for long-distance communications with a destination tank approximately 15 kilometres away from the site. In this case, flow, level variables and plant data will be transmitted via Profibus in order to have a set point for production regulation as per demand. This will allow the operator to automatically regulate production as required. A night plant operation is also being considered in order to take advantage of the night consumption rate.”

Larrinaga praised Honeywell’s role as a key factor in GEIDA being “able to start up this facility ahead of time and on budget and achieve the reliability, safety and efficiency expected at our desalination plant.”

Casado added: “Honeywell’s Experion system is tailored to the needs of remotely located and distributed plants. As a result, our system architecture has been optimised to become better adapted to the installation. Another factor is the marshalling of cables. Honeywell has designed the input and output signals to I/O processors/channels in order to allow for the assignment of multiple cables.

In this way, cross-wiring in marshalling cabinets has been minimised and helped speed up the deployment process.”

Given the concerns about securing critical national assets like desalination plants against threats originating in the networks (all the more important if one takes into account remote operations), how does Experion PKS address this issue?

Casado pointed out that the plant’s assets are secured by a firewall at the FTE (Fault Tolerant Network) level. In addition to this, C300 control processor integrity is ensured through the use of the exclusive Experion Control Firewall. n www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

33

AUTOMATION SPECIAL: SCADA

Data to the rescue Jose de la Fuente on how advanced detection techniques relying on data analysis can plug leakages in water transmission and distribution mains Water loss is a major concern for most water utilities worldwide, affecting not only operational processes but also financial, social and environmental aspects of the utility. A 2006 World Bank report declared that the total cost of non-revenue water (NRW) for water utilities worldwide can be conservatively estimated at US $14 billion per year, with two thirds of it occurring in the developed countries.

Water losses are real (physical losses) or apparent (economic or commercial losses).

Real water losses reflect water lost from the network and not used, such as leaks in the distribution system, overflows from reservoirs and washouts. Apparent water losses reflect water that is consumed by users but unmetered, or not correctly metered, and consequently taken into account. Here, we refer primarily to real water losses focusing on the detection of leaks in transmission and distribution mains where most network water is physically lost. We also discuss how leak management solution integrates with the enterprise SCADA system and uses the system’s real-time data to promptly identify the presence of leaks or bursts and minimises costs and other adverse impacts for the utility.

Hunting down NRW leaks Traditionally, water loss control activities minimise the effects of inefficient processes and support operations stressed by water supply limits. Even well-managed utilities and those operating with ample supply of fresh water have many reasons to go after water loss.

Shareholders continuously seek financial optimisation. The reduction of NRW can result in an increase in revenues where the water demand is not entirely satisfied; it reduces the expense of treating and pumping lost water; and leak detection and repair is often a less costly alternative to tapping new water sources.

Utilities’ water loss control policies increasingly impact stakeholders through: • Increasingly stringent leakage guidelines 34

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and targets • Customers who are more cognisant of water usage and leakage These concerns impact utilities, affecting corporate image, imposing penalties, tariff caps, and service contract breaches.

Leakage simply cannot be ignored.

A sustainable strategy to control real water loss should embrace four main tactics: • Active Leakage Control (ALC) • Pipeline and asset management • Speed and quality of repairs • Pressure management Active Leakage Control proactively searches for hidden leaks. Basic ALC consists of periodically “sweeping” the water network to identify the presence of leaks in water mains. A more comprehensive ALC approach is to make regular network flow measurements to identify new leaks quickly.

The sooner a leak is detected, the sooner it can be located and repaired. Detecting leaks quickly after formation requires realtime or near-real-time analysis of hydraulic parameters (flow, pressure, and level) throughout the water distribution system.

SCADA for leak detection The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is an ideal platform for performing the advanced analysis that promptly identifies leakage presence. Yet many water utilities still do not exploit their SCADA system to the fullest, often using it to collect periodic flow data to calculate water balances and estimate water loss. In contrast, the oil industry extensively uses software tools that, installed on top of the SCADA system, proactively execute leak detection.

Leak detection systems based on field data typically apply one of these leak detection techniques: 1. Balancing of pipeline input versus output 2. Hydraulic analysis (flows and pressures are compared against simulated values) 3. Monitoring of signals generated by a leak (such as a pressure wave) 4. Hydraulic parameters trending analysis (such as flow and pressure) Techniques 1, 2, and 3 typically detect and locate bursts in water transmission schemes where metering accuracy is usually high, operations are steady, and the presence of non-metered customers is negligible.

Technique 4 is typically applied to track leaks within distribution networks, preferably at a district-metered-area (DMA) level, integrating data from the DMA inlet meter with the SCADA system.

In a typical water supply system, real losses might exist in the distribution networks and in transmission schemes.

Therefore, it might be necessary to deploy more than one of the abovementioned techniques in order to achieve comprehensive leak detection. All the above methods require analysis of data collected by the SCADA system. Analysis can be simple or extensive, and without specific software calculations, comparisons with historic data and exchange of information with other enterprise systems would be extremely difficult.

At Telvent, we have packaged methods to perform real-time network analysis and modelling for leakage detection as the Leak Management application of the Telvent

Leak detection technique

Method(s) used

1

Balancing of pipeline mass input versus output

Mass balance

2

Hydraulic analysis

Flow balance Divergences between measured and calculated flow / pressure values Pressure gradients analysis 3

Monitoring of signals generated by a leak

Pressure transients analysis

4

Trending analysis

Minimum night flow analysis Flow/pressure trends analysis

Water Management Suite solution. They work within a single software framework to analyse real-time data from SCADA systems and allow the water operator to assess the presence of leaks across the network.

The Telvent Leak Management solution helps affect efficient ALC by immediately detecting a new leak occurrence. Reports and alarms are issued immediately and the system allows the user to choose from five leak detection methods.

Smart Water Networks Integrated, modular systems deliver targeted solutions, ability to adapt and grow. Every time the utility gathers, treats, and distributes water – every time a pump starts, every time a tank is filled, every time a tap is opened – it generates data that can reveal valuable network operations and business insight. The challenge is to transform all of this data into meaningful information and transfer it quickly and accurately to all internal and external functions and departments that can use it.

A Smart Water Network not only provides enhanced automated process control but can fully process data in real time to save water and labour costs, optimise compliance and security, and assure good customer service. A Smart Water Network integrates very well with legacy systems, making information transformation and flow available to anyone using the existing technology, and thus helps realise the full potential of all infrastructure investments, past and future. The Smart Water Network can adapt to the utility’s processes, provided that necessary standard water utility information is available. Yet specific challenges can create different priorities and different information needs. The Smart Water Network must be flexible and open in its architecture to integrate as much as possible with the existing technology base and accommodate extensions and system enhancements to meet future needs.

Information from a well-integrated system is accurate, secure, and timely and helps the entire utility make better decisions

approach: • Prioritise issues across the organisation • Look at which systems are already in place and what can be done with them • Decide which new investments are needed to complement existing capabilities Most water utilities have a control system and a hydraulic model, but few link these two systems together for real-time leak detection, or link them with a GIS and a maintenance management system to increase leak management efficiency.

Fewer link these systems to an ERP to know the total cost of their leaks. The water utility that implements monitoring, control, and information management processes through a suite of modular, integrated solutions will see immediate improvements in operations efficiency and security and will continually reap benefits as its needs change or expand. n

more quickly. The cross-departmental nature of the Smart Water Network even allows the utility to take proactive actions in areas where it was not possible before because managing water leaks impacts several departments. The utility operating with a Smart Water Network has reliable information that can help prevent leaks and expedite location and repair when they do occur, saving costs and water: Real time information helps to confirm an actual leak and the need for action.

This same real-time SCADA information triggers a review order in the maintenance system, which is linked to a geographic information system (GIS). The GIS query, identifies where the problem exists, which The author is GCC Area Manager-Water course of action will minimise impact Utilities, Telvent on the rest of the network, and notify the control room as to which valves must be closed. Using the client database, • Gutermann Leak the GIS identifies Detection Equipment the customers who • Non Revenue Water audits (IWA standard) will be impacted, • Outsourced leak allowing notification detection services to take place before • Unmanned Remote remedial action.

Leak Monitoring (Zonescan) Integration with the Enterprise Resource Call now Planning system for a quotation or (ERP) can create time demonstration of the Gutermann range of and cost information products regarding the impact Ground Mics, Digital on business. Any Correlators, Zonescan event triggers a Loggers, Trunk Mains Correlators series of information activities that helps departments work together to make World Clasts the best decisions Equipmen ty 2 year Warran while measuring ing Local train and minimising the and support. event’s impact.

The best way for Blue Gold Technology FZC utilities to establish a Tel: +971 50 871 4184 Smart Water Network Email: ceo@bluegold.ae www.BlueGold.ae is to follow a phased

We Find LEAKS!

www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

35

FEATURE: Disinfection

Advantage UV Damian Corbet makes the case for wastewater re-use using ultraviolet (UV) disinfection technology The ultraviolet (UV) disinfection industry has experienced tremendous growth over the last 20 years – particularly in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and South East Asia. The development of new UV technologies over this period is a perfect example of an industry investing to meet market demand – in this case demand for an effective, low cost and environmentally friendly way to disinfect wastewater for reuse. The acceptance of UV disinfection at wastewater plants treating almost four billion litres daily is proof that UV is no longer an ‘emerging’ technology but rather an accepted technology to be used routinely by engineers to safeguard human health and alleviate environmental pressures.

Wastewater reuse has been practised in various forms for decades, with the US leading the way in reuse research. It is now a major issue in the southern US, southern

Europe, the Middle East, Australia and many parts of Asia where chronic water shortages are driving investment in reuse technology.

The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling has vastly improved UV equipment manufacturers’ ability to predict with confidence the level of treatment required for wastewater using their proprietary equipment. All manufacturers will soon use this tool to optimise the dose delivery of their reactors and minimise energy costs. Also, as manufacturers develop and improve optimised UV reactors, they will be able to validate the designs using recognised validation protocols.

Conventional UV lamp technology will also improve over the coming years, with medium pressure lamps continuing to see gains in energy efficiency, lamp life and power density, and Quartz coating techniques extending lamp life to well over 12,000 hours.

Concerns A major concern to the UV industry is the issue of reactivation – the apparent ability of some microorganisms to repair the damage done to their DNA by UV, reactivating their ability to infect. DNA repair can occur in a closed (dark) system, but is more likely in open systems under direct sunlight (photoreactivation). The dose level and lamp type seem to affect the degree of reactivation, with low pressure (single wavelength) UV lamps appearing to be more susceptible to photoreactivation than medium pressure (multi-wavelength) lamps (reference 1). A much larger research effort into the area of photoreactivation is required and will most likely be forthcoming over the next five years.

A significant amount of research has also targeted the question of UV disinfection by-products, specifically the most common water constituents such as chlorine, bromide, nitrate, ozone, natural organic matter and iron. At normal UV disinfection doses no significant disinfection by-products have been shown to form.

Benefits of UV for the reuse market

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The most common method of wastewater disinfection for reuse has long been chlorination. Despite chlorine’s impressive track record, concerns regarding disinfection by-products (DBPs) and, more recently, disinfection performance with respect to pathogen inactivation, are driving the conversion from chlorine disinfection to other disinfection methods such as UV, which does not produce any DBPs. Closed vessel UV systems are easy to install within existing pipework, so there is minimal disruption to plant operation.

Day-to-day operation is simple and only minor maintenance is needed. The only regular requirement is changing the UV lamps and wiper rings once a year, a straightforward operation that can be carried out by on-site personnel.

Case study

T 2 UV systems for wastewater reuse are also validated to much higher doses than drinking water systems, according to protocols established by the National Water Research Institute (NWRI) in the US. Drinking water type product validation, with the accompanying rigour, will emerge as the dominant method of assessing suitability for these critical applications. The ability to prevent photo repair will also emerge as key.

1 A typical Berson InLine UV system, showing the UV lamps inside 2 A Berson InLine UV system used for wastewater reuse (for irrigation) in Arizona, USA 3 A generic image of a UV lamp

Applications for wastewater reuse Potential applications for wastewater reuse are extremely wide-ranging and include any instance where water is needed for non-potable use. The most popular and widespread use is for agricultural irrigation, with California and Florida leading the way in the US and a number of Australian states also making significant progress. Other irrigation uses include landscape and recreational applications such as golf courses, parks, and lawns.

Reclaimed wastewater is also used for groundwater recharge applications such as aquifer storage and recovery or preventing saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers. Other uses include toilet and urinal flushing, fire fighting, foundation stabilisation in the construction industry and artificial snow generation. In all these applications, reuse wastewater relieves the burden on existing municipal potable supplies.

The UV industry has matured considerably over the last decade and is now highly regulated and dominated by the world’s major water technology companies.

Conventional UV technologies have been field tested and now have considerable track records in a wide range of applications.

Uncertainties surrounding regulations,

3 royalties, technology and engineering have decreased, and acceptance of UV is expected to grow rapidly over the next 20 years. Conventional UV designs have been greatly aided by CFD, which will be used as a routine sizing tool for future designs.

The stage is now set for dramatic growth in the wastewater reuse market, especially with increasing populations putting even more pressure on already overstretched water resources in many regions of the world. Tighter limitations on pollution discharge will also play an important role in the development of this technology. n

The author is Senior Press Officer with Halma plc, an international group of companies including UV disinfection technology specialists Hanovia (UK). Aquionics (US) and Berson (Netherlands. Berson supplies closed-vessel, medium pressure UV disinfection technology for drinking water and wastewater applications

wo golf courses in Anthem, Arizona, are using UV-treated wastewater for irrigation. Founded less than 10 years ago Anthem, a town just north of Phoenix, now has a population of over 40,000. As part of its rapid expansion the town recently installed three closed chamber, medium pressure UV systems from Berson UV-techniek to disinfect its wastewater. This allows the town to not only meet increased demands in its water and wastewater treatment capacity but also to exceed the output quality standards.

"The wastewater is treated by three Berson InLine systems handling a combined flow of three million gallons per day," explained Anthem’s wastewater Foreman Jeff Marlow.

“They work in conjunction with microfiltration and nitrification/ denitrification. We chose the Berson UV systems because they are optimised to meet the upcoming Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (AZPDES) Permit Program," he added.

The two local golf courses currently use a combination of UV treated wastewater and fresh river water for irrigation, but with increase in population, it is expected that the courses will soon be using wastewater exclusively.

An automatic cleaning mechanism keeps the lamp sleeves free of organic deposits for consistent UV dosing. Each chamber is also fitted with UV monitors to measure actual UV dose for record keeping. With the addition of an optional online transmittance monitor, real time transmittance values are used to automatically adjust the dose pacing of the UV system.

References:

1. Hu J. Y., Chu, S. N., Quek, P. H., Feng, Y. Y., and Tan, X. L. (2005). Repair and regrowth of Escherichia coli after low- and medium-pressure ultraviolet disinfection. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, Vol. 5, No. 5, 101-108.

2. Oguma, K., Katayama, H., and Ohgaki, S. (2005). Spectral impact of inactivating light on photoreactivation of Escherichia coli. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science, Suppl. 1: S1-S6.

3. Zimmer, J. L. & Slawson, R. M. (2002). Potential repair of Escherichia coli DNA following exposure to UV radiation from both medium- and low-pressure UV sources used in drinking water treatment. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 68, No. 7, 3293-3299.

www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

37

FEATURE: UTILITIES

Mapping the underworld A UK-based multi-university, multi-disciplinary initiative is aiming to develop tools that will achieve complete location, positioning and digital recording of buried utilities, in all ground conditions

I

t is estimated that there are enough pipes and cables buried within the UK that, if laid end to end, would stretch to the moon and back ten times. These buried pipes and cables provide the principal means to supply power, gas, telecommunications and clean water as well as remove foul water, and as such are vital to modern living.

They require regular maintenance, and occasionally require emergency repair in the event of failure, to maintain their function. New sections of pipeline are often added to the existing networks to ensure that the utilities can cope with increasing demand. Without careful control of these networks the disruption in supply can result in the breakdown of modern living (as illustrated by the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe in 2008 due to poor control of sewage and potable water supply networks, BBC, 2008).

The traditional construction techniques associated with maintenance or installation of buried utilities in the UK utilise open-cut methods. The principal advantages of open-cut techniques are

Figure 1: MTU Timeline. (ASTT, 2008)

Water/Gas Industry Vision: Bodyscanner in the Street

1996 UKWIR Commissions Location Trials

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that construction workers can see what they are dealing with and have space, if limited, in which to work. However, opencut methods damage the carriageway, potentially damage adjacent utilities during excavation and disrupt society’s functions (congestion caused by street works is considered a major problem within the UK). It is estimated that up to four million holes are dug in the UK road network each year to install, or maintain existing utilities. Written records describing the location of buried utilities are often imprecise or wrong, leading to frequent failure to locate the desired utility (known as dry-holes). A report published by McMahon et al. (2005) estimated that street works associated with utility management

cost the UK economy £7 billion annually (£1.5 billion in direct costs and £5.5 billion in disruption to society’s function).

Alternatives to trenching do exist: geophysical detection techniques can be employed to locate utilities without the need for excavation, and trenchless technologies can be used to refurbish or install new utilities. However, these are not commonly used in preference to opencut trenching due to perceived limitations associated with the techniques. An investigation into geophysical performance was undertaken by Ashdown (2001), with geophysical location companies invited to survey a test site where the locations of the buried utilities were known. An 80% detection rate, at best, was returned. It is not suggested that detection rates would still be at the same level nearly a decade on and there clearly has been improvement in technology and surveying practices.

However, a desired 100% detection rate in all ground conditions, using geophysical techniques, is still beyond current means.

The inability to locate all buried

Location of Underground Plant and Equipment Initiative > Minimising Streetworks Disruption UKWIR - AWWARF - KIWA 3 day Workshop

2000 NETTWORK Workshop Underground Mapping Pipeline Location and Condition Assessment

MTU Project - Location - Mapping - Data integration - Asset tags - Network

2004 Ideas Factory: ‘Mapping the Underworld’ term coined

Project VISTA Advances Mapping and Knowledge Management elements of MTU

infrastructure effectively results in installations being conducted using trenchless technologies that can disturb the ground, without full knowledge of what is buried below. This raises the level of risk associated with utility strikes and makes the trenchless techniques less appealing than open-cut methods.

Mapping the Underworld (MTU) is a UK based multi-university, multidisciplinary research initiative that aims to research and develop the tools necessary to achieve the location, positioning and digital recording of 100% of the buried utilities in all ground conditions. It is envisaged that the successful completion

of MTUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aims will promote the adoption of geophysical detection techniques and trenchless technology installation/ maintenance techniques when working in the street. The MTU initiative commenced in 2005 and has a 15 year programme (Figure 1). The first phase of the project (2005-2009) comprised four research projects: a study investigating the feasibility of a multi-sensor platform; methods to determine the position of utilities using surveying methods, even in crowded urban environments; development of a common format for a cross utility company electronic records database; and resonant tags that increase the likelihood

for detection of utilities fitted with the tags when using ground penetrating radar (these tags can be retrofitted to existing pipes during maintenance cycles or built into the walls during the construction of new pipes). Each of these projects received further funding.

In 2009, the MTU Location project (development of a multi-sensor platform) received ÂŁ3.5 million, in funding, from the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to research and develop a multi-sensor platform. This platform will utilise four location technologies: ground penetrating radar (GPR), vibro-acoustics, low-frequency electromagnetic and passive

Streetworks become more sustainable - road occupation minimised - night surveys - trenchless installation / replacement / rehabilitation - congestion reduced

MTU Location Project: Multi-Sensor Device Generation, Assessment, Protocols

2008

2016 2012

...and more sustainable forms of utility service provision research

2020

Assessing the Underworld: Creating MultiSensor Device for Remote Assessment Monitoring of Asset Condition

www.h2ome.net | SEPTEMBER 2010

39

FEATURE: UTILITIES

magnetic fields. Two of the location techniques (GPR and vibro-acoustics) are being optimised for the project, whilst the remaining location techniques are being developed from first principles.

The four location technologies have been selected as no single technique has the potential to detect all buried utilities in all ground conditions (when considering the sheer range of variations in possible burial depths, pipe materials and ground conditions that could be encountered on site), whereas the four location techniques operating in conjunction might. To improve detection rates still further, and reduce the impact of ground conditions on the location techniques, the potential for the development of in-pipe sensors (to work in conjunction with the surface mounted multi-sensor platform) for GPR and vibro-acoustic techniques is being investigated (Figure 2). Preliminary testing of the combined locating technologies is due to commence in the summer of 2010.

The multi-sensor device is being developed on a principle that it should not be used in isolation. Additional sources of information for a site due to be surveyed are likely to exist, and these should be incorporated into the surveying process to ensure that every opportunity is exploited to locate all of the buried utilities. For example,

records for the utilities found on a site are often available and the ground conditions on site are known, or can be derived. Research is being undertaken to fuse the data from the four sensors with existing electronic location records for the site being surveyed (should they exist), thus providing an additional data feed to increase the confidence in the location of the buried utilities.

Discrepancies can be used to inform additional data analysis, to increase detection rates to 100%, or if it is found that the records are incorrect then the data from the multi-sensor device can be used to update the electronic records. Additionally, research is being undertaken to identify the relationship between the geotechnical and geophysical properties of the ground; the understanding generated will be used as a foundation for a ‘Knowledge-Based System’ (KBS) that is being developed to help inform the surveyor of the ground conditions on site and their effects on the geophysical signals. The KBS is based on the electronic records regarding the ground conditions within the UK (parent rock, soils, pore water chemistry) held by the British Geological Survey. It will utilise the understanding of the interaction between the soil and the geophysical signals and the change in soil properties with changes in season (also being developed Central Database of Asset Positions

Surveying Device Capable of Accurate Positioning in Urban Canyons Processed and Fused Data

Fused Device and Database Data to Provide Confidence in What is Predicted to be Buried Below

GPR

Magnetic Sensors

Acoustic Sensors

Eelctrostatic Flux-Mill Sensors

In-Pipe GPR Transmitter

A Kohonen map of a disparate database

Figure 2: Concept of the Multi-Sensor Device And External Database Combining To Predict What Is Buried Below. (Configuration of Device and Location of the Sensors are only Provided as a Representation and are Not Meant To Be An Accurate Depiction Of The Device) (Rogers et al., 2009)

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in the project), to inform the surveyor and allow the optimisation of the deployment strategies for the individual sensors and the optimisation of data analysis. n References: Ashdown C. (2001). Mains Location Equipment A State of the Art Review and Future Research Needs – Final Report. UK Water Industry Research, London, UKWIR Report Number: 01/WM/06/1, ISBN: 1 84057 233 7 ASTT (2008) Utility Location: Mapping the Underworld: Locating Buried Assets Without Excavation. Trenchless Australasia, Published by Great Southern Press of behalf of the Australasian Society for Trenchless Technology, October 2008 pp. 40-42 BBC (2008). Water crisis hinders cholera fight. Online article posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008. Last accessed June 2010, for further information please see: http:// news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7761520. stm McMahon W., Burtwell M.H. and Evans M. (2005). Minimising Street Works Disruption: The Real Costs of Street Works to the Utility Industry and Society. UK Water Industry Research, London, UKWIR Report Number: 05/WM/12/8, ISBN: 1 84057 408 9.

Rogers C.D.F., Chapman D.N., Royal A.C.D. and Metje N. (2009). The Mapping The UK Underworld Project. Proceedings of the International No-Dig Show 2009 Toronto, Ontario Canada March 29 – April 3, 2009 The article has been jointly compiled by the following: Royal, A.C.D1., Rogers, C.D.F1, Atkins P.R.2, Brennan, M.J.3, Chapman, D.N.1, Chen, H. 4, Cohn, A.G.4, Curioni, G.1, Foo, K.Y2, Goddard, K.5, Hao, T.1, Lewin, P.L.5, Metje, N.1, Muggleton, J.M.3, Naji, A.6, Pennock, S.R.6, Redfern, M.A.6, Saul, A.J.7, Swingler, S.G.5 and Wang, P. 5.

1 School of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham 2 School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Birmingham 3 Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton 4 School of Computing, University of Leeds 5 School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton 6 Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Bath 7 Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, University of Sheffield MTU is a collaborative research project, benefitting from the generous input and involvement from our many industry partners. If your organisation would like to become a project partner of MTU, please get in touch, our regularly updated website contains more information: www.mappingtheunderworld.ac.uk)

TENDERS

PROJECTS

Project Number Project Name Territory Client

ZPR118-O Al Sur IWPP Project Oman Name: Oman Power & Water Procurement Company S.A.O.C Address: Muscat International Centre, 2nd Floor, Suite 504 City: Ruwi PC 112 Country: Oman Tel: (+968) 2482 3028 / 2482 3000 E-mail: ahmed.busaidi@omanpwp.com Website: http://www.omanpwp.co.om/ Description Build, own and operate contract for the construction of an independent water and power plant (IWPP) with capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) at Al Sur. Remarks This project is in Sharqiyah. Request for proposal (RFP) for the BOO contract is expected to be issued in September/October 2010. A consortium of UK/Local British Power International, Ernst & Young and DLA Piper have been appointed as the advisory services contract on this scheme.

Technical British Power International (UK) Consultant Technical Ernst & Young (Oman) Consultant-1 Technical DLA Piper (Oman) Consultant-2 Tender Categories Potable Water Works Power Generation & Distribution Project Number ZPR120-SA Project Name Yanbu Power & Desalination Plant Project - Phase 2 Territory Saudi Arabia Client Name: Power & Water Utilities Company for Jubail & Yanbu - MARAFIQ (Saudi Arabia) Address: Jubail Industrial City City: Jubail 31961 Postal/Zip Code: 11133 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-3) 340 1111 Fax: (+966-3) 340 1168 E-mail: butiza@marafiq.com.sa Website: http://www.marafiq.com.sa/ Description Engineering, procurement and construction of 850MW power and desalination plant with capacity of 60,000 cubic metres a day in Yanbu.

Closing Date November 3, 2010 Period 15/09/2013 Remarks Updated On: July 26, 2010 Nine companies have been invited to submit proposals for the EPC contract on this scheme.

They are local Arabian Bemco Contracting Company, Germany’s Siemens, US’ Bechtel, Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas, Italy’s Snamprogetti, South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Engineering, Hanwha Engineering & Construction and Daelim Engineers & Construction Company.

This project is in Saudi Arabia. Request for proposal (RFP) for the EPC contract has been issued.

Tender Categories Potable Water Works Power Generation & Distribution Project Number YPD-P3-SA Project Name Yanbu Power & Desalination Plant Project - Phase 3 Territory Saudi Arabia Client Name: Saline Water Conversion Corporation SWCC (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11691 Postal/Zip Code: 85369 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 463 1111/ 463 4546/ 463 0503 Fax: (+966-1) 464 3235 E-mail: info@swcc.gov.sa 42

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Website: http://www.swcc.gov.sa/ Description Engineering, procurement and construction of 1,700MW power and desalination plant with capacity of 550,000 cubic metres a day in Yanbu.

Tender Cost $ 53,335 Closing Date September 22, 2010 Remarks Updated On: July 12, 2010 An award for the main contract is expected by end of December 2010.

Tender No. YPD-P3 This project is in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Germany’s Fichtner is the project consultant.

Main Consultant Fichtner Gmbh & Co. KG (Germany) Tender Categories Power Generation & Distribution Potable Water Works Project Number OPR419-O Project Name Water Treatment Plants Project Dahboon & Barbazom Territory Oman Client Name: Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) Address: Mina Al Fahal Street City: Muscat 113 Postal/Zip Code: 81 Country: Oman Tel: (+968) 2467 8111 Fax: (+968) 2467 7106 E-mail: external-affairs@pdo.co.om Website: http://www.pdo.co.om/ Description Construction of two reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plants for a petroleum company.

Remarks This project will be located at Dahboon and Barbazom in the governorate of Dhofar. It will provide clean water to the residents and being funded by the PDO’s Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).

Tender Categories Potable Water Works Project Number RW/P/C/007-SA/1 Project Name Pipeline Valves Insulator Replacement & Rehabilitation Works Territory Saudi Arabia Client Name: Saline Water Conversion Corporation SWCC (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11691 Postal/Zip Code: 85369 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 463 1111/ 463 4546/ 463 0503 Fax: (+966-1) 464 3235 E-mail: info@swcc.gov.sa Website: http://www.swcc.gov.sa/ Description Carrying out replacement and rehabilitation of main pipeline valves insulator at a station.

Tender Cost $ 135 Closing Date October 4, 2010 Remarks Tender No. RW/P/C/007 This tender service is at Jubail Stations in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Tender Categories Potable Water Works Project Number Project Name Territory Client

MT-363-SA Flow Meters Installation Saudi Arabia Name: Saline Water Conversion Corporation SWCC (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11691 Postal/Zip Code: 85369 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 463 1111/ 463 4546/ 463 0503 Fax: (+966-1) 464 3235 E-mail: info@swcc.gov.sa Website: http://www.swcc.gov.sa/ Description Installation of (2 Nos.) 56 inch-diametres flow

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meters in WSD pipelines at the pump station No. 2 for a water conversion corporation.

135 September 27, 2010 Tender No. MT-363 This tender supply is in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Potable Water Works

Project Number RW/R/C/400-SA/1 Project Name Seamed Pipelines Overhaul & Rehabilitation Works Territory Saudi Arabia Client Name: Saline Water Conversion Corporation SWCC (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11691 Postal/Zip Code: 85369 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 463 1111/ 463 4546/ 463 0503 Fax: (+966-1) 464 3235 E-mail: info@swcc.gov.sa Website: http://www.swcc.gov.sa/ Description Carrying out rehabilitation and overhaul of seamed pipelines for a water conversion corporation.

Tender Cost $ 135 Closing Date September 25, 2010 Remarks Tender No. RW/R/C/400 This tender service is in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Tender Categories Sewerage & Drainage Project Number 1037-SA Project Name Wastewater Networks Execution Project - Phase II Territory Saudi Arabia Client Name: Water Directorate (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11195 Postal/Zip Code: Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 476 1377 Fax: (+966-1) 401 2365 Description Carrying out execution of wastewater networks for a water directorate - Phase II. Tender Cost $ 270 Closing Date September 26, 2010 Remarks Tender No. 1037 This project is at Surat Obeidah in Saudi Arabia.

Tender documents can be obtained from: Tenders and Procurement Department, Aseer Water Directorate Aseer, Saudi Arabia.

Tender Categories Sewerage & Drainage Project Number PWA/GTC/027/10-11-Q Project Name Pumping Stations Refurbishment & Upgrade Works Project - Phase VIII Territory Qatar Client Name: Public Works Authority - ASHGHAL (Qatar) Address: Ashghal Tower City: Doha Postal/Zip Code: 22188 Country: Qatar Tel: (+974) 495 0000 Fax: (+974) 495 0999 E-mail: info@ashghal.com Website: http://www.ashghal.com/ Description Carrying out refurbishment and upgrading works of various pumping stations for a public works authority - Phase VIII. Tender Cost $ 1,375 Closing Date October 19, 2010 Remarks Tender No. PWA/GTC/27/10-11 This project is in Qatar. Tender documents can be

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Name: job title: Company: Industry sector:

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43

TENDERS

Tender Categories Project Number Project Name Territory Client

Description

Budget $ Closing Date Remarks Tender Categories Project Number Project Name Territory Client

Description Tender Cost $ Closing Date Remarks

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Description Tender Cost $ Closing Date Remarks

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PROJECTS

obtained from: Public Works Authority Doha, Qatar.

Tel: (+974) 495 0077 / 495 0749 / 495 0743 / 495 0758.

Fax: (+974) 495 0777.

Bid bond is QR 1,000,000.

Sewerage & Drainage ZPR122-SA Khobar - Hasa Treated Effluent Transmission Lines Project Saudi Arabia Name: Hasa Irrigation & Drainage Authority (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-2) 530 0093 Fax: (+966-2) 530 1413 E-mail: info@hida.gov.sa Website: http://www.hida.gov.sa/ Construction of treated effluent transmission lines from the sewage treatment plant in Al Khobar to Hasa with capacity of 200,000 cubic metres a day.

133,000,000 October 5, 2010 This project is in Saudi Arabia. Invitation to bid (ITB) for the construction contract has been issued.

Sewerage & Drainage SH/R/C/455-SA Pipelines Rehabilitation Works-1 Saudi Arabia Name: Saline Water Conversion Corporation SWCC (Saudi Arabia) Address: City: Riyadh 11691 Postal/Zip Code: 85369 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 463 1111/ 463 4546/ 463 0503 Fax: (+966-1) 464 3235 E-mail: info@swcc.gov.sa Website: http://www.swcc.gov.sa/ Carrying out rehabilitation, repair and detection of main pipelines at a station.

135 October 6, 2010 Tender No. SH/R/C/455 This project is at Shoaiba Stations in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sewerage & Drainage SQ/MM/554-SA Chlorine Injection System Rehabilitation Project Saudi Arabia Name: Saline Water Conversion Corporation SWCC (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11691 Postal/Zip Code: 85369 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 463 1111/ 463 4546/ 463 0503 Fax: (+966-1) 464 3235 E-mail: info@swcc.gov.sa Website: http://www.swcc.gov.sa Carrying out rehabilitation of chlorine injection system for a water conversion corporation.

1,335 October 19, 2010 Tender No. SQ/MM/554 This project is at the Water Treatment Station in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be

SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

Tender Categories Project Number Project Name Territory Client

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Tender Categories

obtained from: Procurement Department, Saline Water Conversion Corporation Alshegaig, Saudi Arabia.

Potable Water Works 481/1431/1432-SA Water Purification Station Upgrade & Expansion Project Saudi Arabia Name: Ministry of Water & Electricity (Saudi Arabia) Address: King Fahd Road, Saudi Mall Centre City: Riyadh 11233 Postal/Zip Code: 5729 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 205 6666/ 205 2981 Fax: (+966-1) 205 2749 E-mail: info@mowe.gov.ae Website: http://www.mowe.gov.sa Carrying out expansion and upgrading of water purification station for a water & electricity authority.

400 November 1, 2010 Tender No. 481/1431/1432 This project is at Al-Hamimah in Saudi Arabia.

Tender documents can be obtained from: Procurement Department, Ministry of Water & Electricity, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Potable Water Works SQ/MI/615-SA Pipeline Field Instruments Rehabilitation & Upgrade Works Saudi Arabia Name: Saline Water Conversion Corporation SWCC (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11691 Postal/Zip Code: 85369 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 463 1111/ 463 4546/ 463 0503 Fax: (+966-1) 464 3235 E-mail: info@swcc.gov.sa Website: http://www.swcc.gov.sa Carrying out rehabilitation and upgrading of pipeline field instruments for a water conversion corporation.

135 October 17, 2010 Tender No. SQ/MI/615 This tender service is at Shuqaiq Plant in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Procurement Department, Saline Water Conversion Corporation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Potable Water Works 52/431/432-SA Pumps-275 Saudi Arabia Name: Water Directorate (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11195 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 476 1377 Fax: (+966-1) 401 2365 Supply and installation of pumps for a water directorate.

1,335 October 9, 2010 Tender No. 52/431/432 This tender supply is in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Procurement Department, Madinah Water General Directorate Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

Potable Water Works

middleeasttenders.com / +971 2 634 8495

Project Number Project Name Territory Client

Description Tender Cost $ Closing Date Remarks

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53/431/432-SA Water Pipelines O&M Project Saudi Arabia Name: Water Directorate (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11195 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 476 1377 Fax: (+966-1) 401 2365 Carrying out operation and maintenance of water pipelines for a water directorate.

1,335 October 9, 2010 Tender No. 53/431/432 This project is at Madinah Overpass Services in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Procurement Department, Madinah Water General Directorate Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

Potable Water Works 474/1431/1432-SA Pipelines, Water Networks & Tanks Construction Project Saudi Arabia Name: Ministry of Water & Electricity (Saudi Arabia) Address: King Fahd Road, Saudi Mall Centre City: Riyadh 11233 Postal/Zip Code: 5729 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 205 6666/ 205 2981 Fax: (+966-1) 205 2749 E-mail: info@mowe.gov.ae Website: http://www.mowe.gov.sa Construction of main pipelines, water networks and tanks for a water & electricity authority.

535 November 2, 2010 Tender No. 474/1431/1432 This project is at Hail towns and villages in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Procurement Department, Ministry of Water & Electricity Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Potable Water Works SQ/RE/615-SA Pipeline System Rehabilitation Project Saudi Arabia Name: Saline Water Conversion Corporation SWCC (Saudi Arabia) City: Riyadh 11691 Postal/Zip Code: 85369 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 463 1111/ 463 4546/ 463 0503 Fax: (+966-1) 464 3235 E-mail: info@swcc.gov.sa Website: http://www.swcc.gov.sa Carrying out rehabilitation and modernisation of pipeline site system for a water conversion corporation.

135 October 17, 2010 Tender No. SQ/RE615 This project is at Alshegaig Station in Saudi Arabia. Tender documents can be obtained from: Procurement Department, Saline Water Conversion Corporation Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Sewerage & Drainage

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eventsCALENDAR SEPTEMBER September 28-29, 2010, Damascus

Water Reuse and Desalination The Levant Desalination Association (LDA) has announced its first conference, which will focus on ‘Water Reuse and Desalination: Experience and Opportunity.’ This is the first in a series of events addressing desalination and water reuse that will be produced by the LDA in the region. LDA’s maiden conference will focus on water reuse and desalination technologies, and will be structured with expert presentations and an open forum to encourage lively interaction. This conference is extremely relevant to a wide range of stakeholders including policy makers at the national level, members of the private sector, municipalities, wastewater treatment plant operators, water practitioners, field service and extension advisors, beneficiaries of water reuse, relevant NGOs and regional and international entities working in Syria. The conference is being organised in a strategic partnership with the International Desalination Association (IDA) and the Network of Syrian Scientists, Technologists and Innovators Abroad (NO-STIA), under the Patronage of H. E. Mohammed Naji Otri, Prime Minister of Syria.

Contact: Ms. Patricia Burke Email: paburke@idadesal.org URL: www.levantdesal.org

hours for continuing education units and nine professional development hours. The 2010 focus areas include collection systems, instrumentation, & automation, industrial issues & treatment technology/microconstituents, leading edge research, residuals & biosolids management, sustainability/ energy conservation, utility management, water reclamation & reuse, watershed issues, and more. Other conference highlights will include the Opening General Session that will feature Steven Solomon, economics journalist and author of the best-selling book, Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilisation.

Registration for the event can be done online at www.weftec.org Contact: WEFTEC 2010 Tel: +1-708-486-0724 URL: www.weftec.org October 3-6, 2010, Jeddah

Saudi Water & Power Forum

Saudi Water & Power Forum (SWPF) unites the major Saudi and international stakeholders to discuss the policies and strategies which will determine the future of power and water in the Kingdom. The event is held under the patronage of H.R.H. Prince Khalid Bin Faisal Bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Makkah Region. H.E. Abdullah Al-Hussayen, Minister of Water & Electricity will preside over the inauguration ceremony.

The keynote address will be delivered by H.E. Dr Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, President, Arab

OCTOBER October 2-6, 2010, New Orleans

WEFTEC 2010

The Water Environment Federation’s 83rd Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference will take place at the New Orleans Morial Convention Centre.

This year’s world-class technical programme will feature 112 technical sessions, 35 workshops and six local facility tours. A wide range of topics and focus areas allow attendees to design their own, unique learning experience while earning up to 35 contact

46

SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.h2ome.net

Water Council & Former Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Egypt. There will be special focus on Renewable Energy Opportunities and Solutions, and opportunities in Technology and Innovation.

This year, the organisers are also offering a site visit to KAUST. There will be workshops on RO & UF Membrane Plants O&M Experiences, Fouling, Performance & Energy Management by MSAR Technologies; Improvements in Power Desalination for Better Environmental Impact

by ILF Consulting Engineers; Modern Intake Design for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Facilities by Schlumberger Water Services and Water Reclamation & Reuse: Applications & Technologies by faculty, King Saud University.

Contact: Shunker Goel Tel: +44 20 7978 0080 E-mail: sgoel@thecwcgroup.com URL: www.ksawpf.com October 4– 6, 2010, Doha

POWER-GEN 2010

The POWER-GEN Middle East conference and exhibition will be held at the Qatar International Exhibition Centre, Doha under the patronage of H.E. Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy & Industry. With the continued developments in new technology for traditional power generation, an increase in emphasis on the need to provide more electricity from renewable

2010 resources and ever increasing demands for clean water, this year’s conference theme, ‘New Solutions for the Region’s Power & Water Challenges’ aims to look at future opportunities for meeting the challenges in increasing demand for power and water. POWER-GEN Middle East 2010 will be co-hosted by Qatar Power, majority owned

by Qatar Electricity & Water Company and owners of the Ras Laffan B IWPP. Contact: Samantha Malcolm Conference Manager Tel: +44 - 1992 656 619 Fax: +44 -1992 656 735 E-mail: paperspgme@pennwell.com URL: www.power-genmiddleeast.com October 6-8, 2010, Las Vegas

WSI 2010

Best-selling author Steven Solomon and natural capitalism advocate Hunter Lovins will be keynote speakers at the third WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition at the South Point Hotel and Conference Centre in Las Vegas.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority is presenting WSI 2010, fast emerging as the a leading urban water efficiency conference, in partnership with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense Programme, Alliance for Water Efficiency, American Water Works Association, Audubon International, California Urban Water Conservation Council, International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, International Centre for Water Technology and Irrigation Association. Major sponsors include Rain Bird Corp, Caroma, Parsons, Ewing Irrigation Products, AECOM, Black & Veatch and Water Management. Last year’s WSI conference and exposition drew nearly 1,200 participants from 43 states and 13 nations. WSI ’09 featured more than 130 professional sessions and an expo hall with 100 exhibitors.

Contact: Tom Bradley Jr. Tel: +1 - 702 - 822 8365 E-mail: tom.bradley@lvvwd.com URL: www.

WaterSmartInnovations.com.

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