Express Water (Vol.1, No.5) April, 2018 by Indian Express

CONTENTS MARKET

Vol 01 No 5 April 2018 Pages 60 Chairman of the Board

Viveck Goenka Sr Vice President - BPD

Neil Viegas Editor

28 30

VALUE OF WATER SHOULD BE CONVEYED!

ACCELERATING INNOVATION IN URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT

Mayur Sharma* DESIGN National Design Editor

Bivash Barua

A BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY FOR TOUGHEST WASTEWATER PROBLEMS

Assistant Art Director

COLUMNS

Pravin Temble Chief Designer

Prasad Tate Senior Designer

KNOWING OUR WATERS By Australian Water Partnership (AWP)

39 40

MARKET INSIGHTS By Frost & Sullivan

Rekha Bisht Graphic Designer

Gauri Deorukhkar DIGITAL TEAM

JALSABHA2018

Head of Internet

Viraj Mehta Web Developer

Dhaval Das

WATER WISE By WaterAid

APPLICATION

Senior Executive - Online

Pushkar Worlikar Executive - Online

Salil Sule SCHEDULING & COORDINATION

Santosh Lokare Photo Editor

Organized by The Indian Express Group and Express Water, Jal Sabha brought together top decisionmakers from the Indian Municipal Corporations tasked with managing the water and sewage networks within the urban local bodies.

Sandeep Patil

CASE STUDY

19-26 44

MARKETING

Kailash Shirodkar

EFFICIENCY OR RELIABILITY - THEIR INFLUENCES ON PUMP SELECTION AND SYSTEM OPERATION

CONTINUOUS DATA KEEPS BRAZILIAN PORTS’ BUSINESS FLOWING

CIRCULATION

Mohan Varadakar PRODUCTION

WATER DIALOGUE

General Manager

B R Tipnis

ENDURANCE TEST AT THE PFLEGELBERG CENTRAL SEWAGE PLANT

CONTROLLING WATER FLOW IN SALALAH, OMAN

Manager

Bhadresh Valia TM

Express Water

INTERVIEW Shyam J Bhan CEO, SUEZ India

PROJECT TRACKER

REGD. WITH RNI NO. MAHENG/2017/74894. Printed by The Indian Express (P) Ltd. and published by Ms Vaidehi Thakar on

SUEZ EXPANDS ACTIVITY IN INDIA WITH NEW CONTRACT

IDE WASTEWATER REUSE DEMO FACILITIES IN CALIFORNIA

behalf of The Indian Express Press, Plot No. EL-208, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400710 and Published from Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021. (Editorial & Administrative Offices: Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman

P06 : EDITOR’S NOTE P08 : IN THE NEWS P13 : EXPRESS WATER REPORT

Point, Mumbai – 400021) Copyright © 2017 The Indian Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. *Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act

April, 2018

EXPRESS WATER

EDITOR’S NOTE

JAL SABHA In this issue, we are covering the 2018 edition of Jal Sabha (8-9 March, Pune), the first big water event organized by Express Water. Jal Sabha is a forum exclusively designed for the heads of the water supply and sewage departments of Municipal Corporations. In this -by invite only- forum, top municipal professionals from different states and cities came together to debate and discuss issues faced by the corporations around water supply and sewage, 24x7 water supply, smart metering, STPs (financing, and decentralized STPs), among others. Rajendra Jagtap, CEO - Pune Smart City, was the keynote speaker. Highlights of the event were engaging panel discussions on smart cities, safe drinking water, and recycle & reuse of sewage. The event concluded with Smart Infrastructure Innovation Awards. The success of this event clearly highlights the growing needs and challenges prevailing in the Indian Municipal Water segment. The positive interest of International Water Companies in the Indian Water Sector can also be seen by the recent updates on new projects, contracts and expansion plans of companies. We’ve included these updates in News and Market sections this month. All our monthly columns prove to be a very interesting read this month. The WaterAid column remembers the noted environmentalist Anupam Mishra and his ideas on water (he wrote classics like ‘Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein’ and ‘Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talab’ highlighting how from centuries communities with their immense wisdom managed water through traditional rainwater harvesting systems, pond creation, community forestry, etc). Frost & Sullivan column in this issue focuses on Global Water and Wastewater Disinfection Market.

“Clean water,the essence of life and a birthright for everyone,must become available to all people now.” - Jean-Michel Cousteau

It specifically says that the advanced disinfection technology, UV-LED is gradually but surely replacing chlorination as a reliable and sustainable disinfectant. UV and Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) disinfection is expected to constitute 34% of the total disinfection market share by 2024. Globally, women only make up 17% of the paid workforce in the water sector. Despite their vast experience with water management, women have been consistently excluded from professionally entering this sector. The column by Australian Water Partnership (AWP) looks at the involvement of women in water utilities & upper leadership roles. Ensuring access to good quality water can be a challenge due to economic as well as domestic activities impacting the quality of surface and groundwater supplies, as per the column by Robert Brears this month. Hence, to avoid having to develop new water supplies due to contamination a number of jurisdictions are turning to water source protection methods which involve the protection of surface water sources and the protection of groundwater sources from contamination of any kind. In our May issue, we will focus on “Water Loss” (non-revenue water, leakage detection & control, pressure management, water-supply efficiency, software modelling, smart water networks, etc). I welcome editorial contributions on this and all other topics which you find significant for the water sector. Keep sending me your updates on new water & wastewater projects, policies and people. MAYUR SHARMA Editor mayur.sharma@expressindia.com @TheExpressWater

HEAD OFFICE - MUMBAI EXPRESS WATER® The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 1st Floor, Express Tower, Nariman Point Mumbai - 400 021 Board line: 022 - 67440000 Ext. 527 Branch Offices NEW DELHI Prabhas Jha The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division Express Building, B-1/B Sector 10 Noida 201 301, Dist.Gautam Budh Nagar (U.P.) Board line: 0120 - 6651500 Mobile: +91 98997 07440 BANGALORE The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 502, 5th Floor, Devatha Plaza, Residency Road, Bangalore - 560 025 Mobile: +91 98408 26366

April, 2018

HYDERABAD The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 6-3-885/7/B, Ground Floor, VV Mansion, Somaji Guda, Hyderabad - 500 082 KOLKATA Ajanta Sengupta The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division JL No. 29&30, NH-6, Mouza- Prasastha & Ankurhati, Vill & PO- Ankurhati P.S. Domjur (Nr. Ankurhati Check Bus Stop), Dist. Howrah - 711 409, Mobile: +91 98311 82580 E-mail: ajanta.sengupta@expressindia.com KOCHI The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Ground Floor, Sankoorikal Building, Kaloor - Kadavanthra Road, Kaloor, Kochi - 682 017 COIMBATORE The Indian Express (P) Ltd. No. 205-B, 2nd Floor,Vivekanand Road, Opp. Rajarathinam Hospital Ram Nagar, Coimbatore - 641 009

AHMEDABAD Nirav Mistry The Indian Express (P) Ltd. 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Near Judges Bunglows, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad - 380 015 Mobile: +91 95864 24033 JAIPUR Prabhas Jha The Indian Express (P) Ltd. S2,J-40, Shyam GHP Enclave, Krishna Marg, C-Scheme, Jaipur - 302 001 Mobile: +91 98997 07440

Important:Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy,it is not possible to verifyits contents.The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot be held responsible for such contents,nor for anyloss or damages incurred as a result of transactions with companies,associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or publications.We therefore recommend that readers make necessaryinquiries before sending anymonies or entering into any agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

EXPRESS WATER

IN THE NEWS

Fluence’s NIROBOX™ Continues to Expand its Global Reach

AquaVenture Holdings to Acquire MajorityInterest in Desalination Plant in Ghana EW Staff Ghana

EW Staff Australia FLUENCE CORPORATION LIMITED has announced its continued global growth strategy (entering the Philippines, and further growth in Argentina) with agreements to provide its award-winning NIROBOX™ smart decentralized water treatment solution. Commenting on the continued expansion of Fluence’s NIROBOX solution, the company’s Managing Director and

CEO Henry Charrabé said: “Fluence’s decentralized treatment solutions continue to provide fast, effective options for production of potable water around the globe. Our entry into the Philippines with commissioning undertaken one week after order receipt, and further growth in Argentina, clearly show the increasingly global reach of the NIROBOX™ family of water treatment solutions, as well as the versatility of treatment options available from Fluence.”

In the Philippines, Fluence provided a Nirobox SW (seawater) unit to a new resort facility, to produce 1,000 m3/day of desalinated, potable water for consumption. The unit was installed and operating within one week of receiving the order. In Argentina, Fluence Corporation will provide its first two Nirobox BW (brackish water) units in South America to the Municipality of Berazategui, in the province of Buenos Aires.

A Q U AV E N T U R E HOLDINGS LIMITED has entered into a binding agreement with Abengoa Water, S.L.U. to purchase a majority interest in a desalination plant in Accra, Ghana. The plant has the capacity to deliver approximately 18.5 million gallons (60,000 m3) per day of potable water to Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) under a long-term, U.S. dollardenominated water purchase agreement. Political risk insurance is provided to the project lenders and project equity sponsors by Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a division of the World Bank. The facility has been operational since 2015 and, through its customer, supplies water to approximately 500,000 resi-

dents of Accra. The base purchase price for this interest is approximately USD 26 million, subject to adjustment in accordance with the purchase agreement. Completion of the purchase, which is expected to occur by the end of the second quarter of 2018, is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent. Doug Brown, Chairman, and CEO of AquaVenture Holdings, commented: "We are excited about this project. This will be our first desalination plant in Africa. The acquisition will expand our base of facilities that provide WAAS solutions to our customers. We look forward to working with the project stakeholders in completing the various conditions to closing and becoming a long-term partner to the Government of Ghana for water treatment and services."

Evoqua Acquires Pacific Ozone Technologyto Expand Industrial Disinfection Treatment Solutions EW Staff USA EVOQUA WATER TECHNOLOGIES Corp. has acquired privately held Pacific Ozone Technology, Inc., a manufacturer of advanced ozone disinfection systems, testing products and support services for a wide range of industrial applications. The acquisition adds a new technology - ozone disinfection - to the Evoqua portfolio

April, 2018

and further underscores the company’s industry-leading capabilities in the water treatment market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Pacific Ozone Technology Inc, serves the beverage, food processing, high purity, textile, ground remediation and aquaculture markets globally. It serves its customer base with state-of-the-art ozone generator systems, ozone test kits and field service support. Their Floating Plate

Technology produces reliable and efficient ozone generation in an economical, air-cooled system. It will become a part of Evoqua’s Products segment, which specializes in innovative water disinfection technologies and global service and support. “We are excited to welcome Pacific Ozone to the Evoqua family,” said Ron Keating, Evoqua CEO. “The addition of ozone technology

to our current offering of disinfection solutions is consistent with our acquisition strategy to broaden our technology offerings and fill current product portfolio gaps. We are excited to market Pacific Ozone as an Evoqua brand to our industrial customer base.” Ozone technology is widely used throughout key industrial markets and can be added at several points throughout the treatment system - such

as during pre-oxidation, intermediate oxidation or final disinfection. The acquisition of Pacific Ozone marks the second transaction by Evoqua in 2018 and the 10th acquisition by the company in the past two years. The brand will join Evoqua’s stable of disinfection brands which includes Wallace & Tiernan® systems, and ETS™, Barrier®, and Delta® UV products.

EXPRESS WATER

IN THE NEWS

L&TConstruction Wins Orders Aquaporin Enters Distribution Agreement for the Indian Market Worth Rs.3,687 Crores in Water & Effluent Treatment Business Segments

EW Staff Denmark

INDIA IS ACTING to solve the country’s water & wastewater challenges. Annual investments in water & wastewater treatment systems currently exceed DKK 9 billion and are expected to increase to DKK 12 billion by 2020. The Aquaporin Inside™ Hollow Fiber Forward Osmosis product is ideally positioned to capture the shares of this highly attractive market and is already now being implemented as an integral part of sustainable solutions to India’s water challenges. Aquaporin and Goldfinch, India, have signed a distribu-

tion agreement for the Aquaporin Inside™ forward osmosis technology within the fields of wastewater treatment and process application for industrial and commercial segments. “The Indian market is of high interest for the Aquaporin Group. India faces increasing challenges in water quality and health due to rapid urbanization. As a result, the governmental legislation has been rolled out across India to limit the wastewater discharge and reduce contaminant levels. Traditional wastewater reduction technologies come at high OPEX & CAPEX costs, which is now - more than ever - fueling a drive for the innovative cost-effective

technologies. The Aquaporin Inside™ technology can serve as a very effective solution”, Mark Perry, Vice President of Business & Sales in Aquaporin Asia comments. Business Development Director in Goldfinch, Santosh Bhide continues “With increased awareness and stricter regulatory requirements, innovative processes offer the key for compliance to Indian industry. Goldfinch visualizes that Aquaporin FO offers energy saving solution for optimizing the CAPEX and OPEX for wastewater treatment and recycling, and we also foresee many potential applications both in-process and end of the pipe.”

IPMA Solar Sub-committee Discusses New Solar Water Pumping Systems Standards

Mayur Sharma Ahmedabad INDIAN PUMP MANUFACTURERS' Association (IPMA) Solar Sub-committee’ technical meeting was recently arranged in

April, 2018

Ahmedabad on 10 March 2018 to discuss MNRE’s new standards on “Testing Protocol and Benchmarking Criterion for Solar Water Pumping Systems”, and “Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumping Systems” to be implemented w.e.f 1 April 2018 and also to check its harmonization with proposed Indian Standards on “Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumping SystemsPart 1-Centrifugal Pumps Specification”. Clause-wise joint comments of IPMA, SIEMA & REA, against MNRE’s new “Testing Protocol and Benchmarking Criterion for Solar Water Pumping Systems”, were submitted to MNRE on 12 March 2018. The response is awaited from MNRE. Indian Pump Manufacturers' Association (IPMA), established in 1951, is working for the growth of pump and motor manufacturers.

EW Staff Mumbai TWO EPC ORDERS, worth Rs. 949 crore, have been secured from Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board for 'Providing Underground Drainage Facilities (Laterals) to Bommanahalli, RR Nagar & Dasarahalli Zone coming under 110 Villages of BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike)', in Bengaluru. Another order has been secured from Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited for the execution of 'Bhima Lift Irrigation Project on turnkey basis.' Three other orders worth Rs. 1,058 crore include an EPC order which has been secured from Udaipur Smart City Limited for 'Integrated Infrastructure package of the ABD area of Udaipur City.' It is the first of its kind brownfield project for the development of smart infrastructure in the city. Another order has been secured from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, Odisha for providing water supply to Narasingpur, Badampa, Balikuda, Erasma and Naugaon blocks of Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts in Odisha. The Dholera Industrial City Development Limited has awarded the work for design & construction of Industrial Effluent Pumping Stations, Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), Master Balancing Reservoir Recycled Water and Pumping Station at Dholera, Gujarat. The Water & Effluent Treatment business of L&T Construction has secured EPC orders worth Rs. 1,680 Crore

from Pune Municipal Corporation for Study, Survey, Investigation, Assessment, Design Validation and Revamping of the entire Water Supply System for Pune City. Pune Municipal Corporation has launched an ambitious plan to transform the prevailing intermittent water supply into the 24x7 pressurized water supply and to implement 100% smart metering covering every household in Pune City over the next 5 years. The scheme envisages to substantially reduce the Non-Revenue Water (NRW) of the city by plugging losses and upgrading the entire water supply system. Pune is the first metropolitan city in India that will execute a project of this nature at such a large scale. “We are delighted to have bagged this very prestigious order which has the potential to be a gamechanger in the realm of water infrastructure development,” said S. Rajavel, Senior Vice President & Head - Water & Smart World Communication, L&T Construction. “With potable water becoming increasingly scarce globally, Pune city is leading the way with this ambitious project which also reaffirms our status as one of the foremost providers of vital water infrastructure in the country.” The scope of the project includes supply, laying, testing and commissioning of water transmission pipelines, optical fiber cable ducts, construction of sumps & house service connections along with water audit, Non-Revenue Water Reduction, SCADA, bill reading & generation and other associated electromechanical & instrumentation works.

EXPRESS WATER

IN THE NEWS

Tahal Group Secures USD 28 Million Contract for a Water SupplySystem in India EW Staff Bengaluru TAHAL GROUP, THROUGH its subsidiary TAHAL India, is already engaged in six different infrastructural projects in India, and its backlog of work for immediate execution there, after signing the agreement, will be USD 170 million. Saar Bracha, TAHAL Group's President & CEO said: "2017 was the best year for TAHAL in India, with unprecedented sales totalling over US$ 35 million, and a backlog of new orders amounting to more than US$ 140 million. The new project

will enable TAHAL to continue operating in Karnataka in the next few years, even after successful completion of the Gadag project in the coming months." TAHAL Group has won a USD 28 million tender for upgrading and operating a large-scale water supply system for the city of Bangalore, Karnataka. This is the seventh project in India awarded to TAHAL, following four water supply projects and one undertaking involving natural gas infrastructure in 2017. Altogether, TAHAL has clinched assignments in India

Hunter Water to Pilot TaKaDu as Part of its Drive Towards Total Efficiency EW Staff Australia THE SECOND LARGEST water utility in New South Wales, Australia, Hunter Water Corporation, has selected TaKaDu’s Integrated Event Management solution as part of its concerted efforts to achieve total water efficiency. Serving around 600,000 people, Hunter Water is deploying TaKaDu’s technology with predictive analytics to give them greater visibility of its water network, tackle data sources and reduce water loss. Richard Harris, Chief Information Officer at Hunter Water, said, “We are committed to saving water to provide our customers with affordable products and services.” “To achieve this aim we actively invest in new innovations and by using TaKaDu’s technology, we can extract the most value from all our data sources and address all types

EXPRESS WATER

of issues like leaks, bursts and faults in almost real-time – fixing any problems quickly and preventing service interruptions.” TaKadu’s cloud-based service enables utilities to detect, analyze and manage network events and incidents such as leaks, bursts, faulty assets, telemetry/data issues, operational failures, and more. Amir Peleg, TaKaDu’s Founder & CEO, said, “Hunter Water is recognized as one of the most progressive water utilities in Australia. We’re delighted to add them to our global customer base, representing our seventh customer in Australia spanning water utilities across Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales. It’s encouraging to see Australian utilities taking important strides towards water efficiency using digital solutions like ours to drive operational change and empower their workforce.”

valued at more than USD 240 million during the past three years. The project, to be carried out for Karnataka State Water and Sewage Company, will include renovation, expansion, upgrading and operation of the water supply system in the city of Bangalore, with a population of 11 million. The system will supply water to 42,000 households and is expected to include about 400 km of new transmission mains, advanced systems for reducing and preventing leakages and other water losses, and monitoring and control systems for operational support. The construc-

tion works are expected to last approximately 36 months, and a 12-month operation and maintenance period will be in effect following the handover of the project to the client. In November 2017, the company won a USD 29 million contract for construction of a water supply system to serve some 85,000 households, financed by IBRD and the World Bank. In September 2017, it won two turnkey projects, including design and construction of water treatment and supply systems in the city of Nirsa, the state of Jharkhand, totalling USD 80 million. The two projects

together are expected to supply water to approximately 127,000 households. Saar Bracha, President & CEO of TAHAL Group, states: "TAHAL Group is one of the largest Israeli infrastructure companies operating in India. This is the fifth contract to be awarded to us in the past few months and our current work in India is valued at over USD 170 million. The Indian government is planning huge investments to the tune of USD 31 billion in the development of water supply and agricultural systems, and TAHAL is well positioned to realize this huge potential.

2018 Lee Kuan YewWater Prize Laureate Honoured for Revolutionizing Fight Against Waterborne Diseases

EW Staff Singapore Professor Rita R. Colwell has been announced as the recipient of the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2018. Professor Colwell’s accomplishments and commitment

to the pursuit of science and its application have been exceptional. Over her immensely rich and multi-faceted career which continues till today, she has benefited the lives of millions worldwide through her pioneering insights into microbial water quality sur-

veillance and her tireless efforts in building upon these insights to transform the surveillance and control of cholera and other waterborne diseases. In addition to her seminal scientific contributions, Professor Rita Colwell is also an influential scientific advisor and public administrator who has led and shaped policy and practice through the numerous advisory and leadership positions she held in the U.S. Government, nonprofit organizations, as well as various scientific advisory boards. Her work spans the globe, from Africa, Bangladesh, India, Singapore to Central and South America, where she has advised governments and communities in tackling cholera and other waterborne diseases.

April, 2018

IN THE NEWS

OPIC Loan to Expand Access to Clean Water in India Mayur Sharma New Delhi THE OVERSEAS PRIVATE Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, has committed a $12.5 million (Rs. 80 crores) loan to a project that will expand access to affordable clean drinking water to millions of low and middleincome people in India. OPIC’s loan to WaterHealth India Pvt. Ltd.,

a subsidiary of WaterHealth International, Inc. of Irvine, California, will help finance the installation of as many as 900 decentralized plants that purify the water on site and sell it at a price that is three to four times lower than bottled water alternatives currently available in the marketplace. These WaterHealth Vending Machines (WVM) are installed at locations like railway stations, bus stations, shopping malls, public and

private institutions or any high footfall location where consumers are able to purchase purified water ranging in amounts from 300ml to 5 liters. Most consumers carry their own bottles and WaterHealth refills them, but consumers may also purchase reusable bottles. “This project offers an innovative approach to making safe water more available and affordable and illustrates how businesses can develop new solutions to longstanding

Grundfos Delivers Strong Results

EW Staff Denmark GRUNDFOS HAS GAINED significant market share by managing to grow sales organically by 5.3%. Profitability and cash flow have continued to be strengthened in 2017. With a turnover of DKK 25.6bn, 2017 was the strongest year ever in Grundfos history. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) amounted to DKK 2.346bn (9.2% of net turnover). “We are very satisfied with the result. We have achieved the highest turnover in company history, our sales growth far exceeded the market trend, and we are well on our way to our 2020 ambition of an EBIT ratio of 10% or high-

April, 2018

er,” says Group President Mads Nipper. Growth was generally strong across the world, but particularly China contributed with very high growth rates. In China, Grundfos further expanded with more sales offices across China, and succeeded in offering solutions to support China’s plans to reduce its energy consumption significantly. European markets, including the UK, Spain, France and several Eastern European countries, showed solid growth, and the important Russian market recovered after several years of decline. Despite challenging market conditions, growth was also delivered in the USA. In South America, we have been able to gain market share despite difficulties in the Brazilian market. Sales also increased in countries such as Australia, Japan, India and Korea, where Grundfos is a large-scale supplier to the machine tool industry. “During the year, we have made considerable investments in initiatives aimed at strengthening our competitiveness. We have launched new products and solutions. By investing heavily in our global service business, we have strengthened our ability to offer innovative and high-quality services to our customers. Our ambition is to offer the best digital customer experience on the market. This requires considerable investments in a broad range of digital tools and solutions. Furthermore, we are collaborating closely with our customers to understand how we can best create value through digital solutions that further strengthen our core business,” explains Mads Nipper.

global challenges,” said Ray W. Washburne, OPIC President and CEO. “By increasing access to clean water, the project will improve the health and quality of life for millions of Indians, particularly women who typically have the primary responsibility for obtaining and managing the household water supply.” “WaterHealth International has been committed to improving access to safe and affordable drinking water for

underserved consumers for over a decade. During that time, we have built the world’s lowest cost, global operating platform for decentralized water purification plants,” said Sanjay Bhatnagar, CEO of WaterHealth International. OPIC’s loan to WaterHealth was committed under OPIC’s new 2X Global Women’s Initiative to mobilize $1 billion to invest in women and unlock the economic opportunity they represent.

Energy Recovery Awarded $4 Million for Desalination Projects in Egypt EW Staff Egypt ENERGY RECOVERY, INC. has announced total awards of $4 million to supply its PX® Pressure Exchanger® technology for desalination projects in Egypt. The orders are expected to ship in the 1st half of 2018. Energy Recovery will supply its PX-Q300 Pressure Exchangers for multiple desalination facilities in Egypt, which will produce up to 160,000 cubic meters of water per day. Energy Recovery estimates the PX devices will reduce the facilities' combined power consumption by 15.6 MW, saving over 134.5 GWh of energy per year, and helping the facili-

ties avoid over 80,400 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Energy Recovery's President and CEO Chris Gannon stated, "These recent awards are the direct result of the dedicated efforts of our water team and an indication of Energy Recovery's continuing strength in the global desalination market. As we have emphasized in our most recent earnings call, we are laser-focused throughout 2018 on supporting and growing our desalination business and unlocking previously untapped market potential through packaged solutions and offerings like the Prime Performance Energy Services Agreement."

EXPRESS WATER

INTERVIEW

WATER DIALOGUE With Shyam J Bhan CEO, SUEZ India SUEZ Group has been present in India for more than 30 years now. It has designed and built more than 250 water and wastewater treatment plants and currently operates 23 of them. SUEZ also plays the role of a water services provider for major municipalities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Kolkata. Its activities contribute towards the distribution of 5 billion litres of drinking water to over 44 million people every day. The wastewater treatment services of the plants built and managed by the company serve some 5.5 million inhabitants. Its water services expertise has benefitted 15 million people across major metros in India, and it employs over 900 professionals in the country.

April, 2018

EXPRESS WATER

INTERVIEW

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

With over 30 years of experience of working with municipal corporations in India, we have solid understanding of the market needs and the ability to provide sustainable solutions based on excellent customer service and commercial efficiency. Recently India has been trying to position itself as a leader on climate change in the global arena. How do you see SUEZ's role in supporting the Government of India's efforts? Shyam Bhan: Today, India is going through major environmental challenges resulting from the exponential growth in population, exploding urbanization, climate change, scarcity of resources, etc. As a global leader in water and waste resource management with over 30 years of experience of working with municipal corporations in India, we have solid understanding of the market needs and the ability to provide sustainable solutions based on excellent customer service and commercial efficiency. We are confident that with this, we will be able to provide smarter and sustainable solutions in some key areas like waste management desalination, wastewater treatment industrial water, water distribution, network operation, etc.

SUEZ has been in India for 30 years. How has the journey been so far? Shyam Bhan: Over the last three decades, we have built more than 750 state-

EXPRESS WATER

of-the-art water and wastewater treatment plants for local authorities and industries. SUEZ activities contribute towards the distribution of 5 billion litres of drinking water every day to over 44 million people in India. The wastewater treatment services of the plants built and managed by the company serve some 7.5 million inhabitants. More than one-third of population in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore drink water produced from plants built by SUEZ. From being the market leader of Design, Build and Operation of water and wastewater treatment infrastructure over the last three decades, SUEZ has now established itself as the leader of water distribution and services business. Apart from working with utilities in cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, etc., the company recently won two major long-term water services contracts worth 500 million Euros in Coimbatore and Davangere. These two projects can potentially become excellent templates for replication in other parts of the country. These cities will benefit from SUEZ's expertise, world-class technologies and operational excellence, making a direct impact on millions of people by supplying safe drinking water and ensuring much improved interface with the utilities' staff for their grievances and issues and better revenue management for the local authorities.

You are a veteran in the environment industry with more than 25 years of experience. What steps must the government take to motivate more private sector investment in waste management? Shyam Bhan: I believe that the investment climate at the municipal level needs to be improved significantly

before private sector investments in waste management projects become viable. The payment security mechanism continues to be a serious issue. It is very important to ensure sustainable cash flows for the municipality, including user charges for all municipal services, which are ringfenced for timely project payments. Almost all waste management projects have failed in the last two decades and there is need to develop some marquee projects for demonstration effect. In this context, the

We have played a role in transforming India's water sector. government should develop model contract agreement for integrated waste management, including resource recovery and waste to energy plants, giving due importance to project viability. Land acquisition for waste projects is a major issue, and many municipal waste management projects are facing delays due to this problem. Our suggestion is to have a Regulator at Federal and/or State Government to assist cities in development and execution of these projects.

Do you see much growth for water companies? What are some of your recommendations to improve the water sector? Shyam Bhan: As digital technology enhances citizens' access to information, they are increasingly expressing their concerns for environment and calling on public and private actors to act more responsibly. The global aspiration for a

less resource-intensive and environmentallyfriendly growth model have led to evolution of stricter environmental regulations. These dynamics have created a potential market for environmental services companies like SUEZ. In India, there is overemphasis on building new assets and less emphasis on long-term sustainability of existing assets through effective O&M practices. As an Operator, SUEZ always focuses on optimal usage of capital funds and works towards improved service delivery to the citizens. Our suggestion to cities and their utilities is to structure projects with performance orientation that directly benefits the citizens. Desalination plants in coastal cities should be developed with appropriate structuring of risk-reward balance for the private sector. Blend AMRUT and other federal Government funds to make such projects viable on PPP basis. From our experience of working in various cities, we felt that there should be a nodal body to coordinate with all stakeholders for effective execution: city water distribution projects are complex and require permissions/permits from multiple public entities,

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Apart from working with the utilities in Indian cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, etc., the company has recently won two major long-term water services contracts worth 500 million Euros in Coimbatore and Davangere.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

In India, there is overemphasis on building new assets and less emphasis on longterm sustainability of existing assets through effective O&M practices. Our suggestion is to structure projects with performance orientation that directly benefits the citizens. such as state PWD, Traffic police, Municipal Corporations (water utility is often different from municipality in many states), Development Authorities, etc. Lack of coordination among these entities result in inordinate delay in road cutting and pipe laying activities.

What are some of the objectives you have set for yourself? Shyam Bhan: I believe companies like us have a lot of potential to grow in India. We will keep on looking for fresh opportunities with our typical characteristic of a total service provider with proven global records, which does not believe in making compromises to bag anything. We want to grow in a sustainable and reasonably profitable manner. I am equally committed to the growth and development of our employees as I believe 'happy employees make happy customers'. Health and Safety and women empowerment are two areas which are very close to me and I would like to see SUEZ excel in these two areas. (Source: The Indian Express)

April, 2018

MARKET

Xylem Expands Presence in India for its customers in India and around the world. To propel the availability of safe water, Xylem India had begun the ‘Water for People’ initiative in 2017 to provide access to safe drinking water for nearly 3,000 community members across four schools and 19 communities in India

through the implementation of borehole systems, along with new and rehabilitated water points. The company continues to build on its other social initiatives like Xylem’s Essence of Life brand of products, and its corporate citizenship program called ‘Watermark’.

Xylem India Technology Center in Bengaluru

Xylem Leadership Team at the Launch of the India Technology Center in Bangalore

Expansion of India Operations Xylem Inc has announced the expansion of its India operations through the opening of an India Technology

and Customer Experience Center in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The launch follows the opening of a similar technology center in Vadodara, Gujarat. At these

facilities, Xylem is bringing together a broad spectrum of competencies that are enabling it to accelerate the development of critical water and infrastructure solutions

Xylem India Technology Center in Vadodara The Vadodara center was inaugurated by Dr. Vinod Rao, I.A.S, Commissioner, Vadodara Municipal Corporation and Patrick K Decker, President and CEO of Xylem. It will serve the growing demand from the municipal and industrial sectors across the state of Gujarat, offering smart water and wastewater management solutions. Located in Gorwa, it will develop solutions to meet the growing demand of the country’s water and wastewater challenges. With more than 200 technology specialists, it will focus on providing innovative and smart technology solutions that will accelerate the sustainable development of India. “The state of Gujarat is an important market for Xylem - one where we have a strong history as well as a promising growth plan ahead,” said Patrick Decker, President and CEO of Xylem. This technology center is IGBC-LEED Gold-rated and caters to India and its neighboring countries. Xylem also has built one of the world’s largest pump testing facility in Vadodara, with a capacity of 7.5 MW and 80,000 m3/hr. The facility is capable of testing vertical turbine pumps, horizontal split case pumps and dry pit sewage pumps along the parameters of performance, submergence, and reliability. “This new center further expands our presence in the state of Gujarat, enabling us to meet customers’ needs with timely, products and solutions from a single, experienced source. We look forward to partnering with the state and central government to offer innovative and cost-effective solutions,” concluded H. Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, Xylem India.

EXPRESS WATER

The India Technology Center in Bengaluru was inaugurated by Smt. K Ratna Prabha, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka and Patrick Decker, President and CEO of Xylem. The center will develop products and solutions with a focus on developing software and advanced infrastructure analytics. It will ultimately have over 400 engineers creating smart, innovative solutions to treat, analyze, monitor and return water to the environment, and to address critical energy resource infrastructure needs. The innovations created will be used in public utility, industrial, residential and commercial building services, along with agricultural settings embedding sustainability at the core of water management. For India, which currently uses 230-250 cubic kilometers of groundwater each year, the center is set to ease the burden of looming water scarcity that is anticipated due to rising urbanization and industrialization. “India has long been a focus for Xylem as the country steers towards the implementation of sustainable water management solutions, leveraging technology to tackle the inherent waste that occurs in current processes. The tech-savvy solutions we develop will play a key role in helping to advance the national drive towards smart cities. Our expansion in India further supports the country’s economic growth through investment in manufacturing and technological talent, and we look forward to building upon this work in the years to come,” said Patrick Decker, President and CEO of Xylem. Over the years, Xylem has executed major Lift Irrigation Projects in several states, executing more than 30 treatment projects in Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Rajasthan. Xylem is currently sourcing over USD 80 million from India for its global facilities in Europe, Asia, and the USA and will continue to develop suppliers to support global growth out of India, with plans to double the export from India over the next few years. “Since 2014, Xylem has generated double-digit growth in India with our product and solutions being installed in municipal, irrigation and industrial sectors. Our technological solutions aim to enhance and achieve priorities like energy efficiency and water provision, which are critical for India’s economic growth. Our solutions for water and wastewater management will help meet the rising demand, as the country is pacing towards rapid industrialization. This center in Bengaluru will help bridge the gap between water demand and supply, bringing greater efficiency in water management through technology” said H. Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, Xylem India.

April, 2018

MARKET

Value of Water Should be Conveyed! Prayas Goel is the Director at Rochem Separation System (India) Pvt. Ltd. Rochem and its group companies have been involved in the business of development, manufacturing and installation of waste water treatment and reuse systems for more than 27 years. The company produces Advanced Membrane Module Technology Based Separation Systems for recovery and reuse of difficult waste water and aims to be the primary source of effluent recycling, desalination and process separation technologies, and services for industries with difficult-to-handle waste water streams. Mayur Sharma talked to him about his journey in the water industry, ZLD, Rochem’s recent projects and future plans. for meeting these industrial requirements. It’s been challenging getting the market to commit to waste water recycling based on their responsibility to ensure that they are committed to the environment.We have done a lot of innovative work, been associated with a lot of early-stage technologies as well and had a fair bit of failures but my belief is that you have to bring the technologies to a scalable level into the market to really test it up and bring it out of the lab.

ZLD has been a hot topic for a few years now. How would you describe it in the context of your technologies?

Please tell us about your journey in the water industry. How has been your experience so far? Prayas: Our journey into this water and waste water market started from the desalination for off-shore and moved into the waste water recycling - which we had foreseen 20 years back as being the future. We have been

April, 2018

investing slowly and steadily in being able to directly recycle wastewater for industry into the now changing mandate, which you see especially in the coming future will be completely related to the onsite reuse of wastewater to meet your fresh water source. I started in this field working on waste water treatment plants and recycle-plants in

various parts of the world including India and Europe. As a young mechanical engineer, getting in this field, I gained a lot of experience in recycling applications using membranes. Then I spent a lot of time on the development of membrane-based applications for textile, landfill leachate, sugar and distillery industries and we came up with solutions

Prayas: For us, ZLD (Zero Liquid Discharge) started with looking at what we then perceived as a non-biodegradable waste. So, 15-20 years back if the waste water was treatable - that is bio-degradable - we would treat it biologically and then send it into nature. But, there were the stream or sources of waste water which were nonbiodegradable, and for such non-biodegradable sources then, the only option was that you concentrate them - separate the water out of it and then you concentrate the contaminants and come into a zero liquid discharge kind of environment. That’s how it started off. And what it has evolved into today, I think of

waste water as a source of water. So, you are extracting all of the liquid to use back as a source of water and you end up into what we continue to call as zero liquid discharge. It may have started from pollution and from environment but today, I don’t think its only environment driven anymore. In most of the markets we are working with now, people are realizing that we are driven by water demand and not driven by the fact that this is a nonbiodegradable stream which otherwise we cannot let out to nature and hence we need to make it into zero liquid discharge scenario. We are also seeing a huge change in the fact that India has a big leadership position in ZLD and if you look at it in the global context, we are easily hundred times ahead in terms of ZLD installations than anywhere else in the world. It’s a great opportunity for Indian technology providers, companies such as ourselves and others to be able to bring this expertise and solutions to other places in the world which are only now starting to realize that their Eco-system is also not able to absorb the impact of the industrialization of the domestic sewage or industrial waste water. So, right from North America to Europe to South America or even Africa, we are starting to see that there is a huge growth in the waste

EXPRESS WATER

MARKET water reuse, whether you call it Zero liquid discharge or minimum liquid discharge.

Is there any difference in reaching to that level of zero liquid discharge when we talk specifically about your technology in terms of cost saving? Prayas: Specifically in the Indian context, our continued lack of the correct pricing for water is an issue. We do have the situation where the industry looks at it as a non-productive expense to invest in zero liquid discharge because our water is not priced properly. The moment we start pricing our water properly, the scenario will change. But having said that and looking at what we need to do for the situation which is prevailing today, our focus is to look at the second biggest component of zero liquid discharge-OPEX - which is energy. Between 60-80 percent of the cost of zero liquid discharge is energy and our focus has been to bring energy-efficient technologies to zero liquid discharge to be able to bring down the overall cost or increasing your competitiveness of zero liquid discharge. Thus, we have a lot of technologies like high pressure RO, waste-heat evaporation, combining thermo evaporation with other sources of waste heat and also combining waste gasification to use organic industrial residues as a source of energy to be able to create heat to provide zero liquid discharge energy. We focus on bringing out a complete solution because you do have a lot of stand-alone solutions which are not well integrated. Specially in terms of energy, the integration is very poor. You have multistage pressure driven processes or multistage steam driven processes which are not integrated well. Sometimes simply by integrating them well, for example, if it is done by a single company instead of by 5-6 service providers along the chain, you can bring in the efficiency and of course new technologies and products to

EXPRESS WATER

be able to reduce the base line to as close to the theoretical values for energy consumption as we can.

I was a having discussion with your team about a Steel Project in Tarapur. Please tell us a bit about it. Prayas: It is a very interesting project. Because it’s an isolated industry which needed to show independence as far as not relying on external discharge. They needed to show the reliability in saying that their operations are not dependent on what happens to the common effluent treatment plant which they are sending their waste water to, or their operations are not reliant on their source of water which could be MIDC or anything else. They needed to show the reliability of operations to their customers who are following just-in-time production techniques. The crux of the matter was that if their customers are going to rely on them for just-in-time delivery then it was needed to ensure that the business and the operation of the company are not at risk with any external condition with regard to water supply or waste water supply or power, etc. They had already realized that they needed to be independent in regard to water. They needed to be independent in regard to waste water. And then of course, as I said, when zero liquid discharge comes to mind, because it’s your source of water, you can reuse it and you are not reliant on them. They had a unique set of challenges. They are not a process industry in the sense that they don’t have a boiler, so you couldn’t go with the conventional steambased or steam-driven evaporation systems. We were able to come up with a very simple and energy-efficient system to achieve zero liquid discharge without using any live steam whatsoever as they did not want to install a boiler just to meet this requirement. So, we did a 3-stage membrane system followed by a waste-heat

evaporator, followed by a dryer, and we were able to convert all the recycled water that their production unit produces and end up with a dry powder as solid residue, which they send to a secured landfill. It is now in its second year, running very successfully and we are hopeful about repeat expansion of capacity as well.

Define ‘difficult waste water’ for our readers. What is the right way to treat it? Prayas: For us, difficult waste water is the waste water which is non-biodegradable. The other thought from our company’s and our products’ perspective is that difficult waste water is the waste water which is not easy to treat with membrane. Membranes have conventionally been used quite successfully for water applications, desalination, drinking water, boiler water, DM water, but in difficult waste water, conventional membranes have not had a very good rate of success. Because of these challenges, of organic loads, COD, Suspended Matter, TSS in these kind of waste waters. So difficult waste waters, I would categorize also, as something which conventional membranes are not able to recycle very efficiently.

So, what kind of technologies are needed for this difficult waste water? Prayas: One thing you need is open channel membranes which are able to sustain the load of organics, the load of suspended matter directly. You need to have the right understanding of not only the chemistry, but the source and organics as well. Because the waste water stems from the production and the linkage of the production and source of waste water to the quality of waste water and its impact on the treatment is very important. Therefore, knowing the industry and its background is very important for solution providers. Also the energy footprint

of the solution that you provide - it’s all in the OPEX. For equipment such as multiple effect evaporators, we see the annual energy OPEX is as high as (in some cases) 80 percent of the CAPEX. Which means you are going to spend 80 percent of your CAPEX every year in just energy OPEX. So you have got to make the right decision in terms of what kind of product or what kind of solution you are looking at.

Please tell us about any recent project you have done in the desalination & reuse segments. Prayas: We have a very interesting project with a company which is into salt and bromine production in the Kutch region of Gujarat. It is a challenging project, given the high saline and variable quality of feed water based on the tides. This is a project to take high saline seawater in that region, bring it to boiler grade water for boiler use and the RO concentrate - the brine from the RO system will be used as a source of salt for their salt recovery and bromine recovery in the process. It should be commissioned by the month of May 2018. There is a project, based in central India, where we are going to the source of waste water within the process, apply recycling within the industrial process to be able to reuse water and also recover the resource which was otherwise ending down the pipe into the waste water plant and then eventually into the environment.

In terms of Government policies, anything you would like to comment on? Prayas: The one thing that I believe needs to come to our part of the world is to arrive at the right pricing for water. It is still being used a bit of tool, as an incentive- water and waste water is being used as an industrial incentive. For example, it is said, come to this part of the country or this

state you can discharge waste water or we will give you water, etc. We need to realize that the cost of this water is not what we are paying today. In some areas, the industries are paying even 28-35 rupees a cubic meter - still a fraction of what it is costing the government to deliver that water. We foresee a day where we are able to go to a client and say, hey, you should reuse your water and do zero liquid discharge not only because it is good for the environment but because it’s also good for your balance sheet. If it’s economic we don’t need to drive anything, people will do it because they will save money.

What are your plans for the next 3-5 years? Prayas: We are mainly focusing on integrated solutions. We see our footprint in ZLD, especially in end-to-end ZLD growing. ROSERVE, which is another big initiative of ours, is also a focus. As explained, most companies look at this as a non-productive expense. We want to take that off their balance sheet. Again, keeping a solutionsbased approach, getting companies to take this asset off their balance sheet. It is not a priority for most, especially considering the slow CAPEX cycle the industry is in currently. We have therefore been able to come up with some partners and solutions where we can provide this on a lease - be it an operating lease or a short/long term rental contract. The customer does not need to invest the CAPEX. We come in with our equipment and we get paid per cubic meter of water that we recover for them. We have several ROSERVE contracts which we are running today with large customers in Textiles,Pharmaceuticals & Automobiles sectors and short-term contracts with few Municipalities.It’s only about a year and half old concept, but it’s doing quite well and we are marketing it in India, and overseas as well.

April, 2018

MARKET

A Breakthrough Technology for Toughest Wastewater Problems Dr. Raghu Pillai is the Managing Director of Bengaluru based REWS (India) Pvt Ltd which provides total turnkey solutions for wastewater treatment including the feasibility study, sizing, the supply of equipment, installation, testing, training, and operation & maintenance. REWS India is managed by a group of leading professionals, technocrats and engineers and has developed in-house capabilities towards project execution, including project management service. The company specializes in solving the toughest industrial wastewater problems. Mayur Sharma talked to him about the much talked about Boomtube Resonator technology and the upcoming inauguration of their ZLD Leachate Management and Water Recovery Plant in Bengaluru, India.

Please tell our readers about your new product Aquatron FPSTAR Boomtube Resonator and the technology behind it. Dr. Pillai: Aquatron FPSTAR Boomtube technology can treat and recover clean water from any industrial wastewater and landfill leachate. This innovation is based on the most modern understanding of molecular Physics. This patented breakthrough technology is invented by the Bengaluru based Scientist Dr. Rajah Vijay Kumar, Chairman of Organization de Scalene, who has about 32 original inventions to his credit and is a well-known pioneering researcher in the field of Biophysics, Radiobiology, Nanotechnology, Sustainable Energy, Modern Telecommunications and Water Resources Management and Recovery. The Aquatron Boomtube is manufactured in Bengaluru by Scalene Energy Water Corporation Limited (SEWCL). The conventional wastewater treatment technologies are either based on Chemical or Biological

April, 2018

process or a combination of both. RO (Reverse Osmosis) is currently the only process that could remove Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) to the level that is suitable for reuse, especially in tough to treat effluents. The FPSTAR Boomtube technology uses shortwave frequencies to convert TDS to TSS without chemicals and biological process. Any wastewater contains many elements. Each element has its unique Specific Frequency of Disassociation (SFoD). As the effluent passes through the Boomtube Resonator, the dissolved pollutants and other elements in the water (except Hydrogen and Oxygen) will start disassociating from its compounded form to their equilibrium elemental state. These elements agglomerate due to inter-particle attraction and electron reorganization that takes place under a weightless condition created by continuous free fall in the Boomtube Resonator. The agglomerated pollutants become permanently hydrophobic. The agglomerated water which comes out from the Boomtube Resonator is separated using

specialized Plate settlers, Venturi, Media Filters and Ultrafiltration systems. The treated water confirms to IS:10500 standards and all CPCB norms. The treated water is suitable for 100% reuse.

You had said in our earlier interaction that this new technology is especially suitable for the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;tough-totreat effluentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Can you explain that? Dr. Pillai: The FPSTAR Boomtube technology can treat any kind of effluents including sewage. Our focus is on tough-to-treat effluents because the Capex and Opex of conventional ZLD systems are high when compared to FPSTAR Boomtube technology. The FPSTAR Boomtube technology can treat and recover clean water from some of the toughest sources like Landfill Leachate, Textile Effluent, Pharma Effluent, Food Industry Effluent, Tannery Effluent, etc. Hence, this technology is ideal for Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) in the industrial areas. A large amount of polluted water can be reclaimed as fresh water for

EXPRESS WATER

MARKET

The FPSTAR Boomtube technology can treat and recover clean water from some of the toughest sources like Landfill Leachate,Textile Effluent, Pharma Effluent, Food Industry Effluent, Tannery Effluent, etc. Hence, this technology is ideal for Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) in the industrial areas. the industrial use. Industrial effluents which are not biologically degradable in nature are normally treated using large quantities of chemicals. Such methods involve very high operational cost. Some of these effluents cannot be treated to the required standards even with the chemicals and advanced filtration solutions as posttreatment method, thereby making reuse of such effluents in the process not possible, and sometimes even their safe disposal is not possible. The FPSTAR Boomtube Technology addresses such issues effectively. This technology is effective in the removal of Arsenic, Nitrates, Ammonia, Fluoride, Heavy Metals, Soaps & Detergents, and Oil & Grease. The MOC of Boomtube Resonator antennas is made of complex alloys. Presently, it is common to use techniques like precipita-

EXPRESS WATER

tion, flocculation, coagulation, or electro-coagulation, in the treatment of water. However, there are some materials; for example, Sodium, Potassium etc, that do not precipitate, thus cannot be removed by simple filtration. Some of the organic compounds like Benzene, and Toluene behave the same even to flocculation, and they still cannot be removed by filtration. The FPSTAR process can handle complex Phenols, Aldehydes, and Ketones also found in some of the organic wastewater or unprocessed water streams that are difficult to process by conventional wastewater treatment techniques. In this invention, the millimeter wave is used to break down long chain Lignin like structures to smaller and simpler molecules that can be easily converted by the FPSTAR process and then can be filtered out. The entire process is very fast and ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the feed effluent. This process is called priming time. Once primed, the treatment is continuous. The treatment can be stopped and started anytime. The FPSTAR reactor is used to decontaminate the wastewater streams to recover for reuse in the industry and other purposes and reduces the cost of water treatment. When the water that is not potable (including sea water) is subjected to the FPSTAR process, all fine particles, even at nano-scale, would agglomerate and form micron size or even millimeter size particles. When this water is filtered using specialized filtering techniques, one would recover the water that is clean as per the standards and can be reused by the industries. This will lead to less dependency on other sources for clean water, and more recovered water will act as a catalyst for industries and their operations.

Why do you call it world’s most advanced ZLD technology? Dr. Pillai: The FPSTAR Boomtube technology is a Zero Chemical, Zero Biological process. There are no RO rejects and no thermal evaporator is required. No equalization tanks are required either as the Boomtube processes wastewater online and water is available for reuse immediately after filtration. The FPSTAR Boomtube works over a wide pH range and requires very small space to set-up the plant - when compared to the current ZLD systems. The sludge generated is around 5% and is converted to electricity. In fact, FPSTAR Boomtube technology can be considered as ZWD (Zero Waste Discharge) technology. The FPSTAR Boomtube WWTP is completely automatic, computer-controlled, and multistage system that is fully plug-and-play. SCADA system is highly advanced and powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) & IoT based and the plant can be remotely monitored. One time setting of all process parameters will ensure trouble-free operation even if the input wastewater parameter varies. Therefore, only 2 or 3 people are required to run a complete 150 KLD plant.

What is the capacity of this treatment plant? Can it be custom-built as well? Dr. Pillai: The FPSTAR Boomtube treatment plant can be built to treat and recover 10,000 liters of wastewater per day (10 KLD) to 1 million liters of wastewater per day (1 MLD) at present. The technology is modular and can be expanded as required.

Tell us about your ongoing and upcoming projects where this product is being used? Dr. Pillai: A 120 KLD ZLD Leachate Treatment Plant, first of its kind in the world, is

• A 120 KLD ZLD Leachate Treatment Plant, first of its kind in the world, is installed and being commissioned for The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) at Bellahalli Landfill on the outskirts of Bengaluru. • A 240 KLD plant at Erode (Tamil Nadu) is being commissioned by SEWCL for mixed effluent for the State Government of Tamil Nadu. • Oman Munitions Production Company (OMPC) is installing the Aquatron Boomtube FPSTAR wastewater recovery plant at its Small Arms & Ammunitions Factory (SAAF) in Samayil, Oman.

installed and being commissioned for The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) at Bellahalli Landfill situated on the outskirts of Bengaluru. This project is executed by REWS (India). Landfill leachate is one of the most difficult effluents to treat as it is characterized by very high values of COD, BOD, Ammonia, heavy metals, variations in pH as well as strong color, and extremely bad odor. The TDS of the leachate varies between 16,000 ppm to 60,000 ppm. The characteristics vary depending on the weather, temperature and biodegradable matter present in the leachate against time. All these factors make leachate treatment difficult and complicated around the world and till today there is no dependable and affordable technology to treat leachate for water recovery and reuse. A 240 KLD plant at Erode (Tamil Nadu) is being commissioned by SEWCL for mixed effluent for the State Government of Tamil Nadu. Oman Munitions Production Company (OMPC) has taken the lead in installing Aquatron Boomtube FPSTAR wastewater recovery plant at its Small Arms & Ammunitions Factory (SAAF) in Samayil (first such plant ever installed in the Middle East) and is now being commissioned. In most parts of the world, the effluents generated from such ammunition factories are not treated to recyclable standards due to lack of proper treatment solutions. This gap is now

being filled by FPSTAR. The project is executed by SEWCL and Global Engineering Solutions, Oman. The Aquatron Boomtube FPSTAR technology is also being exported to Australia and Netherlands. REWS (India) is in talks with many state governments to solve the pressing issue of Leachate Management in the landfills. Leachate generation is a major problem for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills and causes significant threat to surface water and groundwater.

Are you looking for both, government projects as well as the private-sector projects? Dr. Pillai: Yes, for Leachate treatment and CETP we are keen to work on government projects. We are in touch with many municipalities and MSW officers highlighting the technology benefits. In the private space, our focus is on Pharmaceutical effluents, Textile, Tanneries, Food Industry, and other tough-to-treat wastewater.

Finally, are you looking for any business collaborations in other regions of India? Dr. Pillai: Yes, REWS (India) is looking for business collaborations in other regions of India. Our focus for 2018-19 would be to reach out to MSW consultants and governments across the world to treat and recover clean water from landfill leachate.

April, 2018

MARKET

Accelerating Innovation in Urban Water Management - Insights into the Future Robert Mankowski, Vice President - Product Development - Bentley Systems, leads the development team responsible for Bentley’s AssetWise capabilities and services. He has over 20 years’ experience in software development and is a co-inventor of seven patented technologies. He joined Bentley Systems in 2004 as part of Bentley’s acquisition of Haestad Methods, a pioneer in object-oriented hydraulic analysis software, where he served as Chief Technology Officer. He has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Drexel University and is a licensed professional engineer in California. Mayur Sharma recently interacted with him about Smart Water Networks, GIS, WaterCAD, WaterGEMS, IoT, Big Data, and other recent trends which are significant for the water & wastewater utilities.

Robert Mankowski, Vice President - Product Development, Bentley Systems

Being mostly buried, water/wastewater network assets are subject to being out-of-sight and therefore out-of-mind, making it difficult to know what you own, where it is located, what condition it is in, and how well it is performing. GIS has become essential in managing utility network data. What is coming to make it easier for utilities to ensure a safe and reliable operation? Robert: In recent years there have been significant strides in GIS-based office to/from the field workflows. The industry is doing a much

April, 2018

better job of accurately capturing as-builts and keeping the GIS up to date with what is in the field. There is also some compelling research and innovations driven by the academic world through projects such as Mapping the Underworld that focus on understanding where our underground assets are. Applications like Bentley’s Subsurface Utility Engineering help mitigate the risk of building in a utilitycongested underground environment. It provides users the capability to generate, visualize, and analyze 3D models from survey information, CAD artifacts, GIS, Excel spreadsheets, databases, and more. The application follows standards such as ASCE 38-02 in the US and the UK’s PAS128, which provide a means to capture the quality level or accuracy of the source information used to create the models. However, water and wastewater networks remain particularly challenging because they are typically buried underground assets that impact many people when they fail. It is essential to better understand the condition of the assets, the probability of failure, and the consequences of such failures.

We also need to understand the provenance and history of what’s happened with networks. This is important for capital improvement programs and capital investment planning - to decide how to invest to have safest and most reliable operation. Utilities need a lot of information to determine which pipes are more likely to fail, what happens when such a failure occurs, and capabilities to efficiently manage and analyze it to support decisions. Utilities need to manage and maintain a geospatial asset register of all water and wastewater network assets to which they may associate a wide variety of inspections and surveys. This provides a detailed and data-rich view of the “as-maintained/as-operated” condition status of the network, as well as preserving historic records of condition assessment that can contribute to a better understanding of asset failure modes and causes. Asset inspections and surveys provide dual roles - asset discovery and asset condition assessment. Inspections and surveys can be used to update the asset’s physical, location, and condition information held in the asset register, as

well as create new assets that were previously unknown. All associated inspection meta data, data files, databases, photographs, time series (e.g. flow or pressure monitors), and video (such as CCTV) should be managed and associated with the relevant asset. This provides an “asset-centric” view of the inspection and survey data collected for asset update or asset discovery. Capabilities, such as those available with Bentley’s AssetWise, can work in concert with a geospatial information system to provide these capabilities and allow utilities to plan and implement proactive asset performance and reliability strategies. Hydraulic modeling applications, such as Bentley’s WaterGEMS, also play a role in ensuring safe and reliable operations by forecasting system conditions and performance, managing pumps and storage, planning for scheduled maintenance, and helping operators react to unplanned outages and emergencies. Advanced analytics can help you fill in the gaps between locations and times that SCADA systems and other data collectors use to gather information. This allows operators to detect and

troubleshoot problems as soon as they arise, leveraging knowledge in control room to help guide field crews to right areas to investigate and act.

What benefits does a digital strategy provide water and wastewater utilities? Robert: Going digital is a strategy that we at Bentley believe will transform the delivery of capital projects as well as the performance of assets in operations and maintenance. By digitizing assets and processes, a digital strategy will realize not only performance improvements for assets but also see the adoption of new technologies that can enable going digital. This strategy might suggest adopting a cloud services platform as an example of going digital to increase collaboration, security, and scalability by staying connected. For water and wastewater utilities, it means they have an opportunity to improve their business processes. For example, an owner-operator might want all stakeholders to have visibility for distributed teams working on a single project or multiple projects. A going digital strategy connects and converges to ensure information is managed effectively to

EXPRESS WATER

MARKET

Going digital will transform the delivery of capital projects as well as the performance of assets in O&M. reduce errors, inaccuracy, and improve performance. This of course is a highlevel approach, but nonetheless highlights the potential as we see it. Bentley is also committed to enabling our users to implement a BIM methodology as a strategy for better collaborative design, and as an enabler of ongoing maintenance and operations. The work done by engineers in the early phase of a project is critical for all phases of the lifecycle, and the digital engineering models produced in design can serve as the fulcrum for performance improvements. The goal for most utilities is indeed reducing TOTEX (total expenditure inclusive of CAPEX and OPEX), and technology is the enabler. As head of development for our asset performance team, I am in a nice position to see the benefits realized by our users. We live vicariously through our users who continue to amaze us with innovation and expertise in utilizing our software. But it is our job to continue providing the right technology and platforms so that the going digital strategy can deliver the right results.

You wrote some of the code for the very first iteration of WaterCAD in the 90s. What sorts of changes have you seen in the industry - and in user experience - in the years since? Robert: That’s a multifaceted question because so many changes have occurred in the 20+ years since we released WaterCAD v1.0. Let’s start with the user experience changes. Before

EXPRESS WATER

WaterCAD, the most widely used hydraulic modeling software ran on DOS. WaterCAD was the first mainstream Windows stand-alone hydraulic modeling package. That was a huge and very welcome change for users. At that time, hydraulic modeling was not as widely used as it is today, and it was mainly used for system master planning. Now, it’s a very mature practice in water utilities and is used for everything from master planning, to water quality studies, to energy studies and optimization, to real-time operational decision support. The computing power available at the time was mainly based on 486s, with maybe a few users of the earliest Pentium chips, and system memory, RAM, was expensive and therefore limited. This constrained the size of the models that could be analyzed. Now, of course, we have high-powered, multi-core CPUs and GPUs with gigabytes of memory in our laptops and workstations so we’re at a point where it’s not only feasible but in some ways easier, to model every pipe and appurtenance in the system. The algorithms can take advantage of the multiple cores - for example in a fire flow analysis - to run simulations in parallel and greatly reduce the time it takes to analyze large systems. And, the graphics power of the GPUs makes it easy to create great visualizations of the data so engineers don’t have to pore over tables of data, but can see it in graphs and maps and in some cases in 3D. And, I’d say it’s easier in some ways because implementation of GIS has really come a long way in 20 years, so we can build hydraulic models from that geospatial source data. In the 90s it was common to digitize hydraulic models from scratch, and this was a time consuming and error prone process. I remember it was 1998 when I wrote first shapefile import routine for WaterCAD, and it really changed the way hydraulic

models were created and maintained. Today, not only do we intra-operate with GIS, WaterGEMS users can actually work in GIS environment.

How does Bentley software align with good engineering practices in water and wastewater systems? Robert: Bentley Systems has been supporting infrastructure engineering best practices for 30+ years. MicroStation is our flagship modeling application and is used around the globe for modeling, documentation and visualizing projects of all sizes and complexities. So, engineering is in our DNA and this permeates through development teams and applications to maintain the standards set by such applications. For water and wastewater, the principles are no different. By advancing the entire network lifecycle - from treatment plant design, to planning, design and operations and maintenance of networks - our software is reflective of engineering precision and accuracy. Bentley’s Haestad applications are engineering-ready decision support software for water professionals who design, plan, and operate water distribution systems, or for urban sewer planners who also want to analyze and design sanitary or combined conveyance sewer systems. These applications can operate in stand-alone mode, with MicroStation, AutoCAD, or ArcGIS and incorporate various other file formats. We’ve been supporting engineering best practices for many years and we intend to continue to advance our software and services to meet this demand.

Information systems in a water/wastewater utility can be highly distributed (or siloed). How can utility stakeholders address this problem to improve decision making? Robert: Information can be very siloed, and it takes a significant change in an

organization to adopt new processes. It is, however, a simple equation. Why wouldn’t any organization want engineering information that is relevant, accurate and accessible to all project participants? The question has always been put to us; how can we improve decision making based on available data? The answer is quite simple. Having a common modeling environment helps speed design and improves collaboration. Having a common data environment helps streamline design and management of critical information, but the key is now a connected data environment that helps facilitate the interoperation of multiple data sources, providing a common view of data that delivers accurate and reliable information, when it is needed, to operations, maintenance, and engineering.

What does the future hold for the water industry in terms of how IoT, Big Data and other trends will impact the sector? Robert: Sensors will play an even larger role in network modeling and operations. By providing real-time information that can be supplemented with hydraulic models, the operator can have true insight into the behavior and condition of a network. This provides more options for the hydraulic modeler in the calibration and modeling processes when different scenarios provide different results and benefits. It provides the operator with a more comprehensive operating picture of the network than SCADA data alone, even forecasting how the system will behave in the immediate future. Big Data also provides big challenges but at the same time, provides significant opportunities. As OT leverages the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) with operating systems and sensors to produce huge quantities of data, the need to make this data usable and secure is fast becoming mainstream in its

outreach and adoption. So far, OT data has initiated a convergence with IT systems, which has yet to yield significant gains. At Bentley, we see the critical importance of also leveraging the engineering technology (ET) data to realize those gains. Asset information management systems that enable the convergence of IT, OT, and ET data will make infrastructure assets more powerful, efficient, and reliable by exploiting the Big Data potential. Using cloud services platforms, digital engineering capabilities will go beyond observing and monitoring the asset’s performance to modelling its desired behavior to produce better outcomes. Water and wastewater utilities have been a step ahead of other industries in exploiting the potential for ET and OT data to be better utilized. IIoT and Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems have had a harmonic convergence of their own in enriching the oversight value of data analytics for treatment, distribution, and collection facilities. Engineering departments and the operational control rooms have more reason to interact than ever before, as the common goal of ensuring reliable service, reducing cost and optimizing their networks can be realized - in real time. Hydraulic modeling generally has been used for long-term planning, while data from the SCADA systems are used heavily in daily operational decisions. Linking these two technologies has ensured barriers are removed, collaboration improved, and data shared for mutually beneficial reasons.

What is Bentley focused on from an R&D perspective? Robert: While we undertake R&D across a broad range of technologies. perhaps the best answer here is simply the overarching principle. Bentley is focused on our making our users productive and successful while advancing infrastructure.

April, 2018

MARKET

LANXESS Posts Record Earnings for 2017 Company’s sales were up 25.5% to EUR 9.66 billion in the fiscal year 2017, with a strong volume increase in all segments, as per company statement.

Asia. North America increased its share of global sales from 17% to 19%, while that of Asia-Pacific rose from 26% to 28%. This means that the group now generates almost half its sales in these two market regions.

Sales and Earnings Up in Performance Chemicals

Infographic Source: LANXESS

THE SPECIALTY CHEMICALS company LANXESS has ended fiscal year 2017 with record earnings. LANXESS has also made a good start to the new year according to its latest official statement. EBITDA pre exceptionals rose by 29.6% in fiscal year 2017 to EUR 1.29 billion, the highest result in the company’s history. In the previous year, EBITDA pre exceptionals amounted to EUR 995 million. The operating result was therefore at the top end of the forecast range of EUR 1.25 billion to EUR 1.3 billion. The main drivers of strong rise in earnings were higher volumes in all segments as well as strong contribution of the Chemtura businesses acquired in the previous year. The EBITDA margin pre exceptionals increased from 12.9% to 13.3%, moving another step closer to the mid-term margin target. From 2021, the average margin is expected to be between 14% and 18%. Group revenue also rose substantially by 25.5% to EUR 9.66 billion in the last fiscal year compared with EUR 7.7 billion the year before. Net income totaled EUR 87 million, after EUR 192 million in the previous year. This decline was due to significant one-time exceptional expenses, particularly for the integration of the Chemtura busi-

April, 2018

nesses and consolidation of production networks and value chains as well as a onetime charge arising from the U.S. tax reform. Adjusted for these exceptional items as well as amortization of intangible assets, net income was up by 53.9% from EUR 246 million to EUR 379 million. The reported key financial ratios are in line with current market expectations.

LANXESS' Liquid Purification Technologies business unit belongs to the Performance Chemicals segment. Sales in this segment rose by 10.5% from EUR 1.30 billion to EUR 1.44 billion.

EBITDA pre exceptionals amounted to EUR 252 million, up 13.0% on the prior-year level of EUR 223 million. The improvement in earnings was mainly attributable to the strong volume growth. The Clean and Disinfect business that LANXESS acquired from Chemours in 2016 also made a substantial contribution to earnings. Accordingly, the EBITDA margin pre exceptionals rose to 17.5% from 17.1% in the previous year.

Outlook for 2018 For 2018, there will be an

accounting change at LANXESS: The rubber joint venture ARLANXEO will be reported as a discontinued operation from the second quarter of 2018. In the other four segments combined under the name “New LANXESS” - Advanced Intermediates, Specialty Additives, Performance Chemicals and Engineering Materials - the group is expecting a slight overall rise in EBITDA pre exceptionals. Excluding ARLANXEO, this key ratio was EUR 925 million in 2017.

“

Higher Dividend Proposed for 2017 The strong business performance in 2017 should be reflected in a further increased dividend. The Board of Management and Supervisory Board will therefore propose a 14% higher dividend of EUR 0.80 per share to the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting on May 15, 2018. This would correspond to a total dividend payout of around EUR 73.2 million.

German Sites Strengthened, Growth Regions Expanded Along with its acquisitions, LANXESS also accelerated its organic growth in 2017. The group invested around EUR 550 million in its global plant network, including around EUR 235 million in the German sites. LANXESS continued to expand its presence and its sales in the growth regions of North America and

“We achieved a lot strategically and operationally in the last fiscal year, laying firm foundations for the future.With Chemtura, we successfully completed our biggest acquisition to date, and also significantly improved the quality of our portfolio even more. In this set-up, we achieved the best earnings in LANXESS’s history so far while further enhancing the Group’s profitability.” Matthias Zachert Chairman, LANXESS Board of Management

EXPRESS WATER

MARKET

WATER MARKETREPORTS The Global Water & Wastewater Treatment Market to Reach USD 674.72 Billion by 2025 According to a new report by Reportbuyer, the global water & wastewater treatment market is expected to reach USD 674.72 billion by 2025, driven by the rising demand for freshwater for drinking, industrialization, and agriculture. Water & wastewater treatment processes such as softening, deodorization and purification make the water more useful and potable. Asia Pacific was the largest market accounting for 43.9% of the revenue share in 2016. It is anticipated to gain momentum over the forecast period on account of the growing demand for filtered water for various applications. Water treatment systems are either installed at the point of use or the point of entry. However, as drinking water is a vital priority for the population, the residential sector contributes significantly towards the development of water treatment market as compared to the industrial and commercial sector. Central & South America water & wastewater industry is capable, but the absence of significant venture in infrastructure is unfavorable for its economic performance. Asia Pacific municipal water & wastewater market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% over the forecast period. This market has been rapidly growing owing to the presence of developing economies and a large concentration of population in the region. Asia Pacific's vast and rising population, coupled with increasing middle class and rising incomes, will continue to drive demand agricultural resources and commodities. The global equipment &

April, 2018

services market accounted for USD 117.85 billion in 2016. The growth of equipment & services market is likely to gain momentum in the recent future, as it utilizes environment-friendly and economically feasible instruments and technologies.

Zero Liquid Discharge Market Expected to Represent USD 109.8 Million Between 2017 & 2025 Enforcement of stringent laws on wastewater management is expected to further drive the adoption of ZLD technology in the near future. As per the latest Persistence Market Research (PMR) report, sales revenue from ZLD projects worldwide is expected to reach USD 513.9 Million by 2017-end. PMR projects that the ZLD market in APAC will maintain its top position throughout the assessment period. Towards the closing end of the forecast period, the region's ZLD market estimate to reach a valuation of USD 434.4 Million, expanding at 10.8% CAGR. Meanwhile, adoption of ZLD in Latin America will remain robust, despite having a significantly smaller market size as compared to other key regions. In North America, power generation plants are major implementers of ZLD, supporting the growth of the ZLD market in the region over the recent past. The North America ZLD market is estimated to reach USD 243.9 Million by the end of the forecast period, creating an incremental opportunity of USD 109.8 Million between 2017 & 2025. The new water management laws introduced in India, China and Mexico are further expanding applications of ZLD technologies in these countries. Nonetheless,

the high cost of setup and maintenance continue to be a major drawback of the technologies. Moreover, the arrival of alternative water treatment techniques is likely to hamper the growth of the market. Which is why manufacturers are actively focusing on further innovations in ZLD to reduce technological complications while its implementation. On the basis of system type, demand for hybrid ZLD technology will continue to gain traction is the forthcoming years. By 2017-end, hybrid ZLD technology is expected to account for a value share of 64.0%.

UV Disinfection Equipment Market Size Worth USD 6.42 Billion by 2022 The global UV disinfection equipment market is expected to reach USD 6.42 billion by 2022, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing consumer awareness regarding the technology coupled with high investments by governments across the globe to employ advanced water treatment technologies to ensure safe drinking water supply is expected to drive demand. Water treatment was the largest application segment for UV disinfection equipment and valued at USD 924.7 million in 2016, owing to high investments by local government authorities for safe water supply in developed and emerging economies across the globe. Residential water treatment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.5% over the forecast period owing to rising consumer focus to replace traditional water purification systems with effective and environment-friendly techniques. Commercial water treat-

ment stood for USD 84.9 million in 2016 and is expected to grow at 21.6%, owing to initiatives taken by the manufacturers to comply with regulations given by the government and environmental protection bodies for proper water disposal.

Water Filtration Products in Municipal Markets to Grow 5.8% Annually Worldwide Globally, demand for water filtration products in the municipal market is expected to rise 5.8% per year to USD 27.2 billion in 2021 according to a new study by The Freedonia Group. In developing regions, expanding infrastructure, increasing access to treated water supplies and wastewater treatment, and stricter standards for drinking quality will support rigorous gains. More mature markets will exhibit slower growth going forward, with increases promoted by improvements to existing, aging water management systems. Over the past decade, membrane systems have been increasingly used in municipal water filtration activities to meet stricter water treatment standards, which include limits on contaminants in water and reduced dependence on potentially harmful water treatment chemicals. By 2016, membrane systems surpassed conventional filtration in the municipal market in dollar terms.

Smart Water Grid Market Size Worth USD 10.27 Billion By 2025 The global smart water grid market is expected to reach USD 10.27 billion by 2025, driven by a growing emphasis towards a reduction in non-revenue water, the necessity for accurate

billing, restructuring of old infrastructure, instantaneous monitoring of the grid, efficient fixing of leaks, and improved client engagement. Furthermore, the need to conform to government regulations, expectations for increased safety and reliability with reduced cost and development of smart cities have been the driving forces for the smart water grid market, as per the latest report by Hexa Research. North America dominated the market in 2016 due to the advancement of the IT sector, which plays an integral part of these networks. Advancement in technology has helped various factors such as water safety, managing severe weather conditions and valuation of consumption. Europe followed suit, with an expected contribution of USD 2.96 billion by 2025 due to the increase in adoption of smart water meter compliances for better management. The Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period on account of increase in production and sales of advanced metering infrastructure. Metering infrastructure is getting a boost from the increasing demand for meters transmitting information through an accessible network. The smart water grid industry is expected to grow on account of increasing demand for information about the usage that allows preservation of resources and saves money. Smart Infrastructure held the largest market share accounting for 41.5% in 2016 and is expected to witness steady growth on account of increasing number of smart water grids, particularly in emerging economies of the world.

EXPRESS WATER

COLUMN

KNOWING OUR WATERS

Women Involvement in Water Utilities & Upper Leadership Roles Across the Globe Globally, women only make up 17% of the paid workforce in the water sector. Despite their vast experience with water management, women have been consistently excluded from professionally entering this sector. By Karen Delfau, IWC for the Australian Water Partnership (AWP)

IN HER RECENT Kini Interview, Pritha Hariram (Programme Manager, WASH, International Water Association) and I discussed the increasing prevalence of women in leadership roles in the water sector, and in particular as utilities’ CEOs. I was surprised to learn that there are more and more women in leadership positions, and Pritha shared with me what she saw in her role working across the globe with utilities. Pritha is an experienced water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) specialist having worked on humanitarian relief and development projects in the Asia Pacific region. She has technical experience in the planning, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of community WASH projects. Pritha is experienced in source water monitoring, treatment works design and management, distribution system operation and maintenance and consumer use. She has worked for public, private, governmental and donor agencies in Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Maldives, Philippines, Sri Lanka and the Solomon Islands. Presently, She is the IWA's Program Manager for the Water and Sanitation Services program. The program aims to afford a range of target audiences with best practices in achieving univer-

April, 2018

sal access and improved service delivery of water supply and sanitation. The column this month explores more closely the increasing representation of women in water sector leadership roles, including utilities.

Women in Water: An Overview According to the Women for Water Partnership’s 2016 report, “Globally, women only make up 17% of the paid workforce in the water sector. Despite their vast experience with water management, women have been consistently excluded from professionally entering this sector. Social and cultural barriers, and, at a more basic level, a lack of appropriate sanitation and hygiene facilities in the workplace are factors preventing women from having careers or becoming influential in the water sector.” There is a good reason to work towards higher numbers of women working in the water sector: when women are involved in water utilities and upper leadership roles, projects are more successful. In a Deloitte University Press article, authors Kate Thompson, Kathleen O’Dell, Sameera Syed, Hannah Kemp write: “For more than two decades, the role of women within the water sector has been examined in studies that have found that more substantial improvements in the governance, transparency, and

sustainability of water supplies are achieved when men and women are involved in equal measure than when women are involved only marginally or not at all. A World Bank evaluation of 122 projects found that water projects that included women were six to seven times more effective than those that did not. Yet women make up less than 17 percent of the water, sanitation, and hygiene labor force and a fraction of the policymakers, regulators, management, and technical experts.” There are three main entry points for women interested in the water sector: • Design, operation, and maintenance of water systems, • Water distribution, both networked and non-networked, and policymaking and regulation. • Closing the gender gap in the water sector Some progressive organizations and utilities are moving in this direction, with success. Pritha Hariram says there is a healthy balance of the sexes present and that the IWA encourages gender inclusion. She sees the gender gap closing in the water sector throughout the Asia Pacific. “In fact, at the last Utility Leaders Forum in Brisbane at the World Water Congress, my first panel was all female CEOs or board members,” she adds. “I think a water profes-

sional’s career path depends on the person. A water professional today is not just an engineer. Today, water professionals come from all kinds of areas of work, such as law, institutional reform, organizational development, social science and pure sciences, as well as engineering. They may become a water professional as a result of helping in some way in a water company or community group that manages water systems. The wonderful thing about IWA is that a huge number of our active members are young water professionals. For example, IWA’s Strategic Council signed a resolution on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) last year, and it is the young professionals who have formed the task force to work on actions for the SDGs as part of the resolution. Both young professionals and middle professionals are prominent in our specialist groups and in giving keynote addresses at some of our events. The young water professional group in IWA is really alive and thriving globally: in some of our national chapters, it is the young water professionals that are the strongest and most active. At Utility Leaders Forums we encourage the CEOs to bring their emerging leaders, and many of these are middle professionals or senior management. There is also a healthy balance of the sexes, which is something that we encourage.

In Australia, quite a few water-utility CEOs are female. In the Asia-Pacific, the prominence of women depends on the country. In South-East Asia, there is a nice mix of women and men in senior positions. In South Asia, I’ve seen more women in senior roles in Sri Lanka and the southern part of India. In the Pacific, again a good mix of female and male, but more male there because they see water as part of traditional engineering. Australia has a good mix, as has Europe. Quite a few of the utility CEOs are female, and/or the utility association heads and presidents are females. The IWA has a female president: Diane d’Arras.” Achieving Sustainable Development Goals requires addressing all 17 SDGs in a holistic manner, as they overlap and are interconnected. This will require the development of partnerships across disciplines. With more women involved in the water sector, SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, and SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, are more likely to be achieved. The Australian Water Partnership (AWP) is an Australian Government development initiative enhancing the sustainable management of water across the Indo-Pacific. @WaterPartnersAU

EXPRESS WATER

COLUMN

MARKET INSIGHTS

Global Water and Wastewater Disinfection Market Advanced disinfection technology, UV-LED is gradually replacing chlorination as a reliable and sustainable disinfectant. By Frost & Sullivan

DISINFECTION IS A crucial step to ensure safe potable water or reclamation/discharge of wastewater. Disinfection process kills harmful microorganisms that could cause diseases in human beings. Chlorine and Chloramines are the most commonly used chemicals for water and wastewater disinfection. The use of chlorine or chloramine produces harmful halogenated by-products that are commonly called disinfection byproducts (DBP). DBP’s are potentially carcinogenic to humans and increased exposure could adversely impact human health. This has widely nudged regulators, utilities and treatment plant operators across the globe to adopt and explore the disinfection solutions alternate to chlorine and chloramines. On the other hand, common physical disinfection methods include UV and Ozone. Utilities and industries are gradually shifting towards UV and Ozone due to their advantages like superior disinfection capabilities and no DBP’s. However, price sensitivity among costumers plays a vital role in the adoption of such alternate disinfection technologies. Currently, other ecofriendly alternate disinfection technologies such as Electrochlorination systems, Peroxy disinfection and advanced disinfection technology such as UV-LED have penetrated the disinfection market eventually trying to replace incumbent conventional technologies. These systems are expected gain increasing attention in the

EXPRESS WATER

forthcoming years.

UV-LED UV LEDs are the biggest advancement in the UV disinfection field. The system operates in the range of germicidal wavelength, having the power to destroy virus, bacteria, and mold in the water safely and effectively. The UV-C LED functions in the C- UV spectrum range, within a wavelength ranging from 100 to 280 nanometers. Within this range, UV light exhibits germicidal properties, making it perfect for water and wastewater disinfection. Unlike mercury UV lamps, UV-C LEDs provides numerous advantages, including low power requirements, making them safer to use. Another important benefit is that UVLEDs can be manufactured in very small sizes, this enables the making of portable disinfection systems compact enough to fit inside a water pipe, rendering these fixtures self-disinfecting. Nikkiso, a leading UV-LED company based in Japan, is pioneering in research and development of UV-LED disinfection in large-scale water and wastewater treatment plants.

Peroxy Disinfection As regulations and laws on chlorinated disinfection byproducts and presence of total residual chlorine have become very stringent, peracetic acid (PAA) is gaining increasing attention as a “green” water recovery disinfectant. Peracetic acid (PAA) has the capability to eradicate disinfection byproducts

(DBPs), sodium, and dissolved salts present in wastewater. Furthermore, it is currently being considered as the “Greener alternative” that is expected to gradually replace chlorine and other chemicalbased disinfectants. Peracetic acid is a stronger oxidant when compared to chlorine dioxide or hypochlorite and its treatment effectiveness completely depends on the concentration of PAA, the characteristics of the water and wastewater and the amount of time the microorganisms are exposed to the PAA. Peracetic Acid and PerFormic Acid are the two emerging and effective alternative disinfection method. These products are increasingly becoming popular especially in Americas and Europe, for its ability to eliminate DBPs. Leading companies like PeroxyChem have developed a range of PAA products for water and wastewater disinfection. Frost and Sullivan estimates that in 2017,the global water and wastewater disinfection systems market was worth $2.70 billion recording a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% from 2017 to 2024. APAC is expected to lead the global disinfection market due to expansion of water and wastewater coverage, favourable policies and rapid industrialization. According to Frost and Sullivan, Chlorine-related technologies are still expected to dominate the market with revenue of $946.8 million in 2017. This is primarily because of the increasing demand for chlorine dioxide generators, specifically from APAC coun-

tries such as India and China. UV and Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) disinfection will gain widespread attention due to flexibility in operation, small footprint, and extreme versatility. It is forecast to constitute 34% of the total disinfection market share by 2024. Peracetic acid (PAA) disinfection is expected to record significant growth in the forthcoming years due to its high oxidation potential that could dethrone conventional chlorine disinfectants. The global water and wastewater Peracetic acid disinfection market was approximately $203.1 million in 2017, which was about 40–45% of the global peracetic acid market. In the past few years EU countries like Germany, Netherland, Belgium France, Austria, UK, and Scandinavia have gradually shifted towards using Ozone and UV as primary disinfectants especially for treatment of groundwater. USA and Canada have largely reduced the use chlorine gas and some utilities are exploring the use UV as a primary disinfectant. But chlorine is still predominant because it is cheap and easily available. In recent times, Utilities and Industries are largely

favouring the reduction of chemical usage in the overall treatment process to be environmentally sustainable. UVLED and PAA are well positioned to gradually disrupt the disinfection market. Combining Peracetic acid (PAA) and UV-LED disinfection provides the opportunity to leverage the treatment capability of each technology. The key benefits of using Peracetic acid in combination with the UV-LED are the low power requirement, no harmful DBP’s and low CAPEX.

About the Author Akshaya Ramachandran is a research analyst at Frost and Sullivan. @FrostSullivanEE

April, 2018

COLUMN

WATER WISE

Towards an Alternative Vision of Water and So Much More...Through the Eyes of Anupam Mishra By Avinash Kumar

MY LAST COLUMN recounted recent stories of how communities have moved to renew their relationship with water, where water is not merely a product to be consumed or utilized but also appears as an organic part of people’s day to day life. There is now a sizeable body of work across the country, which has shown collective ownership driven from the bottom rather than a state-centric model pushed from the top. All of this is encouraging. Words like village water security plans, water budgeting, rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge are increasingly being used by voluntary groups including WaterAid and state planners. In a way, life has come full circle from a state when it was primarily the communities, which managed water resources around them, albeit without any of these modern day jargons. This shows the extent to which our own traditional knowledge systems around water have been cannibalized through an alien developmental language. It is fostered by a discourse, which still sees water primarily as a consumer commodity and labels the older knowledge systems as the product of the dated worldview. This discourse draws a sharp line between water usage for ‘larger purposes’ and for the ‘local communities’. Underpinning both is an extractive mindset where for large purposes, infrastructures like canals were built and rivers were diverted while for communi-

April, 2018

ties, small and medium farmers, tube wells and hand pumps were dug. It is in this backdrop that one needs to remind oneself of the traditional knowledge systems, which apart from being local, were organized, communitybased and yet planned in such detail that any dismissal of such practicing thoughtprocess cannot be dismissed as folk romanticism. While there have been many who critiqued the rapacious nature of modern industrial civilization and the notion of progress or development underpinning the same, there are few like Anupam Mishra who meticulously documented an alternative world. A noted environmentalist, Mishra showed us how the traditional knowledge systems were not only designed for an archaic past but still lived embodied by local traditions e.g. bavdis and tankas all over India. Mishra called it a by-product of Vikas or ‘development’, which, according to him is a very recent addition to our vocabulary. While raising questions about the statedriven and state-defined model of ‘development’, he attributed terminologies like ‘water management’ and ‘social forestry’ to a tacit agreement between state planners and the development thinkers who privileged state and western models of development paradigm which always sought a distinction between humans and nature. Mishra wrote classics like ‘Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein’ and ‘Aaj Bhi Khare Hain

Talab’ highlighting how from centuries communities with their immense wisdom managed water through traditional rainwater harvesting systems, pond creation, community forestry etc. For him, the new development paradigm in its arrogance to privileged technology and a top-down welfare model not just set aside all of this immense treasure but also made these very communities dependent and poor in the process. It is this consumerist attitude which has overseen literal killing of innumerable water bodies by converting them into real estate property only to lead us into immense fury of nature as one witnessed a couple of years ago in Chennai or in Mumbai before that. It is the same mindset that takes a patronizing view of the communities, first pauperizing them and then commissioning ‘watershed’ work for them terming them as hitgrahis or ‘beneficiaries’. Here lies the irony. Selfdependent communities who not just conserved water because they needed it, but also gave back to nature because future generations needed it, because entire livestock needed it and because entire ecology needed it as well. Just to cite an example, Mishra illustrates the meticulous knowledge of communities by detailing the vocabulary of desert people around ‘clouds’ in this beautifully poetic language, “clouds visit these parts rarely but don’t be surprised if there are maximum names for the clouds….

In local dialects, it rains the name of clouds: Bharan nad, Payod, Dhar mandal, Dadar, Dambar, Dalvadal, Ghan, Ghanmand, Jaljaal, Kali kandhal, Kala Han, Karayan, Kand, Habra, Mainmat, Mehajal, Meghan, etc. There are so many names that even clouds will fall short’’. Mishra goes on to further delineate the specific meanings attached to these names. It is against this backdrop that Mishra refers to the recent work of local leaders and organizations like Tarun Bharat Sangh in villages like Lapodia of Rajasthan. He shows how going against the grain, the villagers not only managed to revive dead water bodies but also forests around them and grazing lands for the cattle leading to them being self-sufficient in times of consecutive droughts. It is not that he only refers to those lands and works, which see less rainfall. In an essay titled, Tairne Wala Samaj Doob Raha Hai, he did a detailed post-mortem of the reasons behind Bihar falling into a flood trap. According to him, floods just like droughts were a natural part of specific geographies and societies always knew how to handle them. Once again documenting various folklore around small and large rivers of the state, how they appear in local memories, he shows that before the new developmental models started cutting the natural flows of rivers, the people of Bihar had perfected floodwater harvesting. In the process, the people not only channel-

ized excessive water into ponds but also into harvesting forests and grazing lands. It is only the recent developmental definition, which began to see floods as a curse and tried to tame them leading to floods actually becoming a curse. Going back to the origins of word ‘vikas’, he attributes the same to the English word development. Arguing that development as a standalone concept, which puts things in silos and boxes thanks to its top-down view, will always try to homogenize our worldview. It is due to this definition that, “there is so much arrogance inherent in vikas that, everywhere we have to sow, peanuts, wheat, oil of Dhara (brand). And we have to sow paddy in Punjab (which requires so much water)”. Economists on the rising tide of farmer suicides are regurgitating most of these critiques, which were developed by Mishra long ago. Anupam Mishra was not a prophet. He simply went down to the ground to learn from people’s everyday lives, their language, their immensely rich folklore, their architectural designs and aesthetics, their love for changing the weather and their surroundings. The new developmental modernity sees all of them as merely an experimental lab. Sooner we discard that, better we will stand a chance to survive. Avinash Kumar is Director Programme, and Policy at WaterAid India. @Avinashkoomar

EXPRESS WATER

COLUMN

URBAN WATER

Protecting the Source To avoid having to develop new water supplies due to contamination a number of jurisdictions are turning to water source protection methods which involve the protection of surface water sources and the protection of groundwater sources from contamination of any kind. By Robert C Brears

Robert C Brears IN MANY LOCATIONS around the world, ensuring access to good quality water can be a challenge due to economic as well as domestic activities impacting the quality of surface and groundwater supplies. To avoid having to develop new water supplies due to contamination a number of jurisdictions are turning to water source protection methods which involve the protection of surface water sources and the protection of groundwater sources from contamination of any kind.

Korea’s Precautionary Approach Korea’s Ministry of Environment (MOE) has established water management measures for four major rivers in the country. Through special measures and laws, MOE has introduced strong precautionary policies that focus on total pollution load management, water charges for downstream uses, designation of riparian buffer zones, and land purchase of water

EXPRESS WATER

source areas. Specifically: MOE allows local administrators to determine appropriate total pollution load management systems; water use charges for downstream users are used to make up for losses incurred by upstream residents due to land use regulations as well as to facilitate the construction of basic environmental facilities; riparian buffer zones are used to restrict the construction of restaurants, lodging facilities, bathhouses, factories, and livestock sheds; and under the land purchase system, if a person wishes to sell land and buildings in water source protection areas, riparian buffer zones, or areas vulnerable to water quality deterioration, the buyer is required to consult in advance with the Watershed Management Committee before purchase to reduce potential for future tensions over permitted activities.

Vienna Constitutionally Protecting its Water Vienna is the first city in the world to constitutionally protect its drinking water. The Vienna Water Charter ensures the city does not expose water to hazards that impact water quality. Vienna’s drinking water comes from water springs in the Rax, Schneeberg and Schneealpe mountains and from the Hochschwab mountain massif. To protect the springs the Forestry Office of the City of Vienna maintains source protection forests to ensure the soil remains healthy and able to filter and store rainwater

efficiently. In addition, the city works with farmers in the source areas to avoid negative influences on the water sources.

Massachusetts’ Source Protection Grant In Massachusetts, the state offers a Drinking Water Supply Protection (DWSP) Grant to public water systems and municipal water departments for the purchase of land or interests in land for the protection of existing public drinking water supplies; protection of planned future public drinking water supplies; and groundwater recharge. Under the DWSP Grant applicants can receive up to $350,000 in funding to implement plans to protect existing or new wells, as well as surface drinking water supply systems including reservoirs. The funds can even be used to purchase watershed land located in Department of Environmental Protectionapproved drinking water supply land to ensure the health and well-being of Massachusetts’ residents.

New York City Working in Partnership New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is responsible for operating, maintaining, and protecting the city’s water supply and distribution system. To protect the source of drinking water for nine million water consumers, DEP funds and implements a comprehensive Long-Term Watershed Protection Program. A key aspect of the programme is

that it includes working in partnership with many diverse stakeholder groups and local organizations. Since 1992, the Watershed Agricultural Program has promoted a non-regulatory, voluntary, incentive-based and farmer-led approach to controlling agricultural sources of pollution while supporting the economic viability of the watershed’s agricultural economy. Working through the Watershed Agricultural Council, the city funds development of farm pollution prevention plans and implementation of structural and nonstructural best management practices. To date, nearly 200 large farm operations have signed up with the programme and over 7,000 best management practices have been implemented. In addition, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program pays farmers to take sensitive riparian buffer lands out of active farm use and reestablish vegetative buffers. This has led to the development of nearly 2,000 acres of riparian buffers and around 9,000 head of livestock being excluded from streams.

Philadelphia’s Watershed Approach Philadelphia Water Department’s (PWD) Source Water Protection Program takes a watershed-wide approach to protecting the quality of the city’s drinking water sources with PWD working with upstream communities and organisations on a variety of initiatives including: working with regional

land trusts and conservancies to ensure forested lands are permanently protected for drinking water supply protection; lobbying for policies that preserve forests and emphasise water resource protection; collaborating with the State of Pennsylvania to ensure regulations are enforced for wastewater treatment plants that discharge upstream of Philadelphia; and working with State and local stakeholders to rehabilitate the Fairmount Dam Fishway Facility, which is the largest fish passage structure in the Schuylkill River watershed and is critical to ensuring the healthy fish passage on the Schuylkill River and its tributaries. Overall, water source protection actions can involve a variety of policy regulations and economic incentives to protect water resources from non-point source pollution including the restriction of certain activities near water sources, grants to local authorities to purchase land in and around existing or new wells, and funding of best management practices on farmlands. Water source protection can also involve non-regulatory activities such as stakeholder engagement initiatives that bring together communities and organizations across entire watersheds to jointly develop solutions. Robert Brears is the author of Urban Water Security, Founder of Mitidaption, and Our Future Water." @Mitidaption

April, 2018

APPLICATION

Efficiencyor Reliability- Their Influences on Pump Selection and System Operation This article looks at the challenges faced by Emschergenossenschaft, the organization responsible for the Emscher River Basin, and in particular the aspects of the project that influenced selection and specification of pumps needed for such a highly ambitious undertaking. By Bryan Orchard

View of the 40m Deep Construction Pit of the Pumping Station in Gelsenkirchen

RESTORING THE HIGHLY polluted Emscher River between Dortmund and Dinslaken in Germany is Europe’s largest wastewater clean-up project costing an estimated Euros 4.5 billion. More of an open sewer than a river, the 80-km of waterway passes through abandoned coal-mines, industrial wastelands and urban areas. Due for completion in 2020, the regeneration project has faced many major challenges, ranging from collapsed coal mining tunnels, unexploded bombs, archaeological sites and the logistics of getting the slurry to flow down the newly constructed main sewage tunnel.

April, 2018

This latter challenge could only be made possible by the construction of three colossal underground pumping stations to lift the toxic slurry.

The Emscher Conversion Project In order to fully appreciate the project’s pumping requirements, it is necessary to have a full picture of just how large and complicated has been the Emscher Conversion project. Far from being a river cleanup, the project has had to address the crumbling infrastructure through which the highly toxic water flows and to construct a high-tech sewage system to treat the effluent. In

addition, this has been the problem of flooding which poses a major threat to communities along the river. The ultimate goal has been to return the Emscher and its tributaries to a pristine state, thereby enhancing the environment for the benefit of the 2.6 million inhabitants and wildlife of the region. Industrialization of the Ruhr Area, through which the Emscher flows, commenced in the 19th century and by the end of the century the commercial and household wastewater fed directly into the river had resulted in widespread contamination and appalling hygienic conditions. With the formation of Emschergenossenschaft in 1899 steps were taken to alleviate the problem. However, due to subsidence preventing the construction of a closed pipeline to carry the wastewater, the river was transformed into an open drain enclosed by concrete embankments. For the next 90 years, nothing really changed until the ambitious plan created by Emschergenossenschaft and 19 local municipalities during the 1990’s was finally published as the Emscher Future master plan in 2006. To sum up the Emscher

Conversion project in simple terms, this is a massive 51km underground wastewater tunnel connected to a network of underground conduits and pumping stations that will move all the wastewater currently flowing into and along the open drain. With the demolition of the open sewer systems, the Emscher River and its tributaries will revert back

to natural water-courses.

Dealing with Water Flow The main artery of the three-meter diameter drainage tunnel starts at the Dortmund-Deusen sewage treatment plant and follows the course of the River Emscher due west to the Emschermündung sewage treatment plant near

KSB Sewatec Pumps Being Installed at the Gelsenkirchen Pumping Station

EXPRESS WATER

APPLICATION Dinslaken. At first sight, this appears to be quite straightforward, but that is not the case. Along with all the other challenges faced by the project engineers, there was the matter of wastewater flow. In order to keep the wastewater flowing along the entire 51km, the tunnel has to have a downward slope of 1.5m per 1km. This might not seem to be of great significance, but with such an incline the tunnel would be 75m below ground level when it reaches Dinslaken on the River Rhine. After due consideration, the solution to this problem was to build three large pumping stations at Gelsenkirchen, Bottrop, and Oberhausen in order to raise the water from a depth of around 40m to 8m below ground level. This provides sufficient slope for the wastewater to flow off again down the tunnel. These pumping stations are essential to the successful operation of the entire system, which is why such exacting specifications were set out at the start. To KSB’s satisfaction no less than 21 of its Sewatec pumps were ordered. Manfred Greisch, KSB project manager sums it up very simply: “The Sewatec pump is designed to meet the challenging requirements of the nature of the water in the Emscher system. It is resistant to chemical attack and abrasives. But most significantly KSB pumps have particularly efficient hydraulics compared to their competitors. And it almost goes without saying that KSB has the infrastructure and resources to support these pumps throughout their working lives.”

Planning for 100 Years As is to be expected for a project of this size and comp l e x i t y , E m s c h e r ge n o s s e n s c h a f t required a long-term engineering solution that was robust, reliable, efficient, future-proof and capable of meeting all current demands and future expansion. Nothing short of a 100-year working

EXPRESS WATER

life was the brief given to all contractors on the project. At no time during this period would there be any halt in the water flow, so all fluid handling equipment had to be fully functional at all times. Any equipment failures could result in damage to the entire system, including effluent treatment plants, and of course, flooding would be catastrophic. The pressures, therefore, were on the equipment manufacturers to have complete faith in their technologies and prove this to the customer. However, even this is not enough. E m s c h e r ge n o s s e n s c h a f t wanted pumps that would deliver reliability over the long term and economical operation that would deliver energy efficiency. Given that the complete system has a designed lifespan of 100 years, it is impossible to predict with total accuracy the many factors that will affect the performance of the pumping system so far ahead. Reviewing the long-term performance of similar pumps in similar applications does provide a good guide to their suitability.

The Winning Proposal KSB’s principal areas of involvement were the provision of pumps for the Bottrop and Gelsenkirchen pumping stations. Both pumping stations lift the wastewater from the valley to the sewer sections at a higher level. The biggest pump sets each have a drive rating of 470 kW and handle up to 6,480 cubic meters of wastewater per hour. To win the much-prized contract, KSB was successful in convincing Emschergenossenschaft of the significant benefits of using its Sewatec pumps. These highly versatile pumps were selected because they are in use in many parts of the world, delivering the type of performance and efficiency levels that the Emscher Conversion project required. These dry-installed pumps are fitted with variable-speed drives, IE4 motors and come

with a variety impeller options. The optimized hydraulic system yields high efficiency, thereby helping to reduce energy consumption and minimize operating costs. This combination of excellent hydraulics and energy efficiency could not be matched by any of the other pump companies tendering for the contract. Several modifications were made to the pumps to meet the project’s special requirements. A special technical feature of the pumps is their casing design. Unlike Sewatec’s standard casing, the casings for this variant were designed with tangential discharge nozzles by KSB engineers to achieve even better efficiencies. The impellers were also optimized to ensure excellent efficiencies without compromising on the high level of operating reliability. In addition, the oil reservoir of the shaft seals and its monitoring device, plus the backstop on the pumps, was adapted to the customer’s requirements. KSB’s factory in Halle/Saale produced all of the pump sets for this major project, including two huge pumps in close-coupled design specially manufactured for the Gelsenkirchen pumping station. It was here that the efficiencies the pumps achieved on the test bed exceeded the values established through the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulation. Each pump was tested individually prior to despatch and showed that the commitments made for efficiencies could be exceeded by three percent. The requirement for the Bottrop pumping station was 10 pumps with discharge nozzles between 500mm and 700mm and impellers up to 900mm in diameter with universal-joint shafts. Nine pumps of the same design were commissioned for the Gelsenkirchen pumping station. In addition, two Sewatec pumps were supplied in the same size in close-coupled design.

Life-Cycle Costs For a project of this magnitude, it was important for Emschergenossenschaft to have a good idea of the LifeCycle Costs for the pumping stations and thus, the Total Cost of Ownership. Knowing the LCC enables the customer to have a good idea when the total investment will be paid back. Of the many requirements for this project attaining high levels of pump efficiency and reliability came high on the wish list. Pump efficiency and pump reliability should not be seen as competing objectives. In fact, they complement each other. To achieve both objectives requires all parties involved in the design and operation of the pumping system to combine their resources and technical expertise to identify the factors that contribute to determining the Best Efficiency Point (BEP). Pumps running at their BEP at all times achieve efficiency and reliability. This saves on energy costs, wear on components and delivers smooth running, all of which contribute to lower levels of maintenance, this always being an expensive and time-consuming undertaking. Having taken extensive briefings from Schachtbau Nordhausen GmbH, constructors of the pumping stations, KSB’s project team were able to deliver a proposal that would deliver outstanding efficiency at an excellent price/performance ratio. What’s more, they could demonstrate this in exacting witness-testing trials.

manufacturers. Its owner and o p e r a t o r , Emschergenossenschaft, has the ability to monitor continuously its performance and react accordingly when events occur. To this end, it has the total cost of ownership for the entire designed working life.

Summary The Emscher Conversion project has provided KSB the opportunity to demonstrate its engineering resources and all-round capabilities in designing and delivering an energy efficient and reliable pumping solution that can be seen as a benchmark for the wastewater handling industry. The bigger the project, the bigger the efficiencies pay-off for the end-user over the long term. By showing flexibility in design, flexibility in thinking and the capabilities to tailor its products to the customer’s requirements KSB has made a major contribution to the Emscher Conversion project. Delivery, installation, and commissioning of the 21 Sewatec pump-sets are not the end of the road for KSB. It will retain a close working relationship with its customer for many years through the provision of technical support services, ensuring that its pumps meet the ever-changing demands of Europe’s largest wastewater project.

No Compromise The Emscher Conversion project is a highly innovative and complex project that has been many years in the planning. Now closing in on its full commissioning date, this closed wastewater discharge system is a state-of-the-art design that harnesses the highest levels of water transportation technologies that are available from world-leading equipment and materials

About the Author Bryan Orchard is an international freelance journalist who specializes in water and environmental engineering. All Photos Courtesy of KSB SE & Co. KGaA.

April, 2018

CASE STUDY

Continuous Data Keeps Brazilian Ports’ Business Flowing Xylem analytics instruments play a vital role in Rio de Janeiro harbor monitoring. By SonTek

any condition. Harbormasters use the same data to fine-tune the loading of each vessel, optimizing the load for the available draft. “They can load to the maximum and get out quickly and not have any problem,” notes Gabriel Aloi Paschoal, commercial director for HidroMares, the Brazilian Xylem representative company and systems integrator that developed SISMO.

Significant Revenues

PILOTING A 256-METER (839-foot) cargo vessel into port is always a delicate operation, and it doesn’t get any easier with swift currents and stiff winds cutting across the narrow channel. Or fog. Or driving rain. But that’s just another day at work for Brazilian pilots in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where freighters meet a fork in the channel on their way up tiny Sepetiba Bay toward a pair of terminals. Each year, the ships they guide carry away 48 million metric tons of iron ore and 39 million metric tons of containers and iron and steel products, threading their 43-meter-wide bulks down a dredged channel just 200 meters wide. The wind

April, 2018

howls up the coast and ricochets off the 800-meter-high mountain range that rings the bay. During foul weather, the mountains trap fog and rainclouds, reducing visibility to near-zero. It’s little surprise, then, that the Rio de Janeiro pilots’ association, whose members are responsible for guiding any non-Brazilian ship into those ports, requested that the port owners install the innovative SISMO® - in Portuguese, an acronym for Real-Time Meteocean Monitoring System - in the bay. Their colleagues in Sao Paulo state have used a SISMO system since 2013, which transmits current, level, tide, temperature, wind

speed/direction and visibility data directly to their smartphones.

With that detailed dashboard, pilots can maneuver and dock precisely in nearly

In Rio de Janeiro state, the owner of one of the ports has used SISMO to cut an hour off each vessel’s approach time to the pier, using historical data to optimize the maneuvering patterns in its turning basin. SISMO has also opened the port to night operations, notes Paschoal. “The terminal doubled the operational time and efficien-

EXPRESS WATER

CASE STUDY

cy after navigation was authorized at night as a result of the SISMO implementation,” he reports. The extensive data from the four SISMO installations in the Rio de Janeiro facility also improve safe navigation, especially where the channel forks in a shallow area where the rock had to be blasted out before dredging, Paschoal adds. “Every turn for a vessel is really problematic,” says Paschoal, whose degree is in oceanography. “Pilots and naval engineers always say a vessel is only built to navigate straight, not to turn.”

Continuous Monitoring HidroMares has installed its SISMO systems at seven port complexes around Brazil, from ocean terminals in the south to an inland river port in the Amazon basin. At the heart of each system is a SonTek acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), which provides current velocity and direction data throughout the water column, as well as water level. That allows SISMO units to provide current data to pilots at six depths - from the surface to 12 meters, in two-meter increments - as well as highly accu-

One of Two Tideland Buoys in the Rio de Janeiro SISMO System, with its Hatch Open to Allow Maintenance Crews Access to Datalogging and Telemetry Equipment.

rate depth measurements from a vertical acoustic beam and a pressure sensor, all refreshed every five minutes. In Rio de Janeiro’s Sepetiba Bay, HidroMares positioned three bottommounted SonTek AgronautXR systems in the channel, leading their cables up to surface buoys outfitted with data transmission equipment. HidroMares also positioned an Argonaut-SL side-looking ADCP at the end of the pier to

The HidroMares Team Deploys SonTek Argonaut-XR ADCPs - Three in Total - to Continuously Monitor Currents in a Forked, Narrow Channel in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro State. The Pyramidal Housing Protects the Current Profilers from Damage in the Busy Port.

EXPRESS WATER

deliver a current profile extending 120 meters from the dock. The pier installation also includes a Mira visibility sensor, a wind sensor and a SmartGuard datalogger from SonTek’s sister company, Aanderaa, which is also part of Xylem Analytics. On the shore, another wind sensor provides additional insight on air currents. The buoys - two of which are Tideland SB 138P polyethylene models from Xylem contain redundant GPRS transmitters to ensure that measurements are relayed reliably to HidroMares’ computers, which process them through Aanderaa Geoview software to create a visual display. Paschoal says data retrieval has exceeded 99 percent since SISMO was installed in Rio de Janeiro in late 2015. HidroMares created a smartphone app to deliver the Geoview data graphics to pilots and port personnel. Processing the Argonaut data takes less than a minute, so the display on pilots’ cell phones is never more than a few minutes old. “The data the pilot or operator sees is from 10 seconds ago to five minutes ago,” Paschoal says. “Practically

instantly they have the visualization of data.” SISMO also sends alarms to pilots and port staff when currents, waves or winds become hazardous.

Further Uses SISMO data can be applied even after vessels have cycled through the port. HidroMares posts each port’s data online through Geoview, and exports it to other programs as needed. “Integration of this data with other products is very easy in real time,” Paschoal notes. “In other ports, we have sent our data to improve the weather reports. In some cases, they use this data for environmental monitoring, too.” HidroMares sends monthly data reports to its clients. The Rio de Janeiro ports pass along that historical data to the naval engineering school at the University of Sao Paulo for analysis, part of the ongoing effort to fine-tune operations. Even before installing SISMO for the Rio de Janeiro ports, HidroMares had gathered four years’ worth of continuous current, wave, level and bottom temperature data in Sepetiba Bay at the request of the Brazilian Navy, which had used the site as a subma-

April, 2018

CASE STUDY Easy Maintenance

A HidroMares Technician Prepares a YSI Nile 502 Radar Water Level Sensor, Part of Company’s Innovative SISMO® Harbor Monitoring System.

rine building facility. That detailed information helped port owners develop the submarine base into a commercial iron ore loading facility, laying out the channels, sizing the turning basins, and planning logistics.

A team of divers from HidroMares makes a maintenance visit to each Rio de Janeiro SISMO installation every 45 days. Paschoal says the Argonauts and other instruments are highly reliable and easy to maintain. Most of the work is ensuring that sediments have not buried the ADCPs, cleaning up summertime biofouling, and ensuring that cables are intact. The telemetry system is packed in a portable case that can be transferred from the buoy to the boat for more convenient, safer maintenance before being plugged back into the instruments and transmission antenna.

CTD Data Paschoal notes that each maintenance visit provides the opportunity for the HidroMares crew to gather Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) measurements with a SonTek CastAway-CTD at every SISMO site. The CastAway measurements reveal seasonal changes in salinity, which

HidroMares Used an Image of its Aanderaa Wind and Visibility Instruments as a Lead Image to Promote its SISMO® Monitoring System.

can impact buoyancy of ships in the port and, along with temperature, impacts the speed of the ADCPs’ acoustic signals. “We collect it into the database and use it to correct the data from the ADCP as well,” he says. Paschoal is an admirer of the rugged, baseball-sized CastAway CTD. “The CastAway was thought up by a person who goes into the field,” he says. “You have common AA batteries, integrated GPS - everything you need - and you don’t need a computer to operate it.”

Integrated Solutions Isaac Jones, the Product Manager at SonTek’s headquarters in San Diego, California, says SISMO is an elegant integration of the broad range of Xylem brands. “The way HidroMares has linked Argonaut ADCPs and the Mira visibility sensor on Tideland buoys with Geoview software - then supports the data with measurements from

April, 2018

CastAway CTDs - reflects the deep knowledge they have of the products they represent,” Jones notes. “But what’s even deeper is their understanding of what their customers - the pilots, ship captains and harbourmasters - need in order to operate safely and efficiently. SISMO is an outstanding example of applying great technology to not just generate data, but to deliver it in an elegant, customer-focused way.” SonTek (Xylem Inc) manufactures acoustic Doppler instrumentation for water velocity measurement in oceans, rivers, lakes, canals, harbors, estuaries, and laboratories. These instruments use sound waves to tell you how fast water is moving, where it is moving, and even if it is not moving at all. Scientists, engineers, hydrologists, research associates, water resource planners and anyone that needs to collect velocity (speed) data in every kind of body of water imaginable, use these instruments.

(Photo Source: HidroMares and SonTek)

Durable Equipment Designed for Long Deployments Such as This Argonaut-SL500 Allows HidroMares Teams to Extend the Maintenance Interval for Each SISMO Installation to 45 Days.

EXPRESS WATER

CASE STUDY

Endurance Test at the Pflegelberg Central Sewage Plant Real-time comparison of press belt mesh efficiency in sludge dewatering. By GKD - Gebr. Kufferath AG

The Loading of Slurry onto the New Filter Belt Type Speed-Drain by GKD.

OVER A TEN-WEEK period at the Pflegelberg Central Sewage Treatment Plant, the leading specialist for filtration and process belt meshes GKD - GEBR. KUFFERATH AG

(GKD) and the company Sülzle Klein GmbH tested the new press belt mesh type Speed-Drain, which combines high dewatering rates with reliable particle retention.

GKD's New Belt Mesh of the Type Speed-Drain in Feed and PreDewatering Zone, where Chicanes Ensure Good Drainage.

April, 2018

The two companies compared the efficiency of the new mesh with that of the GKD mesh type 1003 previously used there, under real operating conditions on two structurally identical belt presses. Plant manager Michael Sturm expected the test to demonstrate enough of an improvement of dewatering results to reduce the run duration of the sewage sludge drying stage. From the very start, the new belt fulfilled all expectations. Thanks to its significantly better dewatering performance, compared to the 1003 mesh type, the dry matter content (DM) increased by 0.8% – enough to reduce dryer utilization in Pflegelberg by

about nine days a year (3%). Founded in 1978, the Pflegelberg Central Sewage Treatment Plant near Wangen in Germany's Allgäu region maintains 57 outside facilities: 31 pumping stations, 11 rain overflow basins and 15 compressed air flushing stations. Operated by the Rural District of Ravensburg, the sewage treatment plant has the city of Wangen connected to it, along with the participating communities Neukirch and Amtzell and the municipality of Hergensweiler. One peculiarity of the plant is its location across the district boundary in the Rural District of Lake Constance, at the confluence of the Upper and Lower River Argen. As Lake Constance is the drinkingwater reservoir for the whole region, the sewage treatment plant must comply with very stringent limits on what it dis-

charges into the lake, particularly in terms of phosphorus. Over the last 15 years, the Pflegelberg plant has treated an average of 7 million cubic meters of wastewater a year. The lowest volume of wastewater processed so far was 5.5 million cubic meters in the dry year 2003; the highest volume recorded so far was 8.5 million cubic meters in the high-rainfall year 2001. These values reflect a minimum throughput of 7,000 cubic meters and a maximum throughput of 62,000 cubic meters of wastewater a day, i.e. 720 liters a second. After the various treatment stages, between 850 and 900 tons of dried sewage sludge needs to be disposed of annually. The Pflegelberg Central Sewage Treatment Plant is designed for a population equivalent (PE) of 80,000 inhabitants, although the current waste-

With Warp Wires of Various Special Plastic Materials, the Speed-Drain Filter Belt Provides Through Considerably More but Smaller Mesh Openings a Better Dewatering.

EXPRESS WATER

CASE STUDY also heated with the waste heat from the nearby biogas plant. Even the building is heated by means of this energy. Today, the sewage treatment plant complies with the strict standards of the European Union (EU) and, in the annual ratings of the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA), regularly attains the quality assessment very good.

Three Treatment Stages Under a Belt Tension of upto 14 bar, the Sludge Makes its Way Between the Two Belts of Belt Filter Press.

water volumes only equate to 60,000 PE. The serviced area actually only has 33,000 real inhabitants, with almost half of the treated volume coming from industrial and commercial dischargers, for example, several dairies, metal-processing businesses and the Hospital in Wangen. Originally, the plant was configured to cater for a large textile industry company and the typical challenges of its wastewater, and it was not until 2011 that it was also equipped with digestion facilities. The slow, drawn-out decline of the company until its final closure in 2015 had consequences for wastewater volumes and treatment at the Pflegelberg Central Sewage Treatment Plant. The textile company's wastewater was not always easy to treat. So, it remains to be seen in the current year whether and to what extent the circa 5% lower load on the treatment plant resulting

from the closure will have a noticeable effect. Eight employees are responsible for the smooth, 365-days-a-year operation of the treatment plant. On the plant's spacious grounds, which border on woodland, a new wastewater filtration plant was put into operation in 2000, and since then the whole treatment plant has been successively updated and renewed. In 2005, for example, the chamber filter presses were replaced by two SMP 2500-14 type belt filter presses made by the company SĂźlzle Klein. 2007 marked the start of sewage sludge drying on a Pro 2/3 type low-pressure belt dryer (LTD) from SĂźlzleKlein with waste-heat utilization from a nearby private biogas plant. In 2011, sludge digestion went into operation with the utilization of the digester gas in the sewage plant's own cogeneration unit (CHP). The digestion tower is

In the first mechanical treatment stage, bar screens with steel bars at 3-centimeter intervals remove large objects like paper and hygiene articles from the influent. The washed and dewatered screenings are then disposed of in containers. For large volumes of influent, two rain overflow basins serve as intermediate storage reservoirs, each with a capacity of 1,178 cubic meters. A wastewater lifting plant with spiral-feed pumps regulates the flow of the wastewater into the fine screen system. Here, remaining solids down to a size of six millimeters are filtered out. The sand and grease trap pumps away the sand contained in the water after it has settled and washes it out. At the same time, floating fat is removed from the system and disposed of. Because the treatment plant was initially designed as an aerobic stabilization facility to cater for the local textile industry at that time, i.e. operating without digesters, there was no need for a primary sedimentation tank. This means that the belated integration of such a primary clarifier in the context of the installation of a digestion system would have been extremely costly. Instead, the treatment plant at Wangen adapted its processes and, to this day, still manages to do without primary clarification.

required for this process is introduced through surface aeration in the two aeration basins. Agitators in these basins, each one with a capacity of 9,000 cubic meters, ensure the required homogenization of the water-sludge mixture. In the three secondary clarification basins, each with a capacity of von 4,500 cubic meters, the activated sludge clots settle and are then removed as return sludge. These basins were renovated in 2014/2015 and converted from underwater scrapers to scraper bridges with toothed track technology. In Michael Sturm's opinion, the new bridges have the advantage of not requiring any track heating, a relevant factor in such a snowy region. This not only makes maintenance easier but also contributes to the reduction of energy costs and an increase in operational reliability.

Phosphate Precipitation The location of the treatment plant in the Lake Constance catchment area means that the statutory limit value of 0.3 milligrams a liter for total phosphate must not be exceeded. For this reason, precipitants containing aluminium are already added in the aeration basin parallel to the bio-degradation process. The precipitation process is continued in the settling basin through the addition of an iron (III)-chloride solution. What still remains in terms of phosphate content is then precipi-

Thanks to its Significantly Better Dewatering Performance, the Dry Matter Content (DM) Increased by 0.8%.

tated in the sand filter through the repeated addition of the iron (III)-chloride solution. The sand filter consists of twelve filter chambers, with a total filter area of 200 square meters of pumice sand and silica sand, which reliably filter out the phosphate compounds. Thanks to this triple precipitation policy, the Pflegelberg treatment plant maintains an annual average of 0.12 milligrams a liter of total phosphates, well under the statutory threshold value of 0.3 milligrams.

Dewatering to the Max The sludge dewatering facility needs to remove 78%

Active Microorganisms Thanks to Their Decreasing Diameters, the 14 Rollers in Compression Zone Successively Increase the Pressure Exerted on Sludge.

EXPRESS WATER

In the biological treatment stage, microorganisms break down the pollutants contained in the wastewater. The oxygen

Bar Screens with Steel Bars at 3-Centimeter Intervals Remove Large Objects Like Paper and Hygiene Articles from Influent.

April, 2018

CASE STUDY

Founded in 1978, the Pflegelberg Central Sewage Treatment Plant Near Wangen in Germany's Allgäu Region Maintains 31 Pumping Stations, 11 Rain Overflow Basins and 15 Compressed Air Flushing Stations.

of the water content from about 18,000 cubic meters of sewage sludge a year. To achieve this, the overflow sludge from the biological stage is first concentrated in a static thickener to between 2.5 and 3% dry matter content (DM). Then, a mechanical pre-dewatering belt increases the dry matter content to between 6 and 7%. After that,

the sludge is left to ferment for up to 30 days in a 1,100cubic-metre-capacity digestion tower, where it is constantly circulated by two pumps. To maximize the energy gain from this fermentation process, the treatment plant adds the co-substrates. Fermentation at 41°C reduces the sludge volume by about 20%. At the same time, about 900 cubic meters of digester gas are produced every day, the gas flowing into the adjacent co-generation plant. The power yield from this system covers 21% of the plant's own energy requirements. Subsequently, the digested sludge is dewatered on two belt filter presses to a dry matter content level of 22%. Each of the belt filter presses in Pflegelberg dewater about 9,000 cubic metrers of sewage sludge a year. At four working days a week, that works out at about 42 cubic meters of sludge a day. The output from the belt filter presses is transported – by means of a thickened sludge pump working with short blasts of compressed air – to the sludge bunker 90 metres away next to the sludge dryer. Depending on the time of year, sewage sludges in the Pflegelberg Central Sewage Treatment Plant have varying consistencies. In winter, higher content levels of organic substances result in lower dewatering rates, meaning more time and expense for the drying stage. While the dry matter content in the winter months is only around 20%, it climbs a few percents higher in summer, resulting in an annual average DM of 22%.

High and Dry

A Wastewater Lifting Plant with Spiral-Feed Pumps Regulates the Flow of Wastewater into Fine Screen System.

April, 2018

A belt dryer using wasteheat from the biogas plant removes the residual moisture from the dewatered sludge. The resulting dry granulate is incinerated in a cement works. It takes about three hours for sewage sludge with an initial dry matter content of 22% to be dried to a DM of 91% in the low-temperature dryer. Every hour, a new 600

kilogram charge of sludge is loaded with a so-called diffuser onto the dryer belts, which also come from GKD, evenly distributed and dried with a through-flow of air at 80°C. On average, the treatment plant produces 850 to 900 tons of dried sludge a year in this way. This works out to a weight reduction of 3,150 tons or 79%. But for that, the dryer has to run around the clock for five-and-a-half days a week, which adds up to 6,800 operating hours a year. In winter, due to the higher volumes of sludge, the equipment is at the limits of its capacity. So every single percent more DM in the dewatered sludge helps to reduce the total operating hours of the dryer. The dried granulate is kept in a 16meter-high storage silo for about a week until there is enough to fill a silo truck. In the course of a year, around 40 silo trucks full of sludge are produced and transported to the cement works for incineration.

Central Process In 2005, the sewage plant at Wangen decided to replace the old chamber filter presses with belt filter presses. The reason for this move was not just the benefits of a better rate of dewatering but also – compared to a centrifuge – the considerably lower consumption of polymers and power. Another argument for the replacement of the chamber filter presses was the low procurement cost and easy maintenance of the belt filter presses. And their smaller footprint meant that there was more than enough available space in the plant to accommodate them. Since their commissioning in 2005, the belt filter presses have been operating with GKD Type 1003 filter belts. Each of the belt filter presses in the Pflegelberg Central Sewage Treatment Plant dewaters between 6 and 12 cubic meters of slurry an hour. To achieve the highest possible dewatering performance, the presses run extra slowly at 0.9 meters

In the Fine Screen System Remaining Solids Down to a Size of Six Millimeters are Filtered Out.

a minute. Spray jets positioned under the belt flush the belts after the press cake is released to re-open any mesh pores that might have become clogged. With the comparison test under real conditions, Michael Sturm wanted to use the opportunity to find a more efficient dewatering option for his sludge, in the hope of reducing the load on the downstream process stage of drying the sewage sludge on the dryer. Before it is loaded onto the belt filter presses, the fermented sludge from the digestion tower has to have polymer added to it. A pump then transports the sludge continuously onto the feed zone, where chicanes ensure good drainage. Through a curved compression zone, the sludge is transported between an upper and lower belt over a filter drum and into the roller compression zone. Under a

belt tension of up to 14 bar, the sludge makes its way between the two 2.5-metre-wide and 16.9- respectively 18.5-metrelong belts of the belt filter press. Thanks to their decreasing diameters, the 14 rollers in the compression zone successively increase the pressure exerted on the sludge. The different radial distances of the two belts to the roller, and therefore the difference in their lengths, creates a shear effect on the sludge which intensifies the dewatering effect. But for uninterrupted operation of the belt filter press, it is absolutely essential that no sludge is pressed through the belts or squeezed out at the sides. And, in addition to this requirement for reliable particle retention, the belts must also durably withstand the enormous forces working on them while at the same time

The Washed and Dewatered Screenings are Disposed of in Containers.

EXPRESS WATER

CASE STUDY raise the dry matter content by 1 or 2% with the new belts, because an improved DM of the sludge would increase the throughput rate in the lowtemperature dryer and create additional reserve capacity. In terms of other evaluation parameters, filtrate clarity and polymer consumption were both decisive criteria for Michael Sturm.

Turbo for Belt Filter Presses The Sand and Grease Trap Pumps Away the Sand Contained in Water After it has Settled and Washes It Out. At the Same Time, Floating Fat is Removed.

ensuring a high rate of dewatering. Michael Sturm's good experiences with the GKD Type 1003 mesh belts used so far on the presses was a major factor in his decision to make the dewatering stage at the Pflegelberg plant available for a test with the innovative new filter belt. "How well our sludge responds to dewatering varies according to seasonal factors and other external influences. And there's a corresponding fluctuation in our polymer consumption. With the 1003 mesh, so far

we've had a really good belt that really meets the demands of our particular sludge profile." And he also thinks the flat (PAD) seam "… is really good. It only protrudes a little, so it doesn't put undue stress on the components." His requirements regarding the new belt type were therefore very high. What he wanted to see was clear proof of increased dewatering efficiency without any of the mesh's optimal qualities of durability, retention, and cross-stability being forfeited. What he hoped for was to be able to

Plant Manager Michael Sturm Shows the Sampler at the End of the Sand Trap.

EXPRESS WATER

The new Speed-Drain belt mesh installed by GKD for the comparison test proved its high level of dewatering performance impressively, both in the gravity section and in the roller compression section of the press. Its warp wires of various special plastic materials – only half as thick compared to the polyester monofilaments of the belt mesh previously used – give it considerably more but smaller mesh openings. In this way, two properties that should actually be mutually exclusive – high dewatering performance and reliable particle retention even under pressure – are ingeniously combined in a single product. The first round of talks between the parties involved in the comparison test – the Pflegelberg Central Sewage Treatment Plant, GKD and Sülzle Klein – were conducted in December. A good eight weeks later, after the necessary personnel planning had been made in Pflegelberg, the test commenced. On the day before, Michael Sturm had the sludge dewatering equipment powered down and the cleaned. It took GKD and Sülzle Klein one day to refit the two presses – one with a belt of the previously used Type 1003 mesh, the other, a structurally identical second belt filter press, with the new belt type Speed-Drain – and put them back into operation. On the next day, the two presses were running simultaneously again in normal operation mode – and under exactly identical conditions regarding flocculants, sludge and

In the Two Aeration Basins, Each One with a Capacity of 9,000 Cubic Meters, Agitators Ensure the Required Homogenization of Water-Sludge Mixture.

time. After ten weeks of testing, regularly taken samples from both presses allowed valid conclusions about the new filter belt mesh to be drawn.

Clearly Superior From the very start, it was obvious that the new filter belt was doing more than just meeting expectations. With a constant circa 0.8% higher dry matter content at a throughput rate of 6.5 cubic meters an hour, it gave a convincing demonstration of its excellent dewatering capabilities. For Volker Meuser, Senior Sales & Application Manager at GKD, this was a further confirmation of the experience with Speed-Drain already gathered from other sewage treatment plants. "Now, we can also give our customers hard comparative data on the two belts under exactly identical process conditions, and show them in detail what the added value of our new belt type really is." And the new filter belt type even promises excellent dewatering efficiency for thinner slurries than the ones processed in Pflegelberg. In the opinion of Henning Schneider, Head of Design and Manufacture at Sülzle Klein, there are also positive prospects for future equipment sizes: "The high rate of dewatering in the straining zone makes the idea of machines with shorter strain-

ing sections feasible. For the customer, this would mean not only smaller space requirements but also lower procurement costs." Plant manager Michael Sturm is more than satisfied with the test results. "Speed-Drain's good particle retention made sure that, even in continuous operation, the sludge didn't penetrate the mesh and the belts didn't stick together." But the main reason for his overall positive conclusion about GKD's new belt mesh Speed-Drain was the significant increase in dewatering performance: "The test under real conditions with our sludge has now given me a solid basis for deciding how we can optimize our sludge dewatering. The detailed longterm evaluations show that a changeover to the new belt type will definitely pay off, and will enable me to reduce the load on our sewage sludge drying stage by about 200 hours a year." For this reason, the mechanical pre-dewatering belt was also fitted with the new belt. And here, too, it fulfilled expectations: the dry matter content of the sludge on the belt thickener has already gone up by 0.3% - a result that even further reduces the load on the drying stage. GKD - Gebr. Kufferath AG is the world market leader in metal, synthetic and spiral mesh solutions.

April, 2018

CASE STUDY

Controlling Water Flowin Salalah,Oman Singer Valve works with Larson Toubro to install 12 Altitude Valves to control water flow from pipelines to large reservoirs. By Singer Valve SALALAH IS A coastal city in Oman, about 1,500 km South of Dubai. Although they have an average population of 200,000, tourists flock to this beautiful city for the temperate summer climate. The city gets its water from a desalination plant that has the capacity to process 30 million gal-

Using Sensing Line to Set Level Point

April, 2018

lons a day. This water then goes through a 105 km transmission line with DN 1200, DN 700 and DN 600 mm DI pipes into respective reservoirs that supply water to the residents as needed. As the city and neighborhoods are expanding additional transmission pipelines and

booster station was needed to be able to efficiently fill reservoirs for a combined holding of 180,000 cum. Initially, they were looking at installing float control valves on the reservoirs to control the water level, but the application was more suited for Altitude Valves. Float valves in these

Completing Installation Work

EXPRESS WATER

CASE STUDY ferential and filling of the reservoir is immediate as the water drop is sensed. Taraknath Haldar Project Planning Manager with Larsen & Toubro, the engineering contractors for the project said, “It was invaluable having the Singer team on site, to make instant changes”.

All of the valves have a 316 stainless steel seat, which is superior on the wetted surface and 18/8 stainless steel fasteners that won’t rust. Resilient Heat Fusion Epoxy Coatings are used internally as well as externally and are NSF approved to be safe for use with potable water.

Adjusting Valve Setting

large sizes would have been too slow and had a sluggish response. Rajive Khosla, the Singer Agent with Al Mutawaa Trading, recommended 12 Singer Altitude Valves. These valves were to be installed on the inlet line to the reservoirs in chambers that would make for a better installation and easily serviceable at ground level. These altitude valves, ranging in size from DN 300 to DN 800 mm would have an immediate response to flow levels with positive shut-off and no overflows. Singer’s 206-A Altitude Control Valves are ideal for maintaining a preset maximum water level, which is what this reservoir required. The valve functions as a twoposition control valve, either fully open or fully closed. It allows normal forward flow to fill the reservoir to the maxi-

EXPRESS WATER

mum level and then closes drip-tight at the set-point. It opens to refill the tank once the level drops to a fixed distance below the high water level. This draw down level is adjustable should the city choose to change the refill levels. Another advantage to the 206-A Altitude Valve is the large sensing diaphragm that ensures high accuracy for level control while the inner rolling diaphragm provides superior flow stability. The installation was carried out by Larsen Toubro and Singer Valve provided technicians on site for the commissioning which took place over two days. At the time of commissioning the water pressure was not readily available and the tanks were so large that Singer Valve’s Factory Representative, Ramzi Soujah, had to get creative to set the levels of the valve.

They connected a rubber hose to the Altitude Pilot’s sensing line, and used it as if it was the tank level. With the hose in hand, they got a person to stand on the scaffolding, and make a mark on the reservoir outside wall, where they needed the valve to close. Then the rubber hose was filled with water and as it was raised and lowered, the Altitude pilot was able to sense the static level “h” and they were able to set it in that manner. “We set 4 valves this way and the beauty of these Singer Valves, is that they are repetitive, meaning once you set it, it maintains the setting and opens and closes at the same point each time,” said Mr. Soujah. Another unanticipated change on site was the conversion of the Valve from 206-AType IV to 206-A-Type II which involved disabling the Pilot. This way there is no dif-

Dn 800 mm Valves in the Chamber

April, 2018

PRODUCTS In-Situ

Amiad Water Systems Amiad has launched the new generation of 10, 20, 30, and 40 micron screen elements, enabling higher performance for all the Amiad screen products. Significant features of these screen elements are their high dirt holding capacity with long filtration cycles, high filtration velocity, excellent cleanability, precise filtration degree, reliability, and durability. Amiad’s efficient screen cleanability enables the filter to maintain initial dP value, effectively preventing clogging and accumulation of dirt on the screen.

Emerson Emerson has introduced SIL Certified Vortex Flow Meters to enhance plant safety and reliability. The non-clog Rosemount 8800 Vortex portfolio offers safety and reliability features such as online removable sensors to reduce process downtime and a critical process valve for aggressive applications which increases personnel safety by preventing exposure to hazardous fluids. A variety of configurations are available to suit a variety of requirements, including flanged, wafer, reducer, dual, and quad meter body styles, supporting installations up to 12-inch (300 mm) line sizes. Per an accredited 3rd party assessment, a single Rosemount 8800 Vortex meter may be used up to SIL 2. The Dual Vortex meter is capable of up to SIL 3 and offers a simple drop-in solution to reduce installation costs. This configuration includes a single or dual shedder bar(s), dual sensing elements, and dual transmitters for redundancy and 1oo2 voting to reduce unexpected shutdowns.

Innovyze Innovyze has released XPSWMM and XPSTORM version 2018.1. Innovyze offers state of the art improvements to hydrodynamic software solutions for simulating sanitary sewer systems, stormwater systems, rivers, and urban flooding. XPSWMM and XPSTORM are used daily around the world for master planning, floodplain mapping, flood hazard mitigation and sustainable stormwater control. This new release represents the leading edge of modeling tech-

EXPRESS WATER

In-site has launched Aqua TROLL®

500, a cost-effective multiprobe ideal for both spot checks and longterm monitoring. This wirelessenabled instrument streamlines data collection, saving hours in the field while delivering more reliable data. Auto-configuration and fast sensor response speed up sampling, while automated data collection eliminates the need to record data in field logs. The VuSitu Mobile App records data directly from the probe to your mobile

nology by providing the ability to simulate hundreds of ensemble storms and locating the simulation’s critical storm impact on the model.

device when using the instrument as a handheld. For long-term monitoring, HydroVu platform provides 24/7 online data access. The Aqua TROLL 500 works in a wide range of applications such as surface water spot sampling and profiling, remote monitoring via telemetry, long-term drinking water, wastewater or stormwater monitoring, aquaculture and for wired or wireless water quality networks.

heavy metal, pesticides, drugs, radionuclide, and endocrine disruptor. The company is looking for a major player in the Indian water sector to buy the manufacturing and distribution license.

KSB SE & Co. KGaA The pump manufacturer has developed an extra 15 sizes to add to its Sewatec pump series. The maximum flow rate of the largest version will be up to 33,000 m³/h with a drive rating exceeding one megawatt. The Sewatec type series comprises horizontally or vertically installed, single-stage volute casing pumps in back pull-out design. Depending on the fluid handled they can be fitted with a variety of impeller types, such as multi-channel impellers and free-flow impellers or single-vane impellers. The casings come with a replaceable casing wear ring. Depending on their size, they are designed with or without an inspection hole. The suction nozzles are always arranged axially. For the discharge nozzles, customers can choose between a radial and a tangential arrangement. Grease-packed rolling element bearings, sealed for life, absorb the bearing forces. A range of shaft seals is available for selection, including various bi-directional mechanical seals and a number of different gland packings.

Leautus Leautus is a water filtration micro plant. It gets 2000 liters of safe water. QTI (Quantum Technology Inside) is new quantum water filtration technology used in this product. Prominent features of this micro plant are no water waste, no plastic waste, no added chemicals while keeping the mineral salt. It removes ion and atom from any pollutant such as bacteria,

Oatey Co. Oatey Co. has launched Quiet Pipes® Water Hammer Arrestors, servicing a full range of commercial and residential applications. Quiet Pipes is designed to help solve current and potential water hammer problems by absorbing the water shock in a plumbing system when a valve is closed abruptly. Oatey’s Quiet Pipes includes a polypropylene piston design with two NBR O-rings within the chamber to help absorb the water shock in the system. With Quiet Pipes when a valve on a water line is closed abruptly, the water moves into the pressurized chamber and the shock is absorbed. Once the water flow comes out of the chamber, it is dissipated to the rest of the water line preventing clanking or banging.

Val-Matic Val-Matic’s array of Quarter-Turn Valves are highly engineered products available in a wide range of sizes and pressure classes. The CamCentric® Plug Valves, American-BFV® Butterfly Valves, Ener•G® AWWA Resilient Seated Ball Valves and QuadroSphere® Trunnion Mounted Ball Valves are designed to provide both on-off and process control functions in municipal and industrial systems. The plug, butterfly and ball valves are built using advanced manufacturing technologies and certified to rigorous AWWA, ASME, and API industry standards to assure reliable performance in numerous applicationsand media.

April, 2018

PROJECT TRACKER

SUEZExpands Activityin India with New Contract to Improve Drinking Water Services in the Cityof Davanagere

Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO of SUEZ with Manjunath Ballari, Commissioner, Davanagere Corporation Signing the Davanagere 24/7 Water Supply Contract in New Delhi

ON THE OCCASION of the official visit to India by the French President Emmanuel Macron, this month, in Delhi, Manjunath Ballari, the Commissioner of Davanagere City Corporation, and JeanLouis Chaussade, CEO of SUEZ, signed the contract for the rehabilitation and operation of the drinking water system in the city of Davanagere, Karnataka. The 12-year €70 million project will ensure a constant 24/7 supply of drinking water to Davanagere's 5,00,000 inhabitants. Davanagere City, one of the largest hubs for textile and agricultural products in Karnataka State, is among the 10 municipalities chosen for the “Smart Cities” program launched by the Indian government. The contract awarded to SUEZ includes rehabilitation, and operation & maintenance of the three drinking water production plants with a capacity of 1,20,000 m3/day,

EXPRESS WATER

the distribution system (reservoirs, house connections, water meters, valves, etc.) and the construction of a new distribution network to replace the current network, which is now obsolete. The works, which will last four years, cover a 75 km2 area, including 92,000 buildings (80,000 residential and 12,000 commercial or industrial buildings) and a water distribution network of 1,200km. This works phase will be followed by an eightyear period of operation and maintenance of the water production plants and the drinking water system to ensure constant access to drinking water for a population which is currently only supplied once every three to four days. The contract also sets objectives for improving the network's performance, water quality, and customer service by setting up a call center and customer agencies to provide a personal service and efficient resolution of requests and complaints. “SUEZ has been supporting large municipalities since 2012, including Delhi, Bangalore and, more recently, Kolkata and Coimbatore, to improve drinking water services for a rapidly-growing population. We are proud of this new contract, which illustrates the Group's commitment to providing local authorities with reliable and tailored solutions to respond to the growing challenge of drinking water access”, says Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO of the SUEZ Group.

Shyam J Bhan

Express Water Exclusive Mayur Sharma discussed the Davangere project with Shyam Bhan, CEO, SUEZ India Business Area.

How will you ensure 24x7 availability of water for supplying to the city of Davanagere? Are there enough water resources in the region? Mr. Bhan: It is a common perception that more water is required to pump in 24/7 supply to the consumers. On the contrary, a utility saves 20-30% of water when it switches from intermittent to continuous supply. This has been observed globally and also in India where we have implemented similar projects. In the initial phase of the transition to continuous water supply, the water

requirement goes up for a brief period. However, over a period of time, with the stabilization of supply, the water requirement subsequently reduces significantly. Having said that, availability of a certain quantity of water is a pre-requisite for ensuring the continuous supply. Such quantities are typically specified in the contract between the client and the service provider. The source of water for Davanagere is River Tungabhadra which is a perennial river. We do not anticipate shortage of water in normal circumstances.

lot of energy and improves customer satisfaction. The system involves a simple integration of all input, delivery data and consumer data on a GIS platform. The same is integrated with the utility SCADA system for managing day-to-day operations. Along with the new technologies, we will be introducing best-in-class implementation processes. This would ensure superior workmanship during construction activities such as jointing of pipes, installation of meters, providing House Service Connections, etc.

Please mention some of the new technologies which will be used in this 12 year long project.

Davanagere is among the 10 selected municipalities chosen for 'Smart Cities' program. Do you think such projects can be cost-effective for those municipalities as well which are not in smart cities program yet?

Mr. Bhan: At Davangere, like other projects in India, we would be deploying international SUEZ technology but fully indigenized for Indian condition. For instance, Helium gas based invisible leak detection, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for mapping underground pipes, etc. We are also keen to deploy a series of innovative software related to network management, GIS, optimization of CAPEX, Asset management, etc. This SMART Management for water utilities uses a scientific approach to manage water distribution system using GIS technology on a realtime basis and enhances overall delivery efficiency of distribution system, saves a

Mr. Bhan: In case of Davanagere, most of the project fund is coming from ADB and AMRUT. However, regardless of the source of fund, adoption of such projects are the reflection of changing mindsets of municipal corporations which are keen to bring transformation in their water distribution and inclined to give better services to their customers. To make it cost-effective for Indian context is SUEZ advantage. We understand local market needs and have the operational experience to support the customers with best in class services.

April, 2018

PROJECT TRACKER

IDE Wastewater Reuse Demo Facilities in California facilities will optimize performance and are a crucial step in California realizing the immense benefits of potable wastewater reuse.

Looking at the current drought-like situation in California and many world cities, how can such facilities reinvigorate the groundwater supplies? Gilad Cohen: By reusing wastewater, water is being recycled, as opposed to tapping into natural water sources. After wastewater is cleaned and treated through multiple processes, it flows to the Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center Demo Facility for further treatment and purification. The end result is high quality, purified water that could eventually help replenish groundwater. With the large-scale implementation of recycled water facilities, the need to utilize already depleting water supplies is lowered. California and other cities around the world can benefit from a safe, reliable and affordable source of clean, drinkable water in the face of drought-like conditions.

Wastewater Reuse Demo Facility in California, USA

IDE TECHNOLOGIES HAS announced that its technology will be used in two new wastewater reuse demo facilities in California: The Central Coast Blue Advanced Water Purification Demo Facility, in partnership with the City of Pismo Beach, and the Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center Demo Facility, in partnership with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County. As California has been severely impacted by drought and the state continues to face a shortage of groundwater, advanced water reuse is proving to be a sustainable alternative for a clean, efficient and safe water source for groundwater replenishment in the state. For the Central Coast Blue Advanced Water Purification Demo Facility located in the

April, 2018

City of Pismo Beach, IDE will demonstrate an energy-efficient solution with reduced chemical consumption to produce purified water. The facility will have a capacity of 58,000 gallons of water per day. It will allow IDE to demonstrate and test its proprietary recycled water process, Ecological Reuse (Eco-Reuse). The company will demonstrate its reverse osmosis (RO) process for wastewater reuse in the Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center Demo Facility located in Carson. Once wastewater is discharged from homes, businesses, and industries, it will be cleaned and treated then sent to the advanced water treatment plant for further purification. The facility will have a capacity of 500,000 gallons of water per day.

Tell us more about Eco-Reuse. Gilad Cohen, CEO, IDE Americas

Express Water Exclusive Mayur Sharma discussed the concept and technologies behind the wastewater reuse demo facilities with Gilad Cohen, CEO of IDE Americas. Excerpts...

What is the idea behind setting up the demo facilities? Gilad Cohen: IDE Technologies has developed new processes s to treat wastewater into potable water quality for direct/indirect use. The offered processes are more environmentally-friendly and efficient compared to the existing market standard. The demo facilities will assist IDE to validate these processes in local California facilities and it will also enable access to the regulators, the public, clients and consultants to have a firsthand evaluation of the technologies. The demo facilities also support the overall efforts of the local communities of Pismo Beach and Carson to identify the ideal treatment approaches to create a reliable, sustainable and affordable water supply for municipal use with IDEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advanced technologies. The demo

Gilad Cohen: The standard water reuse process, known as Fully Advanced Treatments (FAT), includes a dosage of chloramine. Chloramine is a precursor of NNitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation an organic contaminant suspected as carcinogenic. Ecological Reuse (Eco-Reuse) operates without the use of chloramine dosage. Instead, it uses Direct Osmosis High Salinity (DOHS) and conservation which helps to control biofouling. These mechanisms ensure that Cleaning in Place (CIP) is a longer process, which lowers energy consumption and reduces overall associated environmental impacts. This process is safer than the industry standard as there is no chloramine usage and more economical as the overall energy usage in the process is lower.

Do you think that a large-scale implementation of these technologies will be possible soon? Gilad Cohen: Within three months, and as soon as there is enough data collected to demonstrate the reliability of the process, our wastewater reuse technologies can be used for large-scale implementation.

EXPRESS WATER

REGD.NO.MCS/219/2018-20, PUBLISHED ON 5TH OF EVERY MONTH & POSTED AT MUMBAI PATRIKA CHANNEL SORTING OFFICE, DUE DATE 07, 08 & 09 OF EVERY MONTH, REGD. WITH RNI UNDER NO. MAHENG/2017/74894