COMPANY PROFILE
2014
Xylem Water Solutions SA
www.xylemwatersolutions.com
company profile
Let’s solve water Editorial: Harriet Pattison Production: Chris Bolderstone
In just about any industry, water treatment and services are essential, helping businesses to run smoothly and cleanly. Xylem Water Solutions South Africa, the South African arm of the global water solutions leader, Xylem Inc. is at the forefront of innovative solutions for clients in South Africa and the African continent. With ‘very exciting’ products launching later this year, it seems this company has things flowing rather nicely…
Xylem Inc. re-branded in 2011 from a ‘spin off’ of the American-based ITT Corporation. Since then, Xylem Inc. has positioned itself as a global thought leader in water technology. Active in mining, residential, commercial, agricultural, municipal and industrial sectors, Xylem Inc. is responsible for the transportation, treatment and testing of water. The company currently operates in over a 150 countries. IndustrySA spoke to Heinrich Louw, Marketing Manager: Middle East and Africa for Xylem Water Solutions. Louw has been at Xylem Water Solutions South Africa for two years after moving back to South Africa from New Zealand in 2012. Joining as Marketing Manager for South Africa, his role recently expanded to include African and Middle Eastern countries. Louw explains that In January 2011, Xylem’s parent company, ITT Corporation decided to divide its business into three independent companies. “The ITT Corporation was known for
PAGE 2 AUG 14
telecommunications but not for water specifically, so it was decided to rebrand in order to push our own water capabilities. The sub-brand, ITT Water and Waste Water didn’t describe all the applications we offered, so it was decided to create a unique identity,” Louw explains. The name “Xylem” was chosen, as it is derived from classical Greek and refers to the tissue that transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of its water-centric business by linking it with the best water transportation of all – that which occurs in nature . The company’s profile has escalated rapidly over the past few years – and Xylem Inc. has become a widely recognisable brand in bespoke water solutions. Louw explains that Xylem Water Solutions South Africa boasts an array of global brands within its stable. These include well-known pump brands such as Flygt, Vogel, Lowara, Sanitaire, Leopold, Godwin and Wedeco. “Because of the wide selection of top-tier products, we are able to address client-specific needs
Xylem Water Solutions
through a wide range of product applications.” In terms of Xylem Water Solutions’ core focus within the South African and African market the mining sector is where it does most of its business. “For the Southern African region, as much as 60% of our business is mining related but our products and applications span many industries. Our water treatment products and applications for example, can also be used in the mining space and mining applications. There are a lot of cross-application solutions,” he explains. “We also work extensively in the areas of water treatment, water re-use, water purification and water transport within residential, commercial, agricultural, municipal and industrial markets,” he adds.
MAIN BUSINESS AREAS Its work spanning across multiple industries, Xylem Water Solutions South Africa comprises four growth centres – Transport, Treatment, Dewatering and Applied Water Systems. These lines of business are interconnected, anticipating and reflecting evolving
needs and sharing their applications expertise to cover every stage of the water cycle. Louw explains that the biggest focus area from a South African point of view is dewatering. This is the removal of water using specialised pumps from areas where water-ingress creates a potentially harmful or unsafe working or living environment. “The pumps and ancillary products we use within the Dewatering Growth Centre are specifically geared towards the dewatering of mines (open mining and shaft mining), construction sites, or wherever water or slurries needs to be removed” Water treatment is perhaps one of the most important operations in terms of health and safety. Louw explains there are five technologies that sit within the Water Treatment Growth Centre. Oxidation, clarification, filtration, disinfection and aeration are used to treat water, wastewater and water for re-use. The Applied Water Systems (AWS) Growth Centre offers “off the shelf” products which are used mainly
AUG 14 PAGE 3
company profile in residential, commercial and industrial applications. “For instance: We might use booster pumps to move water to the top storey of a hotel, or perhaps smaller pumps are required in food manufacturing processes.” The fourth treatment Xylem Water Solutions South Africa offers its customers is Water Transport, which involves moving both clean and sewage water. Louw explains that for the transportation of sewage water, pumps have been specifically designed for these applications. Xylem Water Solutions South Africa also moves large amounts of water in bulk within the clean and wastewater space for larger clients.
INNOVATIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND With sustainability and environmental compliance becoming increasingly important in South Africa, for Xylem Water Solutions South Africa, it’s all about the green technology. With this in mind, Xylem Water Solutions South Africa is committed to providing innovative and effective water treatment services. These advanced technologies provide environmentally friendly treatments of drinking water, wastewater and process water, helping not only to recycle and conserve water but adopting greener, nonchemical methods. The Ultraviolet disinfection system, a chemical-free and environmentally friendly alternative to chlorine disinfection, uses UV light rays to kill harmful bacteria
PAGE 4 AUG 14
and prevents it from multiplying. Ozone oxidation can be used where water contains pollutants, helping to remove unwanted substances without the need of chemicals. This method also operates with reduced energy consumption, lower oxygen consumption and is often more cost effective. These design capabilities extend across Xylem’s full product range, from the pump stations to the full treatment works and secondary biological treatment which involves a variety of methods, including aeration, filtration and UV or Ozone disinfection systems. Ultimately these treatment services are kinder to the environment whilst providing a much more costeffective solution to the customer. “First and foremost we look at the design of our own products on an ongoing basis where we try and develop smarter technology that will encourage environmentally -friendly use of pumps. We employ technology that increases both energy and cost savings, wherever possible. There is also a marked focus on building product from sustainable sources. We do a lot of recycling in our plants and warehouses and everything is disposed of in a responsible manner,” Louw explains. Gerhardt Crous, who joined Xylem in June 2013 as Growth Centre Manager: Treatment, explains that in addition to greener technology, Xylem also places a strong focus on monitoring and control. “When we pump it’s not an on/off application – we can control the running of the pump or the running of any application we have designed or installed.”
–40~+125°C 93 dB Piezo Buzzer 4-20mA
User defined alarm Current loop output We set standards the4/8 Hours Battery Backup User defined Led indication 16 x 4
e
1sion Ex ia:
Gearhouse SA
(Red, Green, Blue, Yellow)
n
11 Ex ia is an Intrinsic safe battery operated Air Velocity Monitor
Features:
ifications:
cification ocity trip level p battery mA/h
Ex ia I/T4 1m/s 3.7VDC
Ningi
@ningi.com
V1.1
Easy to install No supply needed Ultra high bright 360 degree Red and Green led indication 14 Day operation on one charge Air velocity trip at 1m/s
P50
Services
We set the standards
We are the leaders in the design and manufacture of advanced electronic equipment. We have more than 25 years experience in research and development, design and manufacturing of motor protection and environmental monitoring equipment.
panel mountable Exia Methane gas sensor, developed for the environment.
is used largely in conjunction with the Ningi UMU11.
P511
l: sales@ningi.com free outputs ail to safe 485 communication
Our company specializes in the research and development of products for use in underground gold and coal mines, power generation plants, petrochemical plants and all other manufacturing environments.
Product range includes:
MC11
gi.com
• M20 Motor Protection Relay • Battery Monitors • CO Monitors • S16 Smoke Sensors • M550 Motor Protection Relay • M500 Motor Protection Relay • M440 Motor Protection Relay • Earth Leakage Protection Relay • IS Battery Box • Phase Rotation Relay • P11 Long Life Air Velocity Monitor • P11 Air Velocity Monitor • Earth Fault Lockout Relays
...and many more
Noise Monitor
The M20 motor protection relay is the most advanced motor protection and management relay on the market to date. It is a fully configurable relay and offers true RMS voltage measurement up to 2500Vac phase to phase and true RMS current measurements up to 6500.0 Amps per phase. Physical Address: 23 OR Tambo Road Modelpark Witbank Mpumalanga South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 13 656 3147 Fax: +27 (0) 86 689 6219 Technical Support: 0800 000 400 E-mail: sales@ningi.com
Remote Ex ia
M20
www.ningi.com
AUG 14 PAGE 5
company profile
PAGE 6 AUG 14
Xylem Water Solutions CONSISTENT SERVICE With Xylem Water Solutions’ exponential growth over the past few years, staff training remains integral to the company. This is to ensure its customers receive the most efficient and consistent service, wherever they are. “Globally, Xylem has online training facilities where employees are enrolled in specific courses. If we take ‘customer excellence’ as an example, the relevant staff members will be enrolled via an online system and will complete the course with constant oversight and evaluation. Xylem Inc. maintains this level of consistency and training throughout the world,” Louw explains. “The company also employs a vast distributor network across the globe. Our distributors consistently undergo training on products and new developments.” In South Africa, there is a strong focus on training for staff, with experts on call to give a helping hand. “When we launch a new product, service or technology we will do training for our staff locally as we have a world-class in-house training facility. We also fly in experts from our factories across the world depending on the products we’re launching to conduct product training with our staff,” Louw explains. Technicians at Xylem Water Solutions South Africa also help to provide a fantastic after-care package for customers: “Each Xylem-branch has a team of technicians that can service and repair products. Part of our company offering is that you don’t only buy the pump from us but we also maintain it for you. We keep spare parts and have technicians on call in all our areas of operation.”
Eastern Cape is a growing region for us, so development into the area has been earmarked for the immediate future. Another region that is growing quite rapidly is the Northern Cape.” Louw explains that Xylem Water Solutions South Africa also looks to local companies for expansion and meeting customer’s needs: “We follow our customers and we follow the industry. If a lot of mining activity starts to take place in a certain region, we would follow the trend and the client. Where it’s not always feasible to build a new office, we often make use local companies within our distributor network to help serve the customers and the customer’s needs.” The same model applies to sub-Saharan Africa: “We employ our distributor model here too, rather than opening new offices in every country. Presently the team at Xylem Water Solutions South Africa is reaching out to additional distributors across Africa to come join its already vast network.” It seems as though Xylem has a busy and exciting future ahead, staying ahead of its game and launching new water solution technologies: “We listen to the market to see that the need is. Product development is a big part of our growth strategy in remaining competitive,” concludes Louw.
.
RENTAL SOLUTIONS Another standout offering by Xylem Water Solutions South Africa is its rental fleet. Xylem Water Solutions South Africa’s Rental Division are specialists in the rental of submersible pumps, pump flotation devices, mixers and aerators, they offer innovative rental solutions for water and underwater applications in the municipal, environmental, mining, construction and industrial sectors; no matter what the need. A great advantage of this offering is its affordability and ease of access. The rental division is uniquely positioned to offer both short and long-term rental solutions to its customers.
AN EXCITING FUTURE Looking to the future, Louw explains that Xylem Water Solutions South Africa wants to expand its footprint further into Africa: “We are aiming to open up several new branch offices in the future. In South Africa, the
AUG 14 PAGE 7
+44 (0) 1603 411569 info@industrysa.com East Coast Promotions Ltd, 2 Ardney Rise Norwich, Norfolk NR3 3QH
www.industrysa.co.za