Projects

• Coeur Manquiri, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US-based Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation, recently purchased three MC Press filter presses from Siemens Water Technologies for its San Bartolome mine in Potosi, Bolivia. The dewatering filter presses, expected to be operational later this year, will allow improved dry-stacked tailings management on site. http://www.waterlink-international.com/news/id1862-Bolivian_Mine_Acquires_Filter_Presses.html

• The Upper Trinity Regional Water District will install three new MicrOclor Model MC-2000 units from Process Systems at its Thomas E. Taylor Regional Water Treatment Plant in Lewisville, Texas. The systems will replace an older hypochlorite system installed about 10 years ago. http://www.waterworld.com/index/display/article-display.articles.waterworld.drinking-water.treatment.2011.05.Texas-water-district-to-install-hypochlorite-generators.QP129867.dcmp=rss.page=1.html

• In Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Financing Authority has approved $172 million through the H2O PA program to fund 160 water infrastructure projects in 51 counties. The new awards range from a $52,405 grant to make improvements to an inefficient sewer system to a $4 million grant to construct five pump stations. http://www.waterworld.com/index/display/article-display.articles.waterworld.drinking-water.infrastructure.2011.05.Water-infrastructure-projects-in-Pennsylvania.QP129867.dcmp=rss.page=1.html

• Acciona SA (ANA) won a $65 million contract to build and operate a desalination plant near Chile’s Atacama desert. The facility is expected to have the capacity to turn about 17 million liters (4.5 million gallons) of seawater into fresh water a day. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-09/acciona-to-build-65-million-water-desalinization-plant-in-chilean-desert.html

• Veolia Water will design, build, and operate a 45,000-bpd facility in San Luis Obispo County (California) under a 12-year performance agreement with Plains Exploration & Production Company. The Company has also agreed to provide operations and maintenance services and performance guarantees on a fixed-fee basis. http://www.filtsep.com/view/17791/veolia-water-to-build-oilfield-water-reclamation-plant/

Innovation/ New Products

• Seychelle Water Filtration Products has developed a radiological filter for portable water treatment which removes 100% of major nuclear contaminants in drinking water.http://www.desalination.biz/news/news_story.asp?id=5915&title=Nuclear+filter+developed+for+portable+water+treatment

• Altela has developed a new technology, AltelaRain 600, which meets new Pennsylvania regulations that no longer allow contaminated hydrofracking water to be released into the state’s rivers. The modules remove the salts, bromide, benzene, and radioactive material in the water, so it can then be reused for the next frac job or put back in the river. http://www.waterlink-international.com/news/id1867-Frack_Wastewater_Treatment.html

• Hach Company unveiled its DR 3900 spectrophotometer featuring Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which simplifies water analysis by walking users through testing procedures to ensure consistently accurate results regardless of the user’s knowledge. http://www.waterlink-international.com/news/id1872-Water_Analysis_Simplified.html

• Innovyze released IWLive, which allows operators to run accurate hydraulic simulations that factor in energy costs, weather, real time (or delayed) SCADA telemetry, demand history, valve and pumping control scenarios. The technology is expected to help control room operators understand the effects of main breaks, pump and reservoir shutdowns, and other scheduled maintenance. http://www.waterlink-international.com/news/id1863-IWLive_Launched_at_Asia_Pacific_Conference.html

• Purdue University researchers have developed an aluminium alloy that could be used in a new type of mobile technology to convert non-potable water into drinking water while also extracting hydrogen to generate electricity. http://www.waterlink-international.com/news/id1870-Remote_Water_and_Power_Provision.html

• 3M is re-launching its filtration system designed for applications including industrial, chemical/ petrochemical, food and beverage water quality control, reverse osmosis (RO) pre-filtration, and process water in electronics and pharmaceuticals. The system reportedly offers greater water flow rates of up to 113m³/hr (500 gpm) in a single cartridge, and an improved performance. http://www.filtsep.com/view/17829/3m-relaunches-filtration-system/

Other

• The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, Diageo and WaterHealth International (WHI) have committed over $6 million in seed funding to deliver sustainable safe water access for communities across Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia. The partnership will work with communities to drive the expansion of WHI’s water service delivery model across the continent. http://www.waterlink-international.com/news/id1873-Safe_Water_for_Africa.html

• The Government of Australia has agreed to provide an untied grant of A$21.584 million for Asian Development Bank (ADB)-administered trust funds targeted at water investment and clean energy initiatives in Asia and the Pacific. The fund aims to provide more people with better access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation, more efficient irrigation and drainage services, and to integrate the management of water resources in river basins for sustained economic growth and environmental improvement. http://adb.org/Media/Articles/2011/13551-cofinancing-australia-wfpf-cefpf/

• In 2010, the price of water in 30 U.S. metropolitan areas increased an average of 9.4% for residential customers with medium consumption levels, according to data collected by Circle of Blue. The study attributes price increases to operational inputs such as chemicals, energy, labor, and water itself getting more expensive. http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2011/world/the-price-of-water-2011-prices-rise-an-average-of-9-percent-in-major-u-s-cities/

• According to the California Department of Water Resources, water usage in the state is split roughly 40% agriculture, 10% urban and 50% environment. http://californiawaterblog.com/2011/05/05/water%E2%80%94who-uses-how-much/