CONTENTS

Vol 01 No 4 March 2018 Pages 52 COLUMNS

Chairman of the Board

Viveck Goenka
Sr Vice President - BPD
13 MARKET INSIGHTS
By Frost & Sullivan

Neil Viegas WATER WISE

Editor 14 By WaterAid
Mayur Sharma*
URBAN WATER
DESIGN 18 By Robert Brears
National Design Editor

Bivash Barua
Assistant Art Director APPLICATION
Pravin Temble
Chief Designer

Prasad Tate 28 CORRECT APPLICATION OF

MBBR & IFAS TECHNOLOGY
IN BIOLOGICAL WATER
Senior Designer TREATMENT
Rekha Bisht
Graphic Designer

Gauri Deorukhkar
CASE STUDY
DIGITAL TEAM

30 CSR FUNDING DELIVERS A

WATER - DEMAND &

Head of Internet PUBLIC SANITATION
Viraj Mehta PROJECT
The significant challenges of
Web Developer
this project were low water
Dhaval Das usage and low-cost sustain-
Senior Executive - Online ability.

SUPPLYISSUES
Pushkar Worlikar FINE SCREEN AND
Executive - Online

Salil Sule
32 CLARIFIER PLAY VITAL ROLE
IN COMMUNITY PLANT
The Spiraflo clarifier and
SCHEDULING & COORDINATION Raptor screen help in upgra-
Santosh Lokare dation work of Addison

Photo Editor
As the water supply is under severe pressure due to Wastewater Treatment Plant in
the New York state.
Sandeep Patil increased demand and water treatment plant issues,
Express Water explores the various points of concern CLEVER KAYAK RIG
MARKETING

Kailash Shirodkar with the industry stakeholders.

34 NAVIGATES TRICKY
BATHYMETRY CHALLENGE
Webb’s study of lake bottom
CIRCULATION

Mohan Varadakar
17-27 indicated that more than
313,000 cubic yards of sediment
has collected in Lake Forest
PRODUCTION since 1958, an accumulation of
General Manager OUT OF THE BOX approx. 16,200 tons per year.

B R Tipnis
Manager MARKET
KSB GROUP TAKES ACTION AGAINST ASIAN
Bhadresh Valia
49 BRAND AND TRADEMARK INFRINGERS
Express Water® While counterfeiting is a serious global problem for
all pump manufacturers, it is also a problem for 38 HEALTH CONCERNS OF
CONSUMERS INCREASE
DEMAND FOR BOTTLED
REGD. WITH RNI NO. MAHENG/2017/74894. would-be pump buyers.
DRINKING WATER
Printed by The Indian Express (P) Ltd.
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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.
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4 March, 2018 EXPRESS WATER

 EDITOR’S NOTE

Before It’s Too Late…

Recently, one of my friends shared an interesting
article by the noted water expert Prof. Asit K. Biswas
where he rightly points out the fundamental problem
of our water management practice: While the focus
has always been on increasing the supply, no effort
has been made to manage demand and increase effi-
ciencies.
As 40-60% of water produced by the Indian urban
utilities is regularly lost (non-revenue water), the
problem has only been increasing with a consistent
migration of population towards the urban regions.
According to World Water Council, urbanization is
one of the most transformative trends in the 21st cen-
tury. And facts support it - 70% of the world’s popu-
lation will live in cities by 2030, while 60% of urban
settlements remain to be built. Around 2 million peo-
ple will have migrated to cities, placing unprece-
dented pressure on infrastructure and resources,
particularly those related to water. By 2030, there will
be a 50% increase in demand for energy and water,
requiring a water infrastructure capital investment
of three times the current level. And by 2030, more
than 40% of the world’s population will live in river
basins under severe water stress and 20% of the pop-
ulation will be at risk from floods.
This makes me wonder about the upcoming days of
imbalance between the demand and supply. In the
cover story section this month, we are exploring this
topic of ‘Water - Demand & Supply Issues’ from differ-
ent viewpoints. The focus is on increasing efficiencies
in the current system.
The monthly column by Robert Brears on ‘Urban
Water’ talks about developing ‘alternative’ water sup-
plies. And it gives examples of Singapore’s NEWater,
Melbourne’s City West Water’s Recycled Water Pro-
“…the worst time to
respond to a drought is in
the midst of one.At that
point,there are few,if any,
good options available to
avoid the worst impacts of
drought,and combined
with enflamed passions
and politics,reaching
consensus on solutions is
nearly impossible.”
- From an open letter to the
US Senate
ject, the Hamburg Water Cycle, and the City of Tuc-
son’s Rainwater Harvesting Rebate.
We interacted with Mark Nicol - the Senior Direc-
tor of International Sales & Operations at Echolog-
ics about pipeline condition assessment, smart wa-
ter infrastructure, water supply systems and latest
leak detection technologies. The case study by KSB
highlights modern pumps boosting energy-efficiency
in a drinking water supply system by upto 21%.
In another case, Haifa’s water utility company Mei
Carmel had one of the most complicated water grids
in Israel with a 600 km network of water mains.
TaKaDu helped them to make improvements in its
operations and efficiency levels and deliver signifi-
cant NRW (non-revenue water) savings.
The monthly column by Australian Water Part-
nership (AWP) highlights eight golden rules for mak-
ing the transition to a drought-resilient society.
Though it may be late for a city like Cape Town to im-
plement these rules, other world cities would be wise
to begin implementing them now.
From this issue, we are adding a new column by
Frost & Sullivan called ‘Market Insights’. It will cover
market trends and sustainable water technologies
every month. The focus in this issue is the potential for
membrane-based water & wastewater treatment
systems in Europe.
As always, I welcome editorial contributions from
water professionals on the issues they find signifi-
cant for the water sector. And keep sending updates
on water & wastewater projects, policies and people.
MAYUR SHARMA
Editor
mayur.sharma@expressindia.com
@TheExpressWater

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EXPRESS WATER March, 2018 5

 IN THE NEWS
Rs.4,000 Crore Worth Projects Approved in
National Mission for Clean Ganga
EW Staff
New Delhi
IN THE 9TH Executive
Committee meeting of National
Mission for Clean Ganga
(NMCG), projects worth nearly
Rs 4,000 crore were approved
including a 20 MLD Common
Effluent Treatment Plant
(CETP) for tannery cluster at
Jajmau in Kanpur in Uttar
Pradesh. This 3-phased project
at an estimated cost of Rs. 629
crore includes pre-treatment
unit in 380 individual tannery
units, a 20 CETP with physical,
31 Sewage Management Projects
Worth Rs 1024.5 Crore Under
Execution in Uttarakhand
EW Staff
Uttarakhand
CITIES LIKE HARIDWAR
and Rishikesh will soon have
100% sewage treatment facili-
ty as sewage management
interventions in Uttarakhand
near completion. There are 31
sewage management projects
sanctioned at an estimated
6 March, 2018
biological and tertiary treat-
ment, installation of Zero
Liquid Discharge (ZLD)-based
pilot plant of 200 KLD capacity
among other components. The
Funds Unutilized in
NMCG & State Programs
In its 39th Report, CAG
has reported that an amount
of Rs. 2,133.76 crore and Rs.
422.13 crore remained unuti-
lized in National Mission for
Clean Ganga (NMCG) and
the State Program
Management Groups,
respectively, as on 31 March
2017.
central share of this project is
Rs. 472 crore.
Another project in Kanpur
was approved at an estimated
cost of Rs 967.23 crore for reha-
bilitation and integration of
sewage treatment infrastruc-
ture under Hybrid Annuity-
PPP mode. This project also
cost of Rs 1024.5 crore, to cre-
ate 155.45 MLD STP capacity
and to lay/rehabilitate 151.02
kms of sewer network. Out of
these, 13 projects have been
completed, which has created
24 MLD STP capacity at a
cost of Rs 139.5 crore. Of the
remaining 18 projects, 16 have
already been awarded, while
two are under tendering.
includes construction of a 30
MLD STP at Pankha.
In Allahabad, a project
worth Rs 904 crore for rehabil-
itation and integration of
sewage treatment infrastruc-
ture was approved under
Hybrid Annuity-PPP mode. An
online monitoring system for
all STPs and SPS for proper
implementation has also been
approved.
One project of in-situ/ex-
situ bio-remediation treatment
of drains going into river
Ganga has also been given
approval at an estimated cost
of Rs. 410 crore.
One project for rehabilita-
tion with Operation &
Maintenance of 15 years for
Garden Reach STP (57 MLD)
and Keorapukur STP (50
MLD) in West Bengal under
Hybrid Annuity mode has also
been approved at an estimated
cost of Rs 165.16 crore.
Besides, three sewage infra-
Haridwar generates an
estimated 114 MLD of sewage,
but its existing three sewage
treatment plants are able to
treat only 63 MLD of sewage,
while the remaining dis-
charges directly into river
Ganga. In Rishikesh town, an
estimated 15 MLD of sewage is
generated, which is likely to
increase in the future.
Installation of STPs Under Namami Gange Programme
Under Namami Gange Programme, 12 Sewage Treatment
Plants (STPs) have been completed and commissioned dur-
ing 2015-16 to 2017-18 (5 in Uttarakhand, 5 in Uttar Pradesh,
and 2 in West Bengal). The additional treatment capacity gen-
erated through these installed Sewage Treatment Plants
(STPs) is 137.35 Million Liters Per Day (MLD).
structure projects have been respectively. The central share
accorded revised approvals in in these three projects is Rs
Bihar at an estimated cost of 161.04 crore, Rs. 213.63 crore
Rs. 230.06 crore, Rs. 305.18 and Rs. 205.81 crore respec-
crore and Rs. 294.02 crore tively.
Water Quality Monitoring Project by CPCB
Under the Namami Gange programme, Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB) has undertaken a project in which it is
carrying out the water quality monitoring of river Ganga from
Gangotri to West Bengal. It is assessing the water quality of 540
rivers including River Ganga and the Yamuna at 1533 locations
in association with State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution
Control Committees throughout the country. Water quality
monitoring data of CPCB for the period 2015-17 indicates that
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) has been found to be within acceptable
limits of notified primary water quality criteria for bathing.
Uma Bharti Launches
Second Project of Swajal
Yojana in Rajasthan
EW Staff ing water to every household
Rajasthan around the year, the project
would also generate employ-
UNION MINISTER OF ment.
Drinking Water and She inaugurated the pilot
Sanitation, Sushri Uma Bharti Swajal Project at Bhikampura
recently launched the Swajal with a budget of more than
pilot project in the Village 54.17 lakh rupees. Swajal is a
Bhikampura, Karauli, community-owned drinking
Rajasthan. Besides ensuring water programme for sus-
the availability of clean drink- tained drinking water supply.
EXPRESS WATER
 IN THE NEWS

Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Selects

SUEZ to Improve the Water Distribution Services
The 26-year project, worth near €400 million, is the largest water services contract won by
SUEZ in India.

EW Staff
Coimbatore
COIMBATORE CITY MUNICIPAL
Corporation has chosen SUEZ to man-
age and operate the water distribution
system within the entire city to ensure
continuous drinking water access to
its 1.6 million inhabitants.
Coimbatore is one of the largest
textiles and industrial hubs in the
southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The city has called upon SUEZ to
improve the quality of water services
and ensure permanent access to drink-
ing water, 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, to its rapidly-growing popula-
tion. The scope of the contract
includes the optimization, rehabilita-
tion and operation of the entire water ices in major metropolitan cities supplying 5.5 billion liters of drinking
distribution system (reservoirs, water including Bangalore and Kolkata. The water to more than 44 million inhabi-
network, house connections, water group’s activity in India contributes to tants per day.
meters, valves, etc.) which will cover
an area of over 100 km2 with 150,000
connections and a distribution net-
work of 1,200 km. The contract also
aims to improve customer services
with a state-of-the-art customer call
center and customer agencies to
“
“Population and urban growth in India, linked with
economic development, has resulted in citizens’new
expectations for quality services. Our longstanding
ensure a personalized service and
faster complaints resolution.
experience in supplying water to cities such as Algiers,
Since winning its first contract in Casablanca and Chongqing, and more recently to Indian
India to improve water supply and dis- cities, enables us to guarantee continuous access to
tribution services in the Malviya
Nagar district of Delhi in 2012, SUEZ
quality drinking water to the population of Coimbatore.”
has secured a substantial market posi- Marie-Ange Debon
tion in India, winning significant con- Group Senior Executive VP in charge of the international division
tracts for water distribution and serv-

SUEZ to Provide Sludge Treatment €191 Million Drinking Water

and Recovery Services in China
The company joins hands with SE Environment to
provide the services for the city of Shenzhen.
EW Staff
China
SUEZ NWS AND SE
Environment have signed a
shareholder agreement in
order to establish the joint
venture SE SUEZ
Environmental Technology,
which will be in charge of
managing the Shangyang
Project for the treatment and
recovery of sludge in the city
of Shenzhen for a contract
duration of 30 years.
The Shangyang Project is
the largest sludge recovery
and treatment center in the
city of Shenzhen. With a
capacity of up to 800 tons of
sludge per day, it will optimize
the treatment of sludge from
more than 10 municipal waste-
water treatment plants in the
Longgang district and the
downtown of Shenzhen, and
will thus contribute to the pro-
tection of the city's environ-
ment.
Constructed by SUEZ
NWS, the Shenzhen
Shangyang sludge treatment
plant is the first sludge-to-
energy recovery center in
Shenzhen and will use the
Thermylis technology for the
first time in China.
Successfully deployed in
more than 40 plants built by
SUEZ in Europe and North
America, Thermylis signifi-
cantly reduces energy con-
sumption.
Production Plant Extension Agreement
Signed bySUEZin Indonesia
EW Staff
Indonesia
PDAM TIRTANADI, THE
Water Corporation of the
Province of North Sumatra
has awarded SUEZ the con-
tract for extension of drinking
water production plant in
Medan, the third largest city
in Indonesia. The extension of
this BOT (Build-Operate-
Transfer) contract for a peri-
od of 25 years and €191 million,
includes funding, building, the
operation and transfer of two
additional water production
units for the Medan plant.
This project will improve
access to drinking water for
the fast-growing population of
the city of Medan and con-
tribute to local authorities’
goal of supplying more than
84% of the population with
drinking water by 2020, as
compared with 73.2% today.
In 2001, SUEZ finalized the
first phase of Medan drinking
water production plant build-
ing, which the Group has been
operating since. With a pro-
duction capacity of 43,200
m3/day, this plant supplies
drinking water to the 150,000
inhabitants.

8 March, 2018 EXPRESS WATER

 IN THE NEWS

L&T Construction Wins Orders Worth Rs. 2257 Crores

in Water & Effluent Treatment Business Segments
EW Staff
Mumbai
L&T CONSTRUCTION HAS
secured its first order from
Bihar Urban Infrastructure
Development Corporation
Limited (BUIDCO),
Government of Bihar to lay a
new sewerage network and
construct pumping stations at
Saidpur. The scope includes
survey, review of designs,
redesign & build the new sew-
erage network of 172 Km
length, design & construct 4
pumping stations and all
appurtenant structures.
It has bagged another
order from Karnataka
Neeravari Nigam Limited
(KNNL), Government of
Karnataka for the execution of
a lift irrigation system in
Harapanahalli Taluk,
Davanagere district.
One EPC order has been
secured from Bangalore
Development Authority for
executing Utility
Development and
Management for Nadaprabhu
Kempegowda Layout on a
Design, Build & Operate
(DBO) basis for Package -1.
The scope includes 360 km of
Potable Water Supply, Sewage
Collection & Recycle Water
Supply network and 85 km of
Precast Utility Ducts. HT/LT
Power Cabling, Smart Street
Lighting, Fiber Optic Cables,
Online Analyzers & SCADA
form major components of the
Electrical & Instrumentation
scope.
In addition, five Sewage
Treatment Plants of com-
bined capacity 22.5 Million
Liters per Day (MLD) using
the most advanced sewage
treatment technology - MBR,
have been proposed under the
project.
Another EPC order has
been secured from the
Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam
Maryadit (MPJNM),
Government of Madhya
Pradesh, for providing water
to the Seoni and Chappara
Blocks of Seoni District.
The scope includes supply
and laying of pipelines, design
and construction of intake
pump houses, water treat-
ment plant & various water
storage structures including
house service connections.
One more EPC order has
been secured from Rural
Water Supply and Sanitation,
Odisha for providing water
supply to Komana, Nuapada,
Boden and Khariar Blocks of
Nuapada District in Odisha.
The scope of work includes
supply and laying of transmis-
sion & distribution pipelines,
design and construction of an
intake well, pump houses,
water treatment plants and
water storage structures with
associated electromechanical
& instrumentation works.

Project to Upgrade the World’s Ninth WABAG to Build a NewDrinking Water

Largest Drinking Water Treatment Plant Treatment Plant in Vietnam
EW Staff needs for about 3 million peo-
EW Staff and receive a technical 60 million, will be realized Vietnam ple in Hanoi and the surround-
Philippines upgrade during continuous together with a local civil JV ing provinces and constitutes.
operation over the course of partner. VA TECH WABAG HAS cap- WABAG will complete the
VA TECH WABAG HAS been the next 3 years. The Angat River is the tured an order, worth USD 13 order on turnkey basis within
awarded the contract for the WABAG Philippines won largest and most important million, for the 150,000 m3/d an ambitious timescale of only
plant retrofit and upgrade the contract for the retrofit, water source for Metro Duong River Water 11 months. Commissioning
with a value of USD 60 million rehabilitation and upgrade of Manila. The water is stored in Treatment Plant. This project shall be completed in
together with a JV partner. the large-scale La Mesa 2 reservoirs and then treated in aims to meet the clean water September 2018.
The La Mesa-2 WTP produces water treatment plant in the La Mesa 1 &2 and Balara
900,000 m3 of water per day Quezon City in October 2017. plants to make it potable. The
and is one of three Metro The plant produces 900,000 plants employ four main treat-
Manila drinking water plants, m3/d for around five million ment steps consisting of coag-
which ensure the safe supply people in the Manila metropo- ulation/flocculation, sedimen-
of clean water to the megacity. lis and the project, which has a tation, filtration and disinfec-
The plant will be refurbished total contractual value of USD tion. However, over the years,
the technology employed at
La Mesa-2 WTP has become
Looking for Partners on WATSAN Programs in India outdated and therefore WABAG Achieves Global Leadership in Green Building
WABAG is looking for proposals from NGOs/Trusts for CSR requires refurbishment and Certification
projects in thematic areas of water, sanitation and environmen- modernization. WABAG HOUSE - the global head office of VA Tech Wabag,
tal sustainability based on sustainable models. Its CSR pro- The scope of supply in India, has been certified as Platinum rated Green Building
grams include water augmentation, watershed development, includes design & engineering, under CII-IGBC Green Existing Building Category. The entire
capacity building for wetland management, water and waste- equipment, installation and wastewater at the facility is treated through an in-house highly
water treatment plants for hospitals and institutions, hygiene commissioning. After comple- efficient compact STP and treated water is being used for flush-
improvement practices in backward villages, and water conser- tion, which is scheduled for ing and horticulture. Due to an efficient water use, 81% savings
vation like the implementation of micro-irrigation systems. It is the end of 2020, WABAG will is achieved as compared to baseline water requirement.
also keen to receive proposals on sanitation like building toilets also be responsible for process WABAG is the first pure play water technology company in
and Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTP), etc. proving for one year. world to achieve this prestigious certification in green building.

EXPRESS WATER March, 2018 9

 IN THE NEWS

Wastewater Treatment Plant Utrecht More Sustainable

with Royal Haskoningdhv’s Aquasuite® Software
EW Staff
The Netherlands
ROYAL HASKONINGDHV
WILL implement Aquasuite®
software at Utrecht sewage
treatment plant in 2018.
Utrecht operates one of the
largest sewage treatment
plants in the Netherlands and
once complete, will treat 84
million liters of sewage.
Aquasuite® MINE will opti-
mize the operation and main-
tenance of the Nereda® sludge
line (430,000 PE) and the
external sludge line (400,000
PE). This will enable the
Stichtse Rijnlanden Water
Authority, which owns the
treatment plant, to operate
more sustainably and to sig-
nificantly reduce its sludge
processing costs.
With the smart Aquasuite®
software, Royal
HaskoningDHV makes a sig-
nificant contribution to public
cost savings, sustainability,
the circular economy and cli-
mate adaptation in the Dutch
and international water chain.
Aquasuite® is applied in more
than 100 complex water sys-
tems throughout the world.
The Aquasuite modules
use self-learning algorithms
for various purposes, includ-
ing predicting the volume of
sludge and its quality, self-reg-
ulating thickeners, cen-
trifuges, chemical dosing and
sludge transport.
According to Danny
Traksel - Director Business
Development at Royal
HaskoningDHV - there will be
an annual 10% reduction of
operating costs at Utrecht
sewage treatment plant.
Traksel: "Due to the integrat-
ed approach and predictive,
adaptive management of the
entire sludge line, we will be
able to save hundreds of thou-
sands of euros per year. And
because no two sewage treat-
ment plants are the same,
Aquasuite MINE is equipped
with a self-learning function.
This enables the self-learning
sludge line to adjust to
changes in the sludge's com-
position, demographic trends
and climate changes."
In 2017, the Vallei and
Veluwe Water Authority also
signed up to have its
Aquasuite® platform
enhanced to include these
sludge self-learning modules.
The controller for manag-
ing the Amersfoort Sewage
Treatment Plant's sludge line
will be installed and commis-
sioned in 2018.

ABB and TaKaDu to Strengthen Ho Chi Hagihon and TaKaDu Renew

Minh City’s Water Distribution System
EW Staff
Vietnam
ABB AND TAKADU are pro-
viding a water management
solution that will boost effi-
ciency and reduce water leak-
age in Ho Chi Minh City, one of
the world’s fastest-growing
cities.
Saigon Water Supply
Corporation (SAWACO) is
deploying ABB’s digital con-
trol and monitoring technolo-
gies together with TaKaDu’s
Integrated Event
Management Solution as part
of its restoration of Ho Chi
Minh City’s water distribution
network.
The ABB solution - ABB
Ability™ Symphony® Plus
SCADA - will monitor and
control the entire water distri-
bution system and integrate
TaKaDu’s Event Management
Solution, which detects, ana-
lyzes and manages network
events and incidents such as
leaks, bursts, faulty assets,
telemetry and data issues and
operational failures.
This massive urban project
aims to increase efficiency,
reduce water leakage, prevent
disruptions and ensure every-
one has access to clean water
in Ho Chi Minh City -
Vietnam’s economic power-
house. Last year, Ho Chi Minh
City lost nearly 30 percent of
its potable water to leaking
and damaged pipes.
ABB’s and TaKaDu’s com-
plementary solutions will
enable SAWACO to monitor
the network conditions digi-
tally through multiple data
collection points, such as sen-
sors and meters, and offer
actionable insights to reduce
non-revenue water. SAWACO
will then be able to increase
the amount of water delivered
to the city’s industries and
eight million residents. At a
first estimate, SAWACO will
hit 50 Mio m³/year of water
savings, equivalent to 20,000
Olympic-size swimming pools,
while production cost savings
could be higher than 10 MUSD
a year.
“We’re excited to partner
with ABB on this project in
one of Asia’s most dynamic
countries,” said Amir Peleg,
TaKaDu’s Founder & CEO.
“By converting raw data into
knowledge, we can help
SAWACO reduce hundreds of
thousands of cubic meters of
non-revenue water lost per
day while significantly
improving its operational effi-
ciency.”
ABB is a leading provider
of integrated power &
automation solutions with
experience in partnering with
energy and water industries.
Contract for Another 3 Years
Jerusalem’s water corporation has
been using TaKaDu since 2010 for
leak detection and increased water
efficiency.
EW Staff
Jerusalem
JERUSALEM WATER COR-
PORATION Hagihon has
extended its agreement with
TaKaDu. It has been using
TaKaDu as its main tool for
water loss reduction since
2010, with significant cost sav-
ings. Hagihon has been able to
respond faster to every type of
event, including hidden leaks.
Dani Gombosh, Deputy
CEO, for Water, Hagihon, said,
“We’re implemented TaKaDu
across the entire metropolitan
area of Jerusalem, giving us
actionable insights. For exam-
ple, the TaKaDu system
recently detected a leak in a
specific area of the city. We
quickly understood that it was
in a private household and
immediately alerted the cus-
tomer, preventing further
damage and an increased
water bill.” Gombosh contin-
ued, “TaKaDu enables us to
focus on events which are
more important or have the
most impact on our water sys-
tem. Sharing and cross-refer-
encing the events across
departments helps us to
improve operational efficiency
across the board, from cus-
tomer service to repair main-
tenance and asset manage-
ment.”

10 March, 2018 EXPRESS WATER

 IN THE NEWS
KSB Pumps Wins Euros 55 Million Order to Supply
Primary Coolant Pumps to NPCIL
EW Staff
Haryana
WITH THE INDIAN
Government’s ambitious
growth plans in the energy
sector, and the aim to raise
contribution in indigenous
manufacturing under “Make
in India” initiative, M/s
Nuclear Power Corporation of
India (NPCIL) has awarded an
order worth Euros 55 million
(Rupees 4130 million) to KSB
Pumps Limited for the supply
of eight primary coolant
Chinese Smart Cities Project Uses SonicSens
EW Staff
China
IN CHINA, A national project
which aims to incorporate the
wireless monitoring of most
municipal facilities, including
wastewater has chosen the
SonicSens ultrasonic level sen-
Veolia to Supply World’s Largest Discfilter System
to City of Houston, Proving Everything Really is
Bigger in Texas
EW Staff
USA
THE EXISTING TRAVEL-
ING bridge filters at the 69th
Street WWTP needed
replacement. A team of the
City’s employees and their
local consultant evaluated
proposals to replace the fil-
ters. The team reviewed capi-
EXPRESS WATER
pumps - RSR 400/2 and relat-
sor from HWM to help achieve
this. The integration of modern
technologies as solutions to
many of the challenges faced by
big cities is a growing trend in
China. According to Economic
Information Daily, more than
500 Chinese cities are expected
to have started transformations
tal and long-term O&M costs
in order to select a manufac-
turer based on the overall best
value.
Another key factor for
Houston in the selection
process was the efficiency of
equipment in regards to oper-
ation and maintenance over
the course of the technology’s
lifecycle. Veolia’s Hydrotech
ed accessories. These pumps
will be installed at NPCIL’s
Gorakhpur Anu Vidyut
Pariyojana 1 & 2 project in
Haryana.
With the completion of the
initial technical as well as
commercial formalities, man-
ufacturing the pumps will
commence at KSB’s Energy
Pumps Division in Shirwal,
near Pune. Delivery of these
pumps is expected to com-
mence in June 2021 with a tar-
get to complete the order by
March 2023.
into becoming ‘smart cities’ by
the end of 2017.
Smart cities can use elec-
tronic data monitoring and the
Internet of Things (IoT) to effi-
ciently manage transportation,
utilities, healthcare provision,
education and more.
SonicSens uses ultrasonic
Discfilter system was deter-
mined to be the best value and
was selected for the City’s ter-
tiary filtration treatment
upgrade.
The 440 MGD peak daily
flow tertiary Discfilter system
is designed to handle influent
with a peak TSS of = 100
mg/L, and produce an average
monthly effluent of = 10 mg/L.
KSB Pumps Ltd has pio-
neered the indigenous manu-
facture of vertical canister
pumps and boiler feed pumps
for supercritical power plants,
some of which have already
been supplied or are at the
dispatch stage.
Nuclear Power
Corporation has embarked on
an ambitious program of 12
PHWR 700 MW projects at
various locations throughout
the country, including the No.
2 project at Gorakhpur for
which KSB Pumps Ltd have
technology for remote monitor-
ing of open channels, combined
sewer overflows, storm drains,
storage tank levels and flood
warning systems. As part of the
national project, SonicSens is
currently being used in a variety
of Chinese cities including
Beijing, Jinan, Zibo, Nantong,
Salher® Opens its First
Branch Office in Malaysia
EW Staff
Malaysia
SALHER® HAS STARTED
the year 2018 with the opening
of a branch office in Kuala
Lumpur. The company had
already collaborated in impor-
tant water treatment projects
in the country and with this
important step demonstrates
taken up the challenge of man-
ufacturing the primary
coolant pumps in India.
For the Gorakhpur and
future projects of NPCIL,
KSB Pumps Ltd is now geared
up to supply the primary
coolant pumps following
receipt of this order.
The company will also be
able to manufacture the main
feed water pumps for the new
projects at the Energy Pumps
Division, should this part of
the project be secured by KSB
Pumps Ltd.
Guangzhou, Nanchang and
Zhongshan.
SonicSens was recently
demonstrated in the city of
Wuzhen as part of the recent
annual World Internet
Conference, which has been
hosted there for the past four
years.
once again its interest in the
international expansion to
adapt its efforts to cover the
needs of each client.
Salher® is a reference com-
pany in the treatment of urban
wastewater and industrial
wastewater, separation of
hydrocarbons and oily water,
greywater reuse and water
purification.
March, 2018 11
 IN THE NEWS

ANDRITZto Upgrade Evaporation Plant at Xylem Announces Acquisition

Stora Enso’s Enocell Mill in Finland
Start-up of the upgraded evaporation plant, which was
originally delivered by ANDRITZ in 1992, is planned for
the 3rd quarter of 2019.
nally to 800 t/h. The proven
ANDRITZ lamella technology
utilized for the evaporator’s
heating surface provides for a
high heat transfer while being
extremely easy to clean, thus
maximizing plant availability
and minimizing the time
required for washing of the
heating surface.
The ANDRITZ scope of
supply includes two new evap-
oration units, additional sur-
face condensers and the relat-
EW Staff Enocell Mill in Finland. ed piping and erection work.
Finland The upgrade to the exist- Enocell Mill is part of Stora
ing evaporator train, using Enso’s Biomaterials division
ANDRITZ HAS RECEIVED ANDRITZ’s lamella evapora- and will be converted entirely
an order from Stora Enso to tion technology, will increase to produce around 430,000
increase the capacity of the the mill’s black liquor evapora- tons of dissolving pulp per
evaporation plant of their tion capacity from 600 origi- year.
of EmNet,LLC
EW Staff
USA
XYLEM INC HAS acquired
EmNet, LLC, provider of smart
solutions that enable municipal-
ities to manage the urban water
cycle and wastewater and
stormwater systems. This addi-
tion further expands Xylem’s
growing portfolio of advanced
infrastructure analytics solu-
tions and capabilities. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
EmNet’s expertise in real-
time decision support systems
(RT-DSS) was developed as a
multidisciplinary approach to
solve the toughest watershed
and collection system chal-
lenges. Their open architecture
platform, called BLU-X, brings
the power of big data analytics
in real time to water and waste-
water systems management.
“We are very pleased to wel-
come EmNet to the Xylem fami-
ly,” said Patrick Decker, Xylem
President and Chief Executive
Officer. “This is an important
addition to our smart infra-
structure portfolio because it
significantly increases our abili-
ty to help customers manage
their wastewater network and
stormwater systems, areas of
growing concern. Cities and
utilities around the world are
trying to effectively manage the
challenges of aging infrastruc-
ture with limited resources.
EmNet is leveraging technology
to provide more effective solu-
tions that actually improve their
customers’ overall economics.”
“We couldn’t be more
pleased to be joining Xylem,”
said Luis Montestruque,
President and Chief Technology
Officer of EmNet. “Joining
Xylem empowers our team to
greatly accelerate our progress
and expand our mission to a
global scale.”

IDE Technologies to Open Two ‘Wastewater Reuse Demo Facilities’in California

The demo facilities will utilize IDE’s advanced water reuse processes to demonstrate a safe
and efficient water supply.

EW Staff
USA
IDE TECHNOLOGIES HAS
announced that its technology
will be used in two new waste-
water 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 prov-
ing to be a sustainable alter-
native for a clean and safe
water source for groundwater
replenishment in the state.
For the Central Coast Blue
Advanced Water Purification
Demo Facility located in the
City of Pismo Beach, IDE will
demonstrate an energy-effi-
cient solution with reduced
chemical consumption to pro-
duce purified water. The facil-
ity will have a capacity of
58,000 gallons of water per
day. It will allow IDE to
demonstrate and test its pro-
prietary recycled water
process, Ecological Reuse
(Eco-Reuse).
As told to Express Water,
this Eco-Reuse process is
designed to optimize perform-
ance while minimizing costs.
It uses a proprietary preven-
tative maintenance approach
without the use of chloramine
and hence avoiding the forma-
tion of N-
Nitrosodimethylamine
(NDMA) - an organic contam-
inant suspected as carcino-
genic.
IDE 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, busi-
nesses and industries, it will
be cleaned and treated then
sent to advanced water treat-
ment plant for further purifi-
cation. The facility will have a
capacity of 500,000 gallons of
water/day. IDE’s RO will be
integrated into a novel
process using membrane
bioreactors (MBR) as a pre-
treatment to RO to remove
tiny particles, biodegradable
pollutants and nitrogen com-
pounds. The RO system will
then be used to remove sus-
pended and dissolved compo-
nents, such as bacteria, virus-
es, pharmaceuticals and salts,
eliminating more than 99% of
all impurities.

12 March, 2018 EXPRESS WATER

 COLUMN
The Potential for Membrane-Based Water &
Wastewater Treatment Systems in Europe
Frost & Sullivan
Deepthi Sugumar
GROWING INDUSTRIAL-
IZATION COMBINED with
a rapid increase in population
& urbanization has resulted in
pressure on limited water
resources. As a result, munic-
ipal and industrial segments
are encouraged to move
towards a circular economy of
water reuse through use of
advanced treatment technolo-
gies such as membranes.
Nearly one-fifth of global pop-
ulation is inhabited in water
scarce areas and in some
cases also experience high
industrial activity and rapid
urbanization. Water reuse will
play an indispensable role as it
offers resilience and enhances
water security. It also reduces
the stress on groundwater
and freshwater resources.
Besides being a sustainable
water source, water reuse in
industries can bring down the
direct cost of water and
decrease the already over-
stretched capacity of urban
wastewater treatment plant.
There are many technolo-
gies for treating water and
wastewater of which mem-
brane technologies have been
garnering momentous inter-
est because of its reliability
EXPRESS WATER
and ability to produce high-
quality water. Many countries
like US, Japan, Singapore and
as well as regions like Europe
have always used advanced
membrane technology for
treating water and waste-
water both in the industrial
and municipal segment. As
many states and cities across
the globe are addressing sus-
tainability, water reuse will
become an integral part of
sustainability and membranes
technologies will play a crucial
role in addressing the same.
Europe has been a leader
in employing membrane tech-
nology in some of the circular
economy shaped water and
wastewater treatment proj-
ects. The water & wastewater
treatment market in Europe is
driven by legislations in drink-
ing water as well as waste-
water treatment. In the con-
text of drinking water, the
treatment episodes of bacteri-
ological contamination and
agricultural run-off in the late
90s have led to a significant
number of membrane installa-
tions for drinking water
across the Europe. Focus on
industrial wastewater lies in
water reuse and recycling,
especially in Southern and
Mediterranean regions.
Energy efficiency of mem-
brane treatment systems has
amassed greater attention in
recent times with many com-
panies investing capaciously
in research and development
for energy efficient membrane
treatment systems.
According to findings of
Frost and Sullivan, key mar-
ket drivers for the membrane
industry in Europe - mem-
brane price, membrane
replacement (due to signifi-
cant installed base in the
municipal and industrial seg-
ment), plant refurbishment &
upgrades, and stringent dis-
charge regulations. Due to
stringent regulation in
Europe, specialized mem-
branes will always be on
demand to treat wastewater
for reuse and safe disposal of
the treated effluent in water
bodies of sensitive areas.
Frost and Sullivan esti-
mates the total membrane
systems market for water and
wastewater treatment in
Europe with an overall size of
$1.33 Billion in 2016. The
installed base of all countries
in Europe, mainly in the
municipal segment indicates
growth opportunity for
replacement, refurbishment,
and upgrades.
The growth rate in munici-
pal segment is sporadic and is
attributed to fewer but high-
value membrane based water
and wastewater treatment
projects in a year. For example
- 90 MLD ceramic membranes
municipal drinking water
plant in South West England
is first combined technology
planned to be installed in the
UK. The industrial segments
will have fewer large capacity
plants, however, there is a
constant need for highly effi-
cient membrane treatment
technologies to meet stringent
discharge regulations.
Countries such as France,
Germany, Netherlands, and
UK can be considered as
prospective replacement mar-
ket. Germany especially has a
significant installed base of
ultrafiltration membranes for
treating potable water and
backwash water as well. Italy
will have more membrane
MARKET INSIGHTS
based decentralized systems
mainly in small municipalities
along the coastal regions as it
is heavily gearing up to com-
ply with EU regulations. It is
also predicted that core mem-
brane investments are likely
to shift from Western to
Eastern Europe attributable
to focus on upgrading water
and wastewater infrastruc-
ture to meet EU standards.
The microfiltration and
ultrafiltration membranes are
prominent amongst the
municipal water treatment
segment mainly for its suit-
ability to remove key impuri-
ties, especially microorgan-
isms, compared to other con-
ventional filtration equip-
ment. These membranes have
always reported higher water
reuse and recovery as well. As
far as Europe is concerned, it
is a water surplus region and
the Mediterranean region is
home to membrane-based
desalination market.
In recent times, Ceramic
membranes have particularly
proven to be a promising
alternative technology for its
low fouling tendency, longer
lifespan, and scarcer opera-
tional difficulties. Most impor-
tantly, ceramic membranes
are particularly suited for
tackling harsh industrial
wastewaters. As of now, poly-
meric membranes are still
widely used, however, ceramic
membranes are gradually
gaining traction on account of
favorable TOTEX. Though
CAPEX of ceramic mem-
branes is high, from a TOTEX
perspective, ceramic mem-
branes have laudable creden-
tials. Few ceramic membrane
manufacturers predict that
the CAPEX is likely to reduce
and follow a similar trend as
that of the polymeric mem-
brane which once was envis-
aging higher CAPEX. Besides
being employed in
municipal/industrial water
and wastewater treatment,
ceramic membranes are gain-
ing prevalence in digestate
treatment and landfill
leachate in Europe.
Although membranes sys-
tems are gaining a lot of
mileage in Europe, membrane
companies face the challenge
of inadequate operation and
maintenance skills resulting in
end-user challenges. A major
requirement for membrane to
perform efficiently is that the
influent/raw water quality
should remain constant and
plant should be operating
under steady state condition.
Failure to monitor raw
water quality and lack of tech-
nical skills in plant operators
result in membrane degrada-
tion, fouling, frequent cleaning
and use of membrane cleaning
chemicals leading to higher
operational costs.
Most industrial plants in
Europe with membrane tech-
nology are automated and dur-
ing breakdown, highly skilled,
well-trained and experienced
personnel are required to ana-
lyze and restore operations
within a short period of time.
Most end users scout for mem-
brane treatment options that
require minimum operator
attention and have a longer
lifespan. Thus, companies that
can address these prevailing
challenges with ease are
expected to create an edge.
Deepthi Sugumar is a
Research Analyst at Frost and
Sullivan
@FrostSullivanEE
March, 2018 13
 COLUMN
Taxing Bathtubs,Reviving Rivers and
Saving Turtles
Impressions from the State level Jal Chaupal in Uttar Pradesh
Avinash Kumar
DO YOU KNOW if you see tur-
tles hanging around a river, it’s
a sure sign that the river is liv-
ing?
Do you know that rivers
retain their surface levels
drawing from the groundwa-
ter?
Can we ask the government
to levy a small tax on the sale
of bathtubs in this country? If
nothing, it will force people to
think about how much water
they are using without bother-
ing about its source!
The last suggestion came
from Vikram Singh, a Member
of Legislative Assembly from
Fatehpur Cantt constituency
in Uttar Pradesh. Many such
riveting and revealing insights
surfaced during a meeting that
I attended in Lucknow.
The ‘State-level Jal
Chaupal in Uttar Pradesh’ is
an initiative to bring together
activists working on water,
community members, people
from relevant government
departments, and even reli-
gious saints, to deliberate on
how to plan around water
needs and thus ensure commu-
nity ownership. It is also a plat-
form to share the learnings of a
14 March, 2018
multi-country (Nepal, India,
and Bangladesh) project
around the Ganga river basin.
In India, the project focused on
three Gram Panchayats, each
of two adjoining districts of
Kanpur and Fatehpur.
Barely a year old, the proj-
ect focuses upon (i) looking at
water through a gender lens,
(ii) climate change and its
impact, and (iii) water budget-
ing at the community level.
The locations of the project are
facing rapid decline (up to 60-
80 feet) of groundwater, and
borewells chasing them deeper
and deeper.
Savita, a local community
leader, revealed that women
spent as much as 2 to 3 hours
every day to fetch water, while
the men were silent watchers
for such an exhausting task.
The process forced men and
boys to acknowledge their
responsibility of sharing the
burden alongside women.
The collective process gen-
erated an understanding of the
linkage between loss of
groundwater and drying
rivers, and that rivers depend
on groundwater to maintain
their flow levels. This demand-
ed a collective decision-making
around different water needs
for different purposes, initiat-
ing a process of water budget-
ing, considering all available
sources - surface water,
groundwater, and rainwater.
Interestingly, the women
launched a campaign around
rainwater harvesting - ‘Har
Ghar Akash Ganga’ - Ganga
from the sky in each home.
However, the need for a larger
systemic change was also real-
ized, to ensure large-scale
water conservation.
Vikram Singh referred to
Article 243G of 73rd
Constitutional Amendment
Act (enacted over two decades
ago) which has mentioned that
states ‘may’ transfer 29 servic-
es to the panchayats ensuring
true devolution of power to the
local governments. Thus,
Uttar Pradesh had transferred
only 16 of the services, but fee-
bly.
During extensive discus-
sions on the dying rivers, peo-
ple from varied walks of life
talked about their ongoing
engagement with the issue.
A religious saint, Swami
Vigyananada Saraswati from
Fatehpur, shared how the dis-
trict has five rivers flowing
throughout the year, and yet it
falls under the ‘dark zone’ of
water availability. While Ganga
is unable to revitalize ground-
water within 100 feet of its
vicinity, Yamuna is able to do it
only when the river is flooded.
The place has a peculiar topog-
raphy that doesn’t allow land
to be recharged (perhaps
requiring in-depth research).
He also recalled the exis-
tence of two more rivers,
called Sasur Khaderi rivers no.
1 and 2, which dried long ago.
He shared about several pady-
atras (travelling on feet) along
the dried river beds; meeting
and convincing people to
revive these rivers, and allay-
ing their fears around poten-
tial loss of agricultural lands.
Reaching out to senior officials
from district to state, he
assured them that if they per-
mitted the work, he would find
laborers to work under MGN-
REGA, an employment guar-
antee programme. It took 6-7
years and several rounds of
negotiations when it began.
Within a day, according to him,
9300 laborers were mobilized
to work on the project. Today,
river no.1 is revived with
perennial water. The efforts
won not just him, but the dis-
trict officials several national
awards.
In the process, he also
raised some serious thinking
about our state dependent pat-
terns of development where
autonomous spaces for people
have gradually disappeared
which helped retain a
resilience in traditional soci-
eties.
Dr. Venkatesh Dutta from
Ambedkar University,
Lucknow talked about his own
research around river Gomti,
very often undertaking his
own padyatras. His travels
highlighted five aspects of
river culture (namely, boat cul-
ture - which doesn’t exist any-
more, village culture - which
has an organized system
around river water, women -
an integral part, sacred groves
- thoughtfully planned by the
riverside, and turtle culture
including crocodiles - a sign of
security of the river and need
to be preserved). According to
him, 55 km of the river has
already died, while the state
has undertaken a glamorous
project of transforming the
riverfront into a picnic spot for
Lucknow citizens.
Through several pictures of
the riverfront in the making,
he argued that there is a prob-
lem of hierarchy in our system,
where engineers take prece-
dence over the locals and those
who have worked around the
rivers. He described how we
concretize river banks thereby
WATER WISE
obstructing the natural way of
storage of water underneath;
by bringing perennial water
inside, we forget that there is a
natural pattern to rivers where
lean flow during summers
allows vegetation and breeding
of species.
A senior official empha-
sized on the need to look at
government’s efforts and the
challenges lying before them.
The fact that the state alone
had 52,000 Gram Panchayats
with very limited funds, need-
ed attention.
She also mentioned how
most of these funds are dis-
bursed downstream, with the
need for a bottom-up pressure
towards their proper utiliza-
tion.
Such a rich discussion
brought forth three key take-
aways: (i) How do we integrate
vital learnings from such a
brief project in our ongoing
programmes around commu-
nity-led, gender-sensitive
water planning; (ii) How do we
do a larger systems thinking
around conservation, revival
and rejuvenation of our water
bodies including rivers which
are led by people and not plan-
ners; and (iii) How do we con-
tinue building on this larger
space where people from dif-
ferent worlds get to meet and
deliberate on common con-
cerns, like water?
This is the democratization
process, which will certainly
lead to many more changes
than we have seen in the short
life of a project so far.
Avinash Kumar is Director -
Programme, and Policy at
WaterAid India.
Avinashkoomar
EXPRESS WATER
 PRODUCTS
Endress+Hauser
Endress+Hauser has announced the Picomag elec-
tromagnetic flowmeter, an in-line transmitter for
measuring temperature and flow of conductive liq-
uids in pipe sizes ranging from ½” to 2”, such as
drinking and industrial water. It measures flow up to
198 gal/minute with ±0.5% full scale accuracy and
±0.2% repeatability, and temperatures from 14 to
158°F (-10 to 70°C) with ±4.5°F accuracy. The
Picomag combines a sensor and transmitter in the
same housing, with a 1.4-inch TFT color display
showing flow, totalizer and temperature readings, as
well as warning and alarm messages. Outputs
include 4-20mA, pulse, switch and 2-10V. IO-Link
connectivity provides flexible integration into
automation systems. The Bluetooth wireless inter-
face allows direct access to process and diagnostics
data, and enables the user to configure the measur-
ing device on the fly. The device can be operated and
configured on Android and iOS devices via the free
SmartBlue App. The flowmeter is ideal for use on
process skids, where space is often limited, or in dif-
ficult to reach locations.
Alfa Laval
Led by PureBallast 3.1, UV ballast water treatment
systems are challenging the notion that electro-chlo-
rination is the default for large ballast water flows.
Today’s UV systems compete easily in terms of foot-
print and energy efficiency, even at flows of 1000
m3/h or above. This adds to their long-standing oper-
ational advantages, which include a chemical-free
process that poses no corrosion risk. The shift
towards UV is evident in a string of recent orders
won by PureBallast 3.1 in the large-flow range.
Emerson
Emerson is expanding its Plantweb™ digital ecosys-
tem with the launch of DeltaV version 14, a cyberse-
curity-certified control system designed to deliver
EXPRESS WATER
KSB
ready-to-install self-cleaning The tank itself is made of glass
Amaclean tank insert. Amaclean fibre reinforced polyester, which
decreases the amount of stagnant has a good chemical resistance.
water in the pump sump and Steel reinforcement enhances
reduces the need for maintenance anchoring in the concrete and
and cleaning. transfers the weight-induced
In combination with select forces of the pumps, supported by
impeller types featuring in the the flanged bends, into the sur-
wastewater pumps used, this tank rounding concrete jacket of the
insert eliminates the need for wastewater tank.
flushing valves. Amaclean’s patent- All wetted parts are made of plas-
ed design and gel-coated inner sur- tic-coated cast iron or corrosion-
face prevent waste and fibers con- resistant stainless steel. Amaclean
tained in the wastewater from is available in three sizes for waste-
depositing in and at the lower water sumps with an inside diame-
KSB SE & Co. has presented its parts of the structure. ter of 1200, 1500 and 2000 mm.
new value in capital projects and make plant opera- dynamic and offer a high torque-overload ratio. They
tions more connected and productive. The latest are perfectly suited for applications such as plastics
release provides significant innovations to the entire processing, printing presses and servo pumps. With a
DeltaV architecture and was built with customers’ flange size of 142 mm, the new motors deliver excel-
digital transformation initiatives in mind. This major lent torque density. Customers profit from more
power with smaller space requirements. They can be
combined with any of B&R's many gearbox options
and shipped as pre-assembled motor-gearbox combi-
nations. All motors from the 8LS series are offered
with an optional digital encoder and optional safety
functions.
Flexicon
update to the DeltaV automation system includes A new Stand-alone
several meaningful enhancements to eliminate costs Dust Collector from
and reduce complexity in capital projects, plus Flexicon removes air-
improve productivity during operations through borne dust from
enhanced access to production and equipment data, upstream processes,
improved usability and greater security. Continuing and discharges it into
to advance the impact of DeltaV Electronic containers positioned
Marshalling with CHARMs on capital project engi- below the collection hop-
neering, CHARM I/O Block takes CHARMs-which per, protecting opera-
achieved more than one million deployments at more tors and improving
than 1100 sites in only five years-closer to the field. plant hygiene, while
DeltaV will offer its users a new level of confidence eliminating material
and protection from cybersecurity threats by being waste. The housing is
one of the only systems to have a top-to-bottom equipped with a 15 mm
cybersecurity certification. diameter side inlet port,
dual filter cartridges, a
1.5 kW fan motor, a 70
B&R Automation liter collection hopper
B&R has taken with flanged slide gate valve and automated controls.
the next step in Any upstream process that generates dust can be
development of its vented to the system through hard piping or a flexi-
8LS servo ble connection, drawing dust onto dual filter car-
motors. Three tridges. At timed intervals, an automatic reverse-
newly designed pulse filter cleaning system releases short blasts of
size 5 motors in the compressed plant air inside the filters, causing
lengths A, B and C dust build-up on the outer filter surfaces to fall into
fill out the mid- the hopper. The system's stainless steel housing and
range of the 8LS support structure, together with water-resistant con-
product line. Compared to their predecessors, they trols and wash-down-duty fan motor, allow rapid
offer more compact dimensions and improved ther- cleaning or sanitizing of the entire unit between
mal design. The new 8LS servo motors are highly product runs.
March, 2018 15
 MOVEMENTS
Aegion Corporation
Brian Groody
Aegion Corporation has
announced that Brian Groody
has joined Aegion as President
of its Corrosion Protection
platform.
Brian will have full P&L
responsibility for the
Corrosion Protection plat-
form, which generated over
USD 400 million in revenues
in 2017. He will also focus on
enhancing operational disci-
pline while developing the
platform’s long-term strategy.
Brian most recently served as
Executive Vice President of
Operations at Strike, LLC, a
large midstream engineering
and construction firm, where
he was responsible for leader-
ship of their pipeline equip-
ment business. Prior to Strike,
Brian was President and CEO
of Spitzer Industries where he
led the company’s growth
strategy in the upstream, mid-
stream and downstream ener-
gy construction markets.
Brian’s career began with
Schlumberger Oilfield
Services where he held a vari-
ety of leadership roles in the
United States, Africa, Europe,
Latin America, Russia and
Central Asia over a 17-year
period, culminating with
responsibility for operations in
the Offshore Russia and
Central Asia areas.
Charles R. Gordon, Aegion’s
President, and CEO said,
“Brian’s broad global experi-
ence, focus on customer rela-
tionships and disciplined
approach to achieving strate-
gic goals uniquely qualify him
for the role of Corrosion
Protection President. I am
16 March, 2018
confident that Brian’s leader-
ship, combined with the depth
of the Corrosion Protection
management team, position
the platform for success in
2018 and beyond.”
Catherine Yang
Grundfos
Grundfos Group had appoint-
ed Catherine Yang as new
Regional Managing Director
of its China Sales Region. In
this function, Catherine will be
based at the Regional
Headquarters in Shanghai
reporting to Executive Vice
President Poul Due Jensen.
She follows Humphrey Lau,
who is now Regional
Managing Director of
Grundfos’ Western Europe
Sales Region.
Catherine Yang joins Grundfos
from a previous position as
Managing Director of Carrier
Commercial Refrigeration
Asia, at United Technologies
Corporation (UTC), in
Shanghai where she has led
the Commercial Refrigeration
business in Asia with opera-
tions in several countries and
regions. Catherine Yang has
over 22 years working experi-
ence, including 13 years in
China, 8 in the US, and 1 in the
UK.
Catherine Yang started her
career as a software engineer
in the telecommunications
industry in the US. Later she
became an investment banker
at UBS in New York, where
she advised corporate clients
on corporate finance strate-
gies and executed M&A and
financing transactions. In the
past 13 years, she has worked
for UTC and has had a broad
range of responsibilities such
as leading various business
development efforts in Asia as
well as establishing and man-
aging joint ventures in China,
India, Egypt and Latin
American countries in collabo-
ration with a leading Chinese
appliance company.
Catherine Yang holds a bache-
lor’s degree in computer sci-
ences from the University of
Texas at Austin and a master’s
degree in information net-
working from Carnegie Mellon
University. She also holds an
MBA degree from the
Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania.
Catherine is bilingual in
Chinese and English. She is a
US citizen, born and raised in
China.
KSB, Inc.
Dr. Falk Schäfer has assumed
his new role in the United
States as Managing Director
of KSB, Inc., which is head-
quartered in Richmond,
Virginia. With over two
decades of experience, and
having grown with the compa-
LANXESS
Dr. Rolf Stomberg
Chairman of Supervisory
Board at LANXESS, Dr. Rolf
Stomberg will resign from his
office as a member and
Chairman of the Supervisory
Board after the end of the
Annual Stockholders’
Meeting on May 15, 2018.
Stomberg has recommended
Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber to
succeed him for the position
of Chairman of the
Supervisory Board.
Dr. Falk Schäfer
ny, Dr. Schäfer is equipped to
support the KSB mission for
optimum reliability and maxi-
mized performance.
Dr. Schäfer began his career
with KSB in 1994 as an indus-
trial mechanic and spent the
next two decades expanding
his areas of expertise and
growing with the company.
Wolfgruber has a doctorate in
chemistry, served as
Chairman of the Board of
Management of Altana AG,
and has belonged to the
supervisory body as a repre-
sentative for stockholders
since 2015. The new chair-
man will be elected by the
Supervisory Board at its con-
stituent, first meeting after
the Annual Stockholders’
Meeting in 2018.
Having received his
Mechanical Engineering
degree in 2002 from the
University of Applied Sciences
in Kaiserslautern, Germany,
he went on to complete his
Ph.D. at the Institute of Fluid
Machinery and Fluid Flow in
2007 while working as the
Project Manager for Energy
Efficiency of Pumping
Systems with KSB Service
GmbH in Frankenthal,
Germany.
In 2009, Dr. Schäfer became
the Head of the SES System
Efficiency Services
Department, working to
increase business volume
before becoming Vice
President of Engineering
Services in 2013.
While serving as the VP of
Engineering Services, Dr.
Schäfer took on the additional
role in 2015 of Director of
Pump Service and managed
the KSB pump service center
in Frankenthal, Germany.
Pamela Knapp is expected to
be promoted as a new mem-
ber of the Supervisory Board
for LANXESS. She graduat-
ed in Economics and most
recently served as the Chief
Financial Officer (CFO) for
GfK SE, the listed market
research company based in
Nuremberg, Germany. Prior
to that, she was active in var-
ious management roles at the
Siemens Group.
EXPRESS WATER
 COVER STORY

EXPRESS WATER March, 2018 17


COVER STORY
Developing Alternative Water Supplies
There are a variety of alternative water supply sources which cities have developed and
encouraged to achieve urban water security including water recycling and reuse facilities,
which collect, treat, and use wastewater.
By Robert Brears
EVEN AFTER THE success-
ful implementation of demand
management strategies to bal-
ance rising demand with limit-
ed supplies of water, there are
regions around the world
where water scarcity requires
the seeking of alternative
water supply sources.
There are a variety of alter-
native water supply sources
which cities have developed
and encouraged to achieve
urban water security including
water recycling and reuse
facilities, which collect, treat,
and use wastewater for irriga-
tion and industrial purposes,
as well as for domestic purpos-
es if properly treated, grey
water systems that use
untreated water that has not
come into contact with toilet
waste for non-potable activi-
ties, and rainwater harvesting,
which is the capturing and
storing of rainwater for benefi-
cial uses including irrigation.
Singapore’s NEWater
Singapore’s NEWater
process recycles treated used
water into ultra-clean, high-
grade reclaimed water. In
total, five NEWater plants sup-
ply up to 40% of the city-state’s
current water needs. By 2060,
it is projected that NEWater
will meet up to 55% of
Singapore’s future water
demand. NEWater is created
from a three-step process
involving microfiltration,
where microscopic particles
including bacteria are filtered
out, reverse osmosis, in which
contaminants are removed to
create high-grade water, and
ultraviolet disinfection, where
water passes through ultravio-
18 March, 2018
let light ensuring any remain-
ing organisms are eradicated.
Because of its ultra-clean
state, NEWater is used for
industrial and air-con cooling
purposes at water fabrication
plants, industrial estates, and
commercial buildings.
NEWater is delivered to these
commercial customers via a
dedicated pipe network.
During dry periods, NEWater
is also added to the Public
Utilities Board’s (PUB) reser-
voirs to blend with raw water.
The raw water from the reser-
voir is then treated at the
waterworks before being sup-
plied to consumers as tap
water. To educate the popula-
tion on NEWater, PUB oper-
ates the NEWater Visitor
Centre for all ages to show how
NEWater is produced with
daily interactive tours as well
as educational workshops.
Melbourne’s City West Wa-
ter’s Recycled Water Pro-
ject
In Melbourne, City West
Water’s West Wyndham
Recycled Water Project aims
to deliver high quality, Class A
recycled water to housing
estates in the Wyndham area,
as well as a number of open
spaces managed by the
Wyndham City Council (Class
A recycled water can only be
used for toilet flushing, car
washing on grassed areas, gar-
den watering, filling water fea-
tures, providing drinking
water for pets, and washing
machines). Currently, recycled
water – a mix of drinking
water and recycled water – is
supplied to around 3,750
homes in the area. The aim of
“
Even after the
successful
implementation of
demand
management
strategies there are
regions which need
alternative water
supply sources.
the West Wyndham Recycled
Water Project is to create a
supply of 100 percent recycled
water. The recycled water will
come from Melbourne Water’s
Western Treatment Plant,
where it will be further
processed and sent to homes
and open spaces in the
Wyndham area through a ded-
icated ‘purple pipe’ recycled
water system.
The Hamburg Water Cycle
Hamburg Wasser is devel-
oping the HAMBURG WATER
CYCLE (HWC), which entails
the separation of the material
flows of wastewater: blackwa-
ter (wastewater from toilets) is
separated from the greywater
(wastewater from kitchens,
bathrooms, and washing
machines), rainwater is col-
lected separately, while sepa-
rated greywater can be
cleaned with minimal energy
consumption and either recy-
cled for household use, such as
watering the garden or flush-
ing of toilets, or returned back
to nature to replenish local
waters. The HWC is being
implemented in two locations
in Hamburg. The Gut
Karlshöhe project is a 9-acre
environmental theme park
created by the Hamburg
Climate Protection Foundation
for educational purposes. The
site will serve as an HWC exhi-
bition site to demonstrate both
in theory and practice how
new approaches to closing the
loop, including turning waste
into a resource, can be devel-
oped. One of the features of the
site will be the development of
a wetland for greywater
purification. Overall, the site
will provide a comprehensive
education for up to 140,000
people per year. On a larger-
scale, the HWC will be imple-
mented as part of the
Jenfelder Au project, which is
a residential area of around 35
acres that will house around
2,000 residents. On-site, the
HWC will be applied in approx-
imately 630 residential units
that will separate out blackwa-
ter, greywater, and stormwa-
ter.
City of Tucson’s Rainwater
Harvesting Rebate
To encourage the capture,
diversion, and storage of rain-
water for plant irrigation,
Tucson Water in Arizona is
providing rebates for qualify-
ing rainwater harvesting sys-
tems up to $2,000 per proper-
ty. To qualify, applicants must
be Tucson Water customers
and attend an approved
Rainwater Harvesting
Incentives Program Workshop
that covers topics including
what rainwater harvesting is,
best methods to conserve
potable water by utilizing rain-
water harvesting systems, and
COLUMN
URBAN WATER
how to develop a rainwater
harvesting project plan. There
are two incentives available to
applicants able to apply for
both, provided the total does
not exceed $2,000 for the com-
bination per property. The first
incentive is for simple/passive
rain gardens, with applicants
able to receive 50 percent of
the costs of eligible materials
and labor up to $500. Passive
earthworks include directing
and retaining water in land-
scapes, using site-appropriate
practices including basins,
berms, terraces, swales, infil-
tration trenches, and curb
cuts. The second incentive is
for complex/active rain tanks
with rebates covering the cost
of system based on a gallon per
capacity of tank up to $2,000.
Conclusions
Cities facing acute water
scarcity can develop a variety
of alternative water supply
sources including: water recy-
cling and reuse facilities that
treat water to a high quality for
industrial purposes, blending
with reservoir water during
times of scarcity or non-
potable domestic uses; grey-
water systems in new urban
developments that recycle
water for non-potable house-
hold use as well as replenish
local waters; and rainwater
harvesting systems to reduce
demand for potable water for
non-potable-required uses
including irrigation.
Robert Brears is the author of
Urban Water Security, Founder
of Mitidaption, and Our Future
Water."
@Mitidaption
EXPRESS WATER
 COVER STORY
70% of the World’s Population Will Live in
Cities by2030,While 60% of Urban
Settlements Remain to be Built
By World Water Council (WWC)
WITHIN A DECADE, 70% of
the Earth’s population will live
in cities. This reality places
them at the forefront of sus-
tainable development and fac-
ing global challenges, including
climate change. In light of this,
five organizations have joined
forces to create greater sup-
port for these issues. Local
Governments for
Sustainability (ICLEI), United
By 2030 there will
be a 50% increase
in demand for
energy and water,
requiring a water
infrastructure
capital investment
of three times the
current level.
Cities and Local Governments
(UCLG), the Global Water
Operators’ Partnerships
Alliance (GWOPA/UN-
Habitat), the Brazilian
Confederation of
Municipalities (CNM) and the
World Water Council (WWC)
are bringing together decision-
makers, local leaders and prac-
titioners to tackle local water
challenges. This year, the
United Nations has selected
the theme Innovative
Governance, Open Cities to
EXPRESS WATER
highlight the importance of
urbanization as a source of
global development and social
inclusion.
Urbanization is one of the
21st century’s most transfor-
mative trends. Cities are the
dominant force in sustainable
economic growth, develop-
ment, and prosperity in both
developed and developing
countries. Currently,
54% of the world’s population
(4 billion people) resides in
urban areas. By 2030, 2 billion
people will have migrated to
cities, placing unprecedented
pressure on infrastructure and
resources, particularly those
related to water. The world’s
ten biggest cities will include
Tokyo (37.2 million), Delhi (36.1
million), Shanghai (30.8 mil-
lion), Mumbai (27.8 million),
Beijing (27.7 million), Dhaka
(27.4 million), Karachi (24.8
million), Cairo (24.5 million),
Lagos (24.2 million) and
Mexico City (23.9 million).
From 2016 to 2030, a 35% pop-
ulation increase is expected in
these top ten mega-cities.
Forecasts indicate cities in
developing countries including
Karachi, Lagos, and Dhaka will
surpass cities like New York,
Osaka, and Sao Paolo by 2030.
This represents a 50%
increase in demand for energy
and water, generating chal-
lenges that exert pressure on
water resources and threaten
global water security. This has
a palpable effect on public
health, economies, and devel-
opment. Local solutions for
local problems are most suited
WATER - DEMAND & SUPPLY ISSUES
to meet these challenges.
Furthermore, as more than
three-quarters (76%) of the
world’s mega-cities are
coastal, there will be a consid-
erable impact on water ecosys-
tems from ridge to reef.
Because of this, local and
regional authorities lead initia-
tives targeting water-related
obstacles, including housing
gaps, climate change and an
increased demand for food,
energy, and water.
Climate change, in particu-
lar, represents a daunting chal-
lenge for cities, as 40% of the
world’s population will live in
river basins under severe
water stress, while 20% will
risk floods by 2030. “Flooding
and droughts have increased
globally and the impact is dev-
astating. Cities across the
world are already experiencing
effects of climate change.
Infrastructure and houses are
destroyed and we call on gov-
ernments to be aware of the
effects that adequate water
infrastructure can have to
improve or aid these situa-
tions,” comments World Water
Council President, Benedito
Braga. Financing needs
should, therefore, be centered
on urban areas and infrastruc-
ture in both urban and rural
areas that serve these cities,
driven by local needs for which
local solutions are necessary.
Numerous UN sanctioned
global agreements compliment
these actions including the
Paris Climate Agreement, the
New Urban Agenda, the
Sendai Framework and the
Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). Water invest-
ment thus becomes a unifying
factor in fostering healthier
and more prosperous cities,
offering impoverished popula-
tions a real chance at progress.
“Water has a significant place
throughout all these agendas.
Local Authorities play an
essential role in providing
services to their citizens and in
ensuring adapted and sustain-
able infrastructure for their
residents,” stated Mohamed
Boussraoui of UCLG during a
session he moderated on
resilient cities during the
recent International
Conference on Water and
Climate (ICWC) held in
Marseille on 3-4 October.
Although much of the
implementation of these agen-
das will be led by national gov-
ernments, success will also
rely on the commitment and
empowerment of local and
regional authorities to do their
part. Cities and regions often
lack guidance on how to
achieve them locally, con-
tribute to nationally set targets
and implement concrete solu-
tions. Mayors, and the net-
works they belong to, need to
develop strategies to deliver
and adopt integrated
approaches to overcome politi-
cal, financial, technological
and behavioral barriers. “You
can’t find a more intimate link
to citizens than Local
Authorities. This relationship
of proximity can lead us to
mobilize citizens and raise
their awareness for issues like
By 2030 more than
40% of the world’s
population will live
in river basins
under severe water
stress and 20% of
the population will
be at risk from
floods.
no one else,” commented
Mayor Fatimetou Abdel
Malick, from Tevragh-Zeina,
Mauritania during the recent
ICWC conference.
The signed Partnership
Agreement will serve as an
important stepping stone for
the preparation and organiza-
tion of the Local and Regional
Authorities Conference to be
held in conjunction with the
World Water Forum between
18-23 March 2018 in Brasilia,
Brazil.
The World Water Council
The World Water Council
(WWC) is an international
multi-stakeholder platform
organization, the founder, and
co-organizer of the World
Water Forum. Headquartered
in Marseille, France, and creat-
ed in 1996, the World Water
Council brings together over
300 member organizations
from more than 50 different
countries.
March, 2018 19
 COVER STORY

Market Opportunities in Fixed Leak Detection

will Only Increase with Aging Infrastructure
Mark Nicol is the Senior Director of International Sales & Operations for Echologics. The
Echologics is a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products Inc., a leading manufacturer and
marketer of products and services used in the transmission, distribution and measurement
of water. Mayur Sharma recently interacted with him about various issues from smart water
infrastructure, water supply systems to their latest leak detection technologies.

Mark Nicol
What is your background?
What led you to Echolog-
ics?
Mark: After completing a
Master’s degree in water mod-
elling and management at the
University of Reading, I went
on to work for utilities
(Thames Water) and consult-
ants (Mouchel, Ranhill and
AECOM) in the UK and Asia
before my current stint at
Echologics as the Senior
Director of Sales and
Operations - International,
where I am responsible for all
business outside of the U.S.
and Canada.
I joined Echologics in 2011
as the Business Development
Manager for Asia as I saw a
real need in this region to
empower utilities with
improved knowledge of their
water pipelines to help
address and resolve non-rev-
enue water challenges.
Throughout the past six years,
I have witnessed how
Echologics’ suite of non-inva-
sive solutions has helped pro-
vide utilities with visibility of
their water network system,
which has translated into
more efficient and effective
operations. With the emer-
gence of Internet of Things
(IoT) and predictive analytics,
I am excited to continue
applying my knowledge and
experience to enable water
operators to make smart deci-
sions on existing water infra-
structure and plan for the
future.
What was the process be-
hind ePulse?
Mark: One of the chal-
lenges of maintaining water
supply systems is that a huge
part of the process takes place
underground, out of view.
Unlike pigging a line or cut-
ting a section of pipe out to
assess its condition, where
both will result in service dis-
ruption, Mueller’s Echologics
acoustic technology, offers a
non-invasive pipe condition
assessment method that pro-
vides water utilities with an
accurate measurement of the
remaining wall thickness of
selected pipes in their water
systems.
Acoustic sensors are
attached to existing contact
points, such as fire hydrants,
valves or directly in contact
with a pipe. A sound wave is
induced in the pipeline and a
pair of acoustic sensors cap-
ture the time it takes the
sound wave to travel between
two sensor stations. The
speed at which the sound
wave travels is dictated by the
condition of the pipe wall.
As the sound wave travels,
it pushes water molecules
toward each other. Because
water is incompressible, the
molecules push outward on
the pipe wall. This places a
microscopic flex on the pipe
wall - and greater the flex, the
weaker the pipe. Through this
method, ePulse measures the
actual strength of the pipe
wall which is an ideal measure
of actual pipe condition.
Once the acoustic data is
captured, Echologics’ engi-
neers use patented algorithms
to convert the data into a
measure of the average mini-
mum remaining wall thick-
ness of the inspected pipe seg-
ment. For metallic and
asbestos cement pipe, the cal-
culated wall thickness meas-
urement is compared to the
original thickness of the pipe
to determine the average per-
centage of wall loss.
This technology is the
industry’s first solution that
can identify the condition of
both transmission and distri-
bution mains, while simulta-
neously searching for leaks -
all without the need for serv-
ice disruptions.
How was the concept of
soundwave technology de-
veloped?
Mark: This concept devel-
opment was catalyzed by a
noticeable shift in asset man-
agers’ mentality from passive
to proactive decision making
within the industry. Without
going too much into the detail,
Echologics’ founder and gen-
eral manager, Marc Bracken,
became aware of pipe condi-
tion assessment and leak
detection technology in the
early 2000’s when he was
working with the National
Research Council of Canada
(NRCC) and Aercoustics,
focusing on the study of
ground-borne vibrations.
During this time, Osama
Hunaidi, a researcher from
NRCC was working on a study
for American Water Works
Association (AWWA), investi-
gating the reasons why avail-
able leak detection methods
did not work on plastic pipes.
With both of them combin-
ing their knowledge and expe-
rience, the fruit of their labor
saw the commercialization of
LeakFinder RT system and
put Echologics on the map in
the world of acoustic-based
leak detection and condition
assessment for transmission
and distribution water sys-
tems.
What are the limitations of
this technology?
Mark: ePulse technology
offers survey-level inspection

20 March, 2018 EXPRESS WATER

 COVER STORY
Echologic's Field Specialist Determining Length of Pipe Segment for Inspection
and while it works on both
small and large diameter
mains and most pipe materi-
als, it is not applicable on PE
or PVC pipe. Having said that,
Mueller Water Products has
been relentlessly investing on
research and development
with the commission of its
Echologics innovation site in
2015. Located beside the
Walkerton Clean Water
Centre, our R&D site aims at
advancing innovations in
water main leak detection and
pipeline assessment technolo-
gies. With more than 600
meters of plastic and metallic
water mains, trainers,
researchers and staff are
given the room to replicate
real-world conditions that can
affect leak detection and
pipeline condition assess-
ment.
What is the biggest chal-
lenge facing the leak de-
tection industry?
Mark: According to data
presented by the 2030 Water
Resources Group (WRG) - an
EXPRESS WATER
organization sponsored by the
World Bank Group’s
International Finance
Corporation, today, three out
of every four of the world’s
jobs depend on water. When
you mash this data up with
that of rapid population
growth and existing climate
change, water scarcity is not
just a threat to us as individu-
als, but also to societies’ eco-
nomic, political and social sta-
bility and well-being.
Against this backdrop, we
are seeing big data, IoT and
artificial intelligence (AI) pro-
gressively making their way
in, pushing the envelope and
taking us into water’s digital
future. Here is where the chal-
lenge lies: As exciting and
promising as this sounds, the
adoption of these digital tech-
nologies has not been fast
enough, in part because of the
non-competitive nature of the
industry and an “out of sight,
out of mind” mentality. On the
upside, driven by continued
water regulations, increased
customer expectations, and
the need to improve process
efficiencies and performance,
we already see some clients
riding the digital revolution
wave; it is a positive sign.
This technology can be seen
a part of a wider move to-
wards ‘smart cities’, what
are your thoughts about an
increasingly interconnected
infrastructure network and
why is this happening?
Mark: In my opinion, the
ultimate goal of smart cities is
to warrant a sustainable
future for generations to
come, through an effective
and efficient use of limited
resources such as water, ener-
gy and safe housing, just to
name a few. The increase in
interconnected infrastructure
network is a natural progress
of the implementation of this
goal. For the water industry,
the disruption from IoT, cloud
computing and big data ana-
lytics have helped to break
down siloed operation, while
integrating information and
communication technologies
(ICT) into water management
- forming the backbone of a
smart water grid system. The
key aspects of a smart water
grid involve improving opera-
tions and processes through
automation of water distribu-
tion system data to enable
better decision making.
Simply put, this is happen-
ing to ensure good quality
water is supplied to everyone
24 hours a day, seven days a
week. Here, in Singapore,
where we have a shrinking
and ageing workforce, a smart
water grid could well be the
conclusive solution to enable
streamlining of manpower.
Could you give an example
of where Echologics has
deployed its system and
the results?
Mark: ePulse has been
deployed in many countries,
but here’s a recent success
story that comes to mind. This
client is a water company
which serves the second
largest geographic area in the
UK. They manage a water dis-
tribution network of over
35,000km, supplying water to
4.3 million customers and
water recycling services to 5.5
million.
Over a five-year Asset
Management Period (AMP),
our client was due to replace
402km of water mains in a
drive to optimize financial
returns for its pipeline
replacement program. ePulse
condition assessment was
used to help determine if and
when certain sections of pipe
needed replacement.
We found that a 198m sec-
tion on the replacement plan
was actually in good condition
and did not need to be
replaced.
As this section ran under
an environmental protection
area, complexity of the work
and risk of negative environ-
mental impact would have
added to the cost. This led to a
direct cost saving of over USD
150,000, along with the added
benefits of reducing the envi-
ronmental impact, carbon
footprint and disruption to
local customers’ daily life.
Where do you see the com-
pany going in terms of
growth and future projects?
Mark: The market oppor-
tunities that lie ahead in fixed
leak detection and pipe condi-
tion assessment are already
huge and will only increase
with aging infrastructure and
population growth. Utilities
and water distribution compa-
nies are becoming more
proactive because it’s cost-
effective, knowing the condi-
tion of pipe systems and find-
ing leaks to fix is vital for this
approach.
Requests are coming in to
conduct pilot test for pipe con-
dition assessment and our
fixed leak detection systems
are being deployed globally.
We are actively adding chan-
nel partners to provide cover-
age in new markets, all while
reducing waste in the supply
chain.
To remain at the forefront
of this industry, we will contin-
ue to build a foundation based
on engineering and innova-
tion.
March, 2018 21
 COVER STORY
Driving Operational Efficiency and
Reducing Water Loss in Israel
Haifa’s water utility company Mei Carmel has one of the most complicated water grids in
Israel. The network includes 600 km of water mains and over 100 different pressure zones.
By TaKaDu
COVERING A CHALLENG-
ING area with a steep topo-
graphical terrain and serving
about 500,000 people, Haifa’s
water utility company Mei
Carmel has one of the most
complicated water grids in
Israel. The network includes
600 km of water mains and
over 100 different pressure
zones. In April 2016, Mei
Carmel initiated a pilot with
TaKaDu’s Integrated Event
Management solution to pro-
vide greater visibility of its
water network and reduce
water loss. Since deployment,
TaKaDu has helped the Haifa
utility to make huge improve-
ments in its operations and
efficiency levels and deliver
significant NRW (non-revenue
water) savings.
Business Need
Founded in 2010, Mei
Carmel spent the first three
years dealing with malfunc-
tioning infrastructure; the util-
ity replaced over 120,000
water meters and established
a control system.
A couple of years later, Mei
Carmel started a Water Loss
Graph Showing the Start of the Event in TaKaDu
22 March, 2018
Reduction Process, led by Stav
Avraham, Mei Carmel’s COO.
Stav implemented a multi-dis-
ciplinary program combining
engineering, design, reorgani-
zation and technological steps
focused on long-term water
loss reduction.
Mei Carmel proceeded to
take active measures to cut
down on water loss. A dedicat-
ed team was established with a
specific budget, defined
assignments and scheduled
weekly meetings. Mei Carmel
set up main zone DMA (dis-
trict metered areas) installa-
tions, meter transmissions,
‘back to back’ AMR (automatic
meter reading) with supply
connections and acoustic sen-
sors for real data, including
night flows and basic balance.
With access to real data,
the team found the main caus-
es for water loss to be the
faulty measurements of water
sources, unmetered landscape
irrigation connections, water
theft, unobserved pipeline
bursts and incorrect consumer
meter readings. Leaks were
still mostly discovered through
regular checks.
WATER - DEMAND & SUPPLY ISSUES
In early 2016, Mei Carmel
took a decision to take further
measures to improve its water
efficiency. Although proud of
its low water loss levels, it
understood the value of har-
nessing data to gain further
insights into network events.
Mei Carmel turned to
TaKaDu’s Event Management
Solution to enable them to
monitor the water network
automatically and provide
early detection of ‘incidents’
without being dependent on
manual feedback from the
field.
Following a successful pilot,
the utility signed a three-year
contract with TaKaDu in June
2017. Today Mei Carmel has
over 80 DMAs and control
zones with the entire network
covered by TaKaDu’s integrat-
ed event management solution.
Solution
TaKaDu - The ‘Umbrella’
Management Layer,
Managing the Flood of Data
Realizing that the huge
amount of data, generated by
several sources, could no
longer be handled separately,
Mei Carmel started using
TaKaDu as its daily network
management platform.
TaKaDu oversees an imple-
mentation process involving
different technologies, such as
acoustic leakage sensors,
meters, water balance and
pressure monitoring, and a
range of engineering decisions.
Acting as the ‘umbrella’ layer
for all events, TaKaDu pro-
vides in-depth insights into the
network’s events and inci-
dents, including leaks, bursts,
changes in water pressure and
faulty assets.
Integrated at the highest
level, TaKaDu enables every
event and anomaly to be
detected, analyzed, managed
and resolved as quickly as pos-
sible. For example, TaKaDu
has enabled Mei Carmel to
detect hidden leaks (see the
example below), extract night-
line trends for identifying leaks
before they turn into bursts
and carry out individual water
loss analysis by examining
deviations from fixed patterns.
TaKaDu’s software is also
integrated with Mei Carmel’s
Customer Call Center and
other departments, ensuring
cross-organizational coordina-
tion on an ongoing basis. The
TaKaDu system provides man-
agerial dashboards, actionable
insights and detailed reports
to management teams,
enabling smarter decision-
making.
Event Examples
Hidden Leak Event
TaKaDu’s software showed
a major leak in the city of Haifa
through a significant flow
increase in one of the areas. A
field team was dispatched to
the area and they proceeded to
find and repair two small
leaks. Although it was
assumed that the problem was
solved, TaKaDu continued to
report a flow increase. The
field team was sent again to
investigate more deeply. This
time, they found a huge leak in
a hidden creek outside the res-
idential area - a place where no
one usually goes - saving Mei
Carmel approximately
US$90,000.
Pressure Decrease Event
TaKaDu detected a reduc-
tion in pressure in a PRV
(pressure relief valve) located
between two reservoirs. The
valve needed to be opened to
clean one of the reservoirs, but
the maintenance team had for-
gotten to close back the valve
and TaKaDu alerted to an
anomaly in the behavior of the
data. Mei Carmel thought that
something was wrong with the
meter, however, after checking
the meter, they saw that it was-
n’t the problem. TaKaDu con-
tinued to send an anomaly
alert. Mei Carmel then got
another alert regarding an
increase in the level of the
reservoir, and, together with
the TaKaDu alert, understood
what happened. They sent a
member of the team to open
back the valves and the event
was resolved.
Results
By taking a holistic
approach to water efficiency,
Mei Carmel has implemented
an effective PPT (People,
Processes, and Technology)
strategy using TaKaDu. Mei
Carmel has made huge
improvements in its opera-
tional efficiency levels and
reduced its NRW loss.
TaKaDu’s tangible and
intangible benefits include:
• Repairs Validation:
Ensuring that a leak has
EXPRESS WATER
 COVER STORY WATER - DEMAND & SUPPLY ISSUES

Graph Showing the Reduction of Water Loss at Mei Carmel (2009-2017)
been successfully repaired
by monitoring the event life-
cycle from start to finish.
Events are closed in the sys-
tem only after TaKaDu has
verified that it has been
fixed and the usage pattern
has returned to normal.
• Leakage Awareness Time:
Detecting small leaks within
hours and trend leaks which
wouldn’t have been identi-
• Improved Customer
Service and Customer
Satisfaction: Leading to
reduced service interrup-
tions and faster response
times
• Regulatory Compliance:
Enabling objective visibility
into KPIs, network metrics,
and operational activities
through dashboards
• Cross-Departmental
Coordination: Information
is shared with representa-
tives from different depart-
ments
• Enhanced Prioritization:
Enabled by the granular
view of network issues and
capabilities, events can be
sorted based on priority and
specific need.
Contract Extended
Mei Carmel also extended
its contract with TaKaDu for
three years. This was followed
from the successful one-year TaKaDu has helped
use of the service where
TaKaDu enabled Mei Carmel the Haifa utility to
to reduce NRW (non-revenue make huge
water) levels and improve its
operational efficiency. improvements in
Mei Carmel now uses its operations and
TaKaDu as a daily network
management platform to over- efficiency levels
see and manage an implemen- and deliver
tation process involving differ-
ent technologies, such as sen- significant NRW
sors and meters, and a range of (non-revenue
engineering decisions. The
TaKaDu platform has provided water) savings. Mei
greater insights into network Carmel has made
events throughout the Haifa
vicinity, including leaks, huge
bursts, water pressure improvements in
changes and faulty assets.
Stav Avraham, COO of Mei
its operational
Carmel, says, “TaKaDu has efficiency levels
helped us to make huge
improvements in our opera-
and reduced its
tions and efficiency levels as NRW loss.
well as reduce water loss.
Acting as the ‘umbrella’ layer efficiency, by combining people
for all events, TaKaDu man- (managers), new processes

fied otherwise
• Reduction in Analyst
Time: Providing automatic
alerts, an intuitive user
interface and a variety of
graphs and reports.
Previously, Mei Carmel’s
analyst would have spent a
full working day preparing a
report with specific informa-
tion per DMA.
• Avoiding Collateral
Damage: Detecting growing
leaks before they become
failures and bursts and
reducing outages of critical
facilities
• Improved Network
Operations: Identifying
breaches between DMAs,
saving pumping energy and
detecting network operation
failures via the detection of
abnormal flows or pressures
• Visibility of Network
Availability: Increasing sys-
tem up-time through the
ongoing monitoring of sen-
sors and telemetry
• Maintenance Cost Savings
and Shorter Repair Cycles:
Via the early detection of
network inefficiencies and a
centralized view
“
ages all our technology imple-
mentations and gives us
greater visibility of our water
The implementation of TaKaDu at Mei network. It’s also integrated
Carmel proved to be perfect timing. Firstly, with our customer call center
and other departments, ensur-
this was due to the quantity and quality of ing cross-organizational coor-
data gathered from the water network, which dination on an ongoing basis.”
required extensive and complex analysis, TaKaDu’s automated cloud-
based service enables utilities
and was difficult to manage manually and to detect, analyze and manage
prioritize.TaKaDu's analytical tools were able network events and incidents
to take in the vast amount of information and such as leaks, bursts, faulty
assets, telemetry and data
gain real operational value. Secondly,Takadu issues, operational failures and
is an open platform for any new data sources more. The system provides
being added, such as pressure control, managerial dashboards,
actionable insights and
acoustics sensors and more, enabling cross- detailed reports to manage-
referencing of information and focused ment teams.
decision-making.Thirdly,TaKaDu allowed us Ziv Zaretsky, EVP Sales
and Operations of TaKaDu,
to follow night line targets and cross-check says, “Mei Carmel, one of the
them with historical nightline behavior.This most advanced utilities in
proved to be a very efficient way to monitor Israel, has integrated TaKaDu
at the highest level. Every
network performance, such as identifying event is managed and resolved
network leaks and other anomalies, and to as quickly as possible, with
solve the problem rapidly, reducing water proven water and energy sav-
ings.”
loss. Zaretsky continues, “Mei
Stav Avraham Carmel offers an excellent case
COO, Mei Carmel study of the benefits of taking
a holistic approach to water
and a unique technology.”
Data Driven Actions
Amir Peleg, Chairman, The
Smart Water Networks Forum
(Swan), and Founder & CEO of
Takadu was recently recog-
nized by a leading publication
in their list of Top 25 Global
Water Leaders. TaKaDu is a
global software provider of
Integrated Event Management
solutions for the water indus-
try. Our automated cloud-
based service enables utilities
to Detect, Analyze and
Manage network events and
incidents such as leaks, bursts,
faulty assets, telemetry and
data issues, operational fail-
ures, and more. Converting
raw data into knowledge,
TaKaDu provides visibility and
actionable insights for
increased operational efficien-
cy and water loss reduction.
TaKaDu offers water utili-
ties more than just detecting
leaks or faulty PRVs (pressure
relief valves), it provides infor-
mation to improve operational
performance by focusing on
events which are more impor-
tant or just have the most
impact on your water system.

EXPRESS WATER March, 2018 23

 COVER STORY

Modern Pumps Boost Energy-

Efficiency in Drinking Water Supply
The reductions achieved in power consumption totalled 21%, with 18% being attributed to
the pump motors and 3% to the hydraulically optimized piping.
By Bryan Orchard

Study achieve energy savings. “As the availability of high-effi-

The Hart Machine House is the Centrepiece of Facilities of Ruhstorfer
Group, a Water Supply Company Based in Lower Bavaria. It Employs
Pumps Driven by Synchronous Reluctance Motors Capable of Achieving
Optimum Efficiencies Even in Part Load Operation. (Photo Courtesy: KSB)
FOR THE RUHSTORFER
Group water supply company
in Germany ensuring a secure
water supply for its customers
is the absolute priority. This is
closely followed by a wish to
reduce power consumption of
the pump motors in their
main pumping station.
Following the replacement of
the original pumping system
in 2016 and commissioning of
a new facility, measurements
indicate that energy consump-
tion has dropped by around
20%.
The Ruhstorfer Group sup-
plies drinking water to around
12,000 households in the
region around the spa towns
of Bad Füssing and Bad
Griesbach, home to around
40,000 inhabitants as well as
accommodation for approxi-
mately 8,000 visitors. The
Hart machine house, commis-
sioned in 1975, is the central
element in drinking water
pumping station and its task
is to balance the supply pres-
sure and the fill level in two
distant water towers, each
with a capacity of around
2000 m³. The source of the
drinking water is two wells in
the regions around
Osterholzen and Aigener
Forst.
Although the number of
households to be supplied has
increased since 1975, water
consumption over the last two
decades has not risen at the
same rate: When viewed in
conjunction with the number
of households being supplied,
this development in water
consumption volume suggests
that consumers have become
more economical, and that
water consumption has
dropped thanks to more effi-
cient household appliances.
The Ruhstorfer Group deliv-
ers between 2.5 and 2.8 cubic
meters of drinking water
annually into the 75km long
supply network, with 80% of
this amount is supplied by the
pumping station in the Hart
machine house.
Ambitious Energy-Saving
Goals Following Energy
Although a complete over-
haul of pumping equipment
was not considered necessary
in 2016, the operators had
their eyes on the future: “After
a long operating period the
system as a whole was start-
ing to show its age, and we
wanted to expand our focus to
include energy efficiency as
well as reliable water supply,”
explains Armin Bauer, plant
manager for the Ruhstorfer
Group. As part of an energy
study, 50 % of which was
financed by the German gov-
ernment, the Bavarian water
supply company checked its
network for possible leaks and
analyzed its facilities to deter-
mine their energy efficiency.
Reissnecker and Eberhart,
the Regensburg-based engi-
neering company contracted
to perform the study, devel-
oped a set of energy-saving
measures. “We presented the
results of the study and our
aim of implementing the pro-
posed measures to the
Group’s board members. The
equipment in the Hart
machine house was in need of
modernization in the medium
term due to evidence of cavi-
tation damage caused to the
pumps and the age of the pip-
ing which dates back to the
system’s early days,” reports
Armin Bauer. Further proj-
ects from the energy study
were implemented alongside
these measures. This enabled
the Ruhstorfer Group to
obtain DIN EN ISO 50001 cer-
tification as it continued its
consistent endeavors to
well as securing reliable water ciency in-line pumps whose
supply, the principle planning discharge and suction nozzles
criteria were energy efficien- lie in a straight line of piping.
cy and potential reductions in The design requirement
electricity costs,” says was met by the installation of
Michael Reissnecker. KSB Omega pumps with
SuPremE® motors and the
Hydraulically Optimized PumpDrive variable speed
Piping Geometry with system. The pump casings
Matching In-Line Pumps were installed vertically to
The first stage was exten- ensure optimal hydraulic
sive planning work covering properties. “This explains why
more than just pump selec- the pump motors are installed
tion. The existing pumps’ cav- vertically at the top of the
itation damage occurred high-pressure pumps rather
because the connecting than on their sides as is
pipework had to include usual,” says Miriam Nagler,
bends, leading to turbulent the consultant for water/
flow. The modernization plan, wastewater applications at
therefore, included a renewal KSB. This meant that
of the piping system that hydraulically optimized piping
would allow for the system’s geometry could be achieved
hydraulic optimization. despite the facility’s spatial
Working together with the constraints.
operators, the engineering
company planned for the “Pumps Must be Capable
pump station’s entire piping of Flexible Operation”
system to be situated on one On average, the pump sys-
level so that pipe bends lead- tem comprising three vertical
ing from floor to floor could be high-pressure pumps delivers
avoided. This design required 75 l/s into the supply network;
The Vertically Installed In-line Pumps from KSB’s Omega Series Can be
Connected to DIN 300 Piping System in a Straight Line, Enabling a Flow-
Optimized Connection. Variable Speed Systems Match the Flow Rate to
the Actual Demand. (Photo Courtesy: KSB)

24 March, 2018 EXPRESS WATER

 COVER STORY
PumpMeter, the Digital Display
and Analysis Unit, Shows the
Technical Operating Personnel the
Pumps’ Operating Data at a
Glance and Helps Them Check
Whether the Pumps are Running
at Optimum Efficiency. (Photo
Courtesy: KSB)
the flow rate varies across a
performance range of 75 to 115
l/s. In order to determine
pump sizing, the consultant
engineers worked with the
water supply company’s tech-
nical staff to measure the as-is
volume flow rates and use this
data as a basis for selecting
the pumps. “Precise data for
pump selection can only be
obtained if the system’s actual
operation is analyzed. This
allows new pumps matching
the optimum operating point
to be selected. A central crite-
rion in planning the system
was that the new pumps could
be operated extremely flexibly
and achieve good hydraulic
efficiency levels across their
entire speed range,” explains
Reissnecker.
The KSB PumpDrive vari-
able speed system continuous-
ly adjusts the output power of
the 110 kW pump motors to
Energy-Efficiency in Water Supply:
The Drive Technology of
Synchronous Reluctance Pump
Motors Reduces Pump Power
Consumption by Around 20% in a
Drinking Water Pumping Station
Operated by Ruhstorfer Group
Water Supply Company. (Photo
Courtesy: KSB)
EXPRESS WATER
match the operating point
depending on demand. “This
demand is determined by the
fill level in the water towers
and the current consumption
levels in the network. The sys-
tem’s previous configuration
with smaller pumps and limit-
ed speeds did not allow for
demand-driven operation -
during most operating condi-
tions, two pumps provided too
much output, and one pump
too little,” reports Alexander
Hutterer, water manager for
systems technology and ener-
gy management officer for the
Ruhstorfer Group.
Pump Motors Offering
High-Efficiency Levels,
Even in Part-Load Opera-
tion
The tender specified IE4-
class drives and this require-
ment could be met by the KSB
SuPremE® motor range,
whose gold colored housing
are conspicuous in the Hart
machine house. “Their ability
to achieve high-efficiency lev-
els in part load operation
makes these motors particu-
larly suitable for applications
with fluctuating demand.
These pump motors use syn-
chronous reluctance motor
technology which offers a
clear advantage in terms of
efficiency in part load opera-
tion when compared with con-
ventional asynchronous
motors,” explains Miriam
Nagler.
The IE4 requirements only
refer to efficiencies achieved
in full load operation, but in
practice, this rarely occurs -
especially in applications with
fluctuating demand. “In terms
of supply reliability it was
important for us that one
pump alone could cover the
water quantities required at
the two lowest demand levels,
but at the same time that the
pumps could be run in part
load operation without their
efficiency being compro-
mised,” explains Hutterer.
The solution implemented
represents the result of
detailed planning work by the
engineering company. Based
on the selection data calculat-
ed, KSB’s technical consultan-
cy service was able to offer a
guaranteed efficiency level for
the pump system selected.
“Contractor and pump manu-
facturer entered into a con-
tractual agreement that the
efficiency level promised is
actually achieved in operation,”
explains Michael Reissnecker.
In order to ensure that the effi-
ciency level offered did not
turn out to be an empty prom-
ise, the customer requested
KSB to simulate pump opera-
tion with the original pumps
including motors and frequen-
cy inverters. This was under-
taken in the certified test facili-
ty at KSB’s Halle factory using
the measured hydraulic system
data.
Modernization While in Op-
eration
The installation of the new
pumps in autumn 2016 was
accompanied by the renewal
of the 40-year-old piping sys-
tem. The straight pipework
(DN 300) leading to the pump
connection facilitated swift
modification – a task that was
already looking challenging
for the water supply compa-
ny’s staff and the specialist
company performing the
work: “Pump operation could
only be interrupted for a max-
imum of six hours. That is how
long it takes before the water
towers are empty and at least
one pump has to begin opera-
tion,” explains Hutterer.
The engineering company
developed a plan by which the
installation work would be
performed in stages. “Thanks
to this pre-emptive planning,
only a few brief interruptions
to the station’s operation were
necessary during the modifi-
cation work. It was thus possi-
ble to complete the modern-
ization in only two months
without interrupting the
region’s water supply,” reports
specialist consultant Michael
Reissnecker.
Energy Savings Exceed Ex-
pectations
December 2016 saw the
operators officially begin
operation of the new 264,000
Euros pump equipment and
piping system. Project staff
anticipated savings in pump ply. In terms of energy effi-
power consumption of around ciency, the modernization also
100,000 kWh/year. However, featured the installation of a
annual consumption projec- photovoltaic system supplying
tions based on performance 60.9 kWp for the facility’s use.
measurements following the Our upgraded pumping sta-
modernization indicate even tion can now most certainly be
larger savings, namely that considered a great example of
consumption had dropped by a modern system,” summa-
over 20%, which raised a few rizes Armin Bauer.
eyebrows in the waterworks:
“When the power con-
sumption was initially record-
ed in the first month after
commissioning, administra-
tive staff enquired as to
whether consumption levels
this low might not be some
kind of mistake,” recalls
Hutterer. The reductions
achieved in power consump-
tion totalled 21%, with 18%
being attributed to the pump
motors and 3% to the
hydraulically optimized pip- About the Author
ing. “As a future-oriented Bryan Orchard is an
water supply company, we international freelance jour-
now consider power consump- nalist who specializes in water
tion alongside our focus on and environmental engineer-
ensuring the reliability of sup- ing.
Fact Sheet
Project:
Hart Drinking Water Pumping Station, Kirchham
Water Supply Company:
ZV Wasserversorgung Ruhstorfer Gruppe, 94060 Pocking,
Founded: 1963
Measures Implemented:
• Replacement of pumps and frequency inverters,
• Replacement of piping system,
• Installation of a photovoltaic system for the station’s
power requirements (60.9 kWp)
Aim and Results:
• Securing reliable water supply, reducing costs for pump
power consumption, improving energy efficiency
• Pump system power consumption prior to modernization:
630,000 kWh/year
• Pump system power consumption following moderniza-
tion: 485,000 kWh/year (projection based on performance
measurements)
Specialist Planning:
Engineering company Reißnecker & Eberhart
Partnerschaft mbB, 93055 Regensburg
Pump System:
• KSB Omega V 150-460, with coating for drinking water
systems
• Design flow rate based on measured as-is operating data
of the existing system: flow rate 90 … 120 l/s, head 57 … 72
m, variable speed operation
• Pump motors KSB SuPremE®, efficiency class IE4, vari-
able speed operation
Pump System Manufacturer:
KSB Aktiengesellschaft
March, 2018 25

COVER STORY
WhyWe Should All PayAttention to Cape
Town’s Drought
By Dean Muruven, IWC for the Australian Water Partnership (AWP)
“
…the worst time to
respond to a drought
is in the midst of one.
At that point, there
are few, if any, good
options available to
avoid the worst
impacts of drought,
and combined with
enflamed passions
and politics,
reaching consensus
on solutions is nearly
impossible.
THIS IS AN EXTRACT from
an open letter to the US
Senate from a coalition of
sporting and conservation
advocates in 2015 in response
to the drought in California.
Fast-forward to 2018 and these
words sound as if they were
written specifically about Cape
Town. As a South African, I’ve
been following Cape Town’s
drought quite closely. In case
Source: ©WWF
EXPRESS WATER
you haven’t, the city’s water
crisis is now so severe that its
taps are set to run dry in less
than three months.
WWF-South Africa have
started releasing “weekly
water updates” to help prepare
residents for ‘Day Zero’ - the
day when Cape Town will
become the first major city on
the globe to run out of the
water.
Since the onset of the
drought, a lot has been written
about the problems that exist
in South Africa’s water sector,
ranging from the ageing infra-
structure, poor governance
and the significant funding
that will be required to
address these challenges.
None of these are unique to
South Africa and many devel-
oping countries are faced with
similar if not identical chal-
lenges.
Unsurprisingly, there is
plenty of finger-pointing and “I
told you so’s” going around
Cape Town at the moment,
which is typical during a crisis.
What is also typical is the fact
that Ministries of Water and
water utilities in other major
cities around the world are
looking at Cape Town as a
unique case rather than
urgently sitting up and reflect-
ing on how the lessons from
this crisis should inform their
own drought risk management
strategies.
Cape Town’s response to
the drought has stuck to the
traditional, reactive playbook.
It is time for cities to trans-
form their approach to
drought risk management. We
need to move away from an
episodic emergency “all hands
on deck” approach to a contin-
uous process that proactively
manages risk. At the heart of
this transformation is the
recognition that there are
interdependencies between
freshwater ecosystems and the
well-being of human systems.
What cities exposed to
drought risk should be consid-
ering is how to develop a
drought-resilient society,
where individual needs and
ecosystem services are safe-
guarded and economic
impacts minimized during a
drought. Obviously, this is eas-
ier said than done but taking a
proactive approach to drought
risk management will at least
give us all a chance.
Cape Town faces a new nor-
mal when this drought breaks.
Things will be different for
people, the economy, and
nature. The city will have to
change its strategy and so
should all other cities at risk
from drought. This is as good a
time as any for them to review
their strategic drought man-
agement plans. A good place to
start is WWF’s book on strate-
gic drought risk management,
produced in collaboration with
KNOWING OUR WATERS
Source: ©Martin Harvey / WWF
the General Institute of Water
Resources and Hydropower
Planning and Design (the
strategic planning arm of
China’s Ministry of Water
Resources).
It provides insights and dis-
tills eight golden rules for mak-
ing the transition to a drought-
resilient society.
1. Set multiple goals and objec-
tives that promote positive
long-term outcomes for soci-
ety.
2. Encourage stakeholders
from a variety of different
sectors and realms to partic-
ipate.
3. Implement a portfolio of
measures to prepare for,
respond to, and recover
from drought and transform
society’s resilience to
drought.
4. Utilize limited resources
efficiently and fairly to
reduce risk and maximize
opportunities.
5. Assess whole system behav-
ior and associated risks and
uncertainties over the short-
and long-term.
6. Communicate risks (and
COLUMN
associated uncertainty)
effectively and widely.
7. Understand inherent contro-
versies and trade-offs.
8. Embed a continuous process
of review and adaptation.
These eight golden rules
are no silver bullet, but they do
provide guidance to help cities
and governments develop a
more strategic approach to
dealing with drought.
But achieving a water
secure future and building
resilient societies cannot be
done by governments alone. It
will require engaged water cit-
izens and an active private sec-
tor, which understands and
mitigates its water risk by pro-
moting collective action and
good water stewardship.
It’s too late for Cape Town
to implement the Golden Rules
as their priority is to keep the
taps running. Other countries
still have time on their sides.
The Australian Water
Partnership (AWP) is an
Australian Government develop-
ment initiative enhancing the
sustainable management of
water across the Indo-Pacific.
@WaterPartnersAU
March, 2018 27
 APPLICATION
Correct Application of MBBR &
IFAS Technologyin Biological
Water Treatment
By Christian Börner and René Trübenbach
MBBR and IFAS Processes
THE DETAILED DESIGN
and engineering of waste-
water treatment plants is full
of obstacles. Any mistakes
made during the implementa-
tion can hardly be remedied.
What is the reason?
Worldwide, the MBBR as well
as the IFAS technology are
increasingly being applied for
biological water treatment.
Numerous qualified and well-
skilled procedural biotechnol-
ogists with technical know-
how are available for the engi-
neering of suchlike plants.
However, it is not quite unusu-
al that inexperienced plant
construction companies as
well as plastic manufacturers
without any process-techno-
logical knowledge try to
implement, or rather said to
copy this technology based on
collected information.
The term MBBR is the
abbreviation of Moving Bed
Biofilm Reactor, while IFAS
stands for Integrated Fixed
film Activated sludge System.
28 March, 2018
At a first glance it seems to be
easy: a reaction tank is filled
with a plastic-made carrier
which is mixed in water or in a
water/sludge mixture, respec-
tively. The difference between
IFAS and MBBR is that in the
IFAS system the activated
sludge from the sludge recir-
culation is additionally used
and hence the combination of
activated sludge and carrier-
fixed biofilms is used in the
same reaction tank volume.
Which factors are impor-
tant? Initially, the appropriate
and complete task to be per-
formed in the project in ques-
tion has to be specified first.
Apart from the space condi-
tions and requirements on
site, a detailed determination
of the wastewater influent
parameters and of the treated
effluent quality is required.
The size of the MBBR/
IFAS tanks and the related
carrier media filling rate are
determined based on the pol-
lutant loads and in considera-
tion of specific product factors
of the carrier media. Here, the
loads are being calculated
from the flow rate (m³/h or
m³/d) and the respective pol-
lutant concentrations, e.g.
COD (mg/l). Crucial factors
for the dimensioning of
MBBR/ IFAS plants are the
wastewater temperature at
the design point, the yield and
product specific removal rates
(removal efficiency) of the
carrier media chosen.
Why is the water tempera-
ture relevant? For the design
calculation as well as for the
comparison of techno-com-
mercial design proposals
offered by different suppliers,
a detailed consideration of the
water temperature in the
MBBR/IFAS is highly essen-
tial. An incorrect assumption
of the water design tempera-
ture results in the following
effects:
If the design temperature
is considered to be high, e.g.
35°C, a high biological removal
rate will be considered in the
calculation and hence the car-
rier media requirement as
well as the reaction tank vol-
ume will be low (favourable
price offer).
During normal plant oper-
ation, the relating result will
be that at lower temperatures,
e.g. at 25°C, the reaction tank
volume and the quantity of
carrier media will not be suffi-
cient for complying with the
Mutag MultiFlow 50 from 2002
discharge requirements. In
consequence, further media
will have to be added whereas
it is questionable if this will be
possible at all with regard to
the admissible media filling
rate (max 50-70%).
In case that the design
temperature used for the cal-
culation is considered to be
low, e.g. 10°C, the tank size as
well as the carrier media
quantity will be correspond-
ingly larger although the
water temperature will most
likely be higher in practice
than assumed for the calcula-
tion. Larger tank volumes
with higher carrier media fills
are not negative in terms of
the biological aspects, but
they are unnecessarily
increasing the investment
costs (high price offer).
In order to obtain the
appropriate design for your
MBBR/IFAS plants, it is nec-
essarily required to determine
the minimum and maximum
design temperatures and to
EXPRESS WATER
 APPLICATION
This reaction is hence com-
pletely reverse to the calcula-
tion of the removal rates.
As a consequence, the fol-
lowing general rule applies:
• The lower temperature • is
considered for calculating
the required tank and carri-
er media volume
• The higher temperature • is
considered for the calcula-
Mutag Chip (14 mm) After R&D tion of the oxygen supply
from 2008 Why does the yield matter?
For dimensioning
simultaneously make sure MBBR/IFAS systems, the
that these values have really yield is another essential fac-
been taken into consideration. tor which impacts the tank
For reasons of “competi- size/carrier media volume and
tiveness”, the real require- the oxygen supply. The yield is
ments are often not taken into used for considering the bio-
consideration by the bidder. In mass growth in the calcula-
case of certain missing data, it tion; it is an “empirical value”
also happens that assump- obtained in pilot trials, refer-
tions are made by the bidder ence plants and it differs
in his own favor, without hav- depending on the individual
ing explicitly asked the cus- origin of the wastewater. A
tomer for providing the miss- wrong selected yield figure
ing data. For this reason, it is can be the reason for an inac-
hence indispensable to care- curate dimensioning of
fully review and compare any MBBR/IFAS plants. Any fur-
design proposal. ther, more detailed explana-
If there should be the need tions on the yield would go
to specify the oxygen require- beyond the scope of this arti-
ment for designing the aera- cle.
tion system, one should keep What is the reason for
in mind that the higher one of determining removal rates?
the two water design temper- As mentioned above, the car-
ature values is used for this riers are substantially con-
purpose. The reason for this is tributing to the pollutant
that the oxygen dissolubility in removal (i.e. degradation of
warm water is worse than in the wastewater pollutant
lower temperature ranges. load) in MBBR/IFAS plants
Mutag BioChip blue™ (25 mm) from 2017
EXPRESS WATER
and are hence the “center-
piece” required for an optimal
performance. The removal
rates required for designing
MBBR/IFAS plants are the
measuring unit of the
“removal efficiency”.
Generally, the carrier media
supplier must know the
removal efficiency of his carri-
er media; otherwise he trans-
fers all risks to his customers.
Removal rates are resulting
from many years of opera-
tional experience with the
product “carrier”, obtained
from large-scale plants, pilot
trials or lab-scale studies.
Individual and project-specif-
ic factors such as the origin of
the wastewater, specific
wastewater characteristics,
water temperature, nutrient
& oxygen supply, etc. have a
significant impact on the
removal performance.
Providing general (i.e. global)
removal rates is as irresponsi-
ble as copying them from
other carrier types.
With regard to this, further
differentiation should be
made. Certain types of hollow-
body carriers have been used
in MBBR/IFAS plants for sev-
eral decades, whereas their
relating removal rates are
available from publications.
Due to various disadvantages
of these hollow-bodies, further
activities in Research &
Development had been per-
formed within the last ten
years resulting in e.g. porous
chip-type carrier made of
foamed PE material.
During the years of prod-
uct development and opti-
mization, the technological
market leader and carrier
media manufacturer Multi
Umwelttechnologie AG
(Mutag) simultaneously made
huge efforts in the process-
technological application in
many different types of waste-
waters as well as fields of
application in order to allow
for giving reliable statements
in terms of the removal effi-
ciency of this special product.
If hollow-body carriers are
applied, then the microorgan-
isms are immobilizing on the
carrier surface until they are
being sheared off. This fact
allows for a comparison possi-
bility of the theoretically
determined surface area. This
is the reason for the surface
area comparison of different
product shapes and manufac-
turers.
A surface area comparison
with a foamed carrier having
a pore system will be mean-
ingful only in a conditional
way or not at all, which is due
to the fact that the removal
efficiency depends on the con-
centration of active biomass
under the specific process
conditions, as explained
above. A comparison of the
surface areas for evaluating
the removal efficiency is pos-
sible to perform only after
having conducted long-term
comparative tests under
exactly the same process con-
ditions for the specific waste-
water. If the Chip from 2008
with its pore system would
have provided the same per-
formance, it would surely not
have become necessary to
optimize the product to the
Mutag BioChip blue™ which
has an average diameter of 25
mm. The optimization of the
pore system which holds a
high amount of active biomass
has been confirmed by means
of extensive studies per-
formed by Mutag as well as by
several institutes/ universi-
ties.
Summary
In comparison, it is not the
surface area of the porous
chips which is crucial for the
removal efficiency but the
quantity of biomass which can
be immobilized per volumetric
unit of carriers. There are dra-
matic differences in terms of
the removal capacity when
looking at pore systems, and a
pure comparison of the sur-
face areas may result in dire
consequences with regard to
the conceptual plant design. In
order to minimize the risks of
an inaccurate plant dimen-
sioning, the removal perform-
ance of porous carriers used in
the specific type of waste-
water to be treated has to be
proven on binding basis, and/
or the bidder/ plastic material
supplier must possess the
knowledge of the real per-
formance data of the finally
chosen carrier type in the spe-
cific case of application.
Please take seriously into
account that any assumptions
or estimations will not be of
assistance to you and a simple
comparison of the carrier sur-
face area is not leading to reli-
able results.
About the Authors
Christian Börner and
René Trübenbach are work-
ing for Multi
Umwelttechnologie AG. The
company has over 20 years of
experience in the application
of biofilm media in the treat-
ment of wastewater, and offers
solutions for biological waste-
water treatment systems in
form of Mutag BioChip™, etc.
March, 2018 29
 CASE STUDY
CSR Funding Delivers a Public Sanitation
Project
The significant challenges of this project were low water usage and low-cost sustainability.
By Clearford India Pvt Ltd
Introduction
A small agricultural com-
munity is the first Open-
Defecation Free (ODF) tribal
village in Gujarat State thanks
to Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) funding
for an affordable wastewater
technology and public sanita-
tion outreach.
A new communal waste-
water system with private toi-
lets and bathrooms were suc-
cessfully delivered along with
public outreach programming
to enable residents to achieve
public health objectives and
environmental stewardship in
their community.
The public sanitation proj-
ect was carefully planned and
implemented within a strict
budget through the CSR
30 March, 2018
department of Infrastructure
Leasing & Financial Services
Limited (IL&FS), one of
India’s leading infrastructure
development and finance
companies. An output-based
aid (OBA) model was selected
that transfers the perform-
ance risk to the solution
providers, thereby offering a
new tool in the effort to sus-
tainably end open defecation
in India.
Background
Gujarat Road & majority of residents prac-
Infrastructure Co. Ltd
(GRICL), a special purpose
vehicle of IL&FS, has adopted
a number of tribal villages
along their toll road between
Vadodara and Halol in Gujarat
State as part of their CSR pro-
gram. Under this initiative
and with support from the
Gujarat Government, the vil-
lage of Jambudiyapura was
designated as a model site for
the creation of the first ODF
village in Gujarat.
Jambudiyapura is an agri-
cultural tribal village having a
population of 250-300 people
with 56 homes, a school and
an Anganwadi (child health-
care center).
The main sources of
income in the village are agri-
culture and manual labor.
While there is water supply to
the homes from a communal
water tower and distribution
network, only ten family
homes had toilets while the
ticed open defecation in the
fields around the village. Most
homes had outdoor bathing
areas with cloth screens for
privacy. The practice of open
defecation poses a clear public
health concern and, especially
for women, a threat to person-
al safety and dignity. The
ponding of greywater from
bathing areas and household
washing activities also pre-
sented a health risk to resi-
dents of waterborne disease
and illness, a problem exacer-
bated by flooding during the
monsoon season. Hence, there
was a need for a low-cost san-
itation solution with private
toilets and bathrooms, as well
as sustainable wastewater col-
lection and treatment.
Project Objectives
The goal of the CSR initia-
tive was to use the principles
of OBA to transform sanita-
tion practices in the village
away from open defecation
towards a locally sustainable
model that improves the long-
term health of residents. The
specific project objectives
were to:
• Build private toilet, shower
and washing facilities for
individual homes;
• Collect all wastewater from
homes using a communal
sewerage system;
• Convey wastewater to a
low-cost treatment facility
with minimal power
requirements;
• Treat wastewater to a qual-
ity that is safe for discharge
and reusable for agricultur-
al irrigation in accordance
with all regulatory require-
ments; and
• Minimize operation and
maintenance requirements
such that activities can be
performed by trained vil-
lagers.
Social Barriers towards
Improved Sanitation in
India
A study by Research
Institute for Compassionate
Economics found that “wide-
spread open defecation in
rural India is (attributable) to
beliefs, values, and norms
about purity, pollution, caste,
and untouchability….” (Coffey
et al. 2017).
For this project, an inter-
esting observation that came
out of interviews with the vil-
lagers was that two groups of
people were most opposed to
stopping open defecation -
older men habituated to using
the outdoors and, more unex-
pectedly, young girls aged 12-
16 who valued going in groups
as an opportunity to socialize
and get out of the house.
These viewpoints were
addressed by talking directly
to individuals and explaining
the benefits of moving away
from open defecation prac-
tices in terms of social status,
health and hygiene.
Challenges
The challenges of provid-
ing improved sanitation and
sustainable wastewater serv-
EXPRESS WATER
 CASE STUDY
Fact File
• Location: Gujarat, India
• Community: Rural tribal village
• Population: Approx. 250 people
• Challenges: Low water usage and low cost sustainability
• Solution: Public outreach and Clearford One™ sanitation
solution with household toilets and bathrooms, and a low
maintenance treatment facility
icing in rural India are com-
plex and well documented.
There is a critical need for
solutions that provide a low
life-cycle cost of building and
maintaining sanitary infra-
structure, while also provid-
ing reliable performance
under different operating con-
ditions that are typically
encountered in developed
communities.
Low Water Usage
The community has limit-
ed water supply resulting in
low water usage of only 70
litres/person/day (compared
to 200-450 in North America).
This poses a significant con-
cern because conventional
sewers rely on the flow of
water to carry sewage solids
through gravity pipes. When
less water is being used, more
solids accumulate in the pipe
network leading to blockages
that can cause sewer backups.
Other technical challenges
for the project included:
• Black cotton soils and satu-
rated ground,
• Sewer alignment con-
straints from existing devel-
opment,
• Limited power supply for
pumping and mechanical
treatment operations.
Low Cost Sustainability
There are two linked
aspects of sustainability -
social and financial - that had
to be addressed. Social barri-
ers, such as traditional atti-
tudes around personal
hygiene. The Client and
Government worked with vil-
lage leaders to leverage finan-
cial considerations along with
public outreach for social
acceptance of the project.
Since capital costs were
paid under the CSR budget,
government subsidies were
directed towards a communal
fund for long-term operation
EXPRESS WATER
of the new system.
Households contributed an
affordable but non-negligible
amount to the communal fund
as a commitment to the proj-
ect objectives. This financial
consideration was paired with
a commitment by the village
leaders to manage and main-
tain the system into the
future. The design for system
performance was developed
to support the village in their
commitments.
Technology Selection
The Client’s project team
evaluated different waste-
water technology options for
sustainable low-cost servicing.
In order to accommodate
the low water supply of 70
liters/person/day, a Clearford
One™ system was selected for
solids-free wastewater con-
veyance.
A low-cost vertical soil
biotechnology treatment facil-
ity was chosen for final treat-
ment because of its simplicity
for operation and mainte-
nance.
Solution
A Clearford One™ system
was designed with four com-
ponents to meet the project
objectives while overcoming
the technical and social chal-
lenges related to the imple-
mentation of the new system.
Private Bathrooms
Bathroom facilities were
constructed in the backyard of
each home to provide safe, pri-
vate access to a toilet, shower
and washing area. Each bath-
room was constructed of
durable materials and
equipped with lighting and
plumbing, including a rooftop
water tank to store clean
water for daily use. The chal-
lenges associated with bath-
room design and their accept-
ance by residents are
described in the sidebar
below.
Interceptor Tanks
ClearDigest™ tanks were
built next to each bathroom to
capture sewage solids before
releasing the liquid effluent to
the sewer network. The tanks
were constructed in place
from bricks and cement with a
working volume of 2000 liters
each. Wastewater is pretreat-
ed by digesting the organic
pollutants and trapping the
inorganic solids.
Small Bore Sewers
ClearConvey™ small diam-
eter gravity sewers were
installed to collect effluent
wastewater from the intercep-
tor tanks. Flexible high densi-
ty polyethylene (HDPE) pipe
was installed in shallow cut-
and-cover trenches to accom-
modate the irregular sewer
alignment through the back-
yards. Small cleanouts were
provided throughout the
sewer network instead of
large manhole structures.
Thermal fusion of pipe and fit-
ting joints ensures zero infil-
tration of groundwater and no
contamination of soils through
leaky joints in the sewer net-
work.
Treatment Facility
ClearRecover™ treatment
is provided at a treatment
facility supplied by Vision
Earthcare Pvt. Ltd using the
CAMUS-SBT soil biotechnol-
ogy that was developed by the
Indian Institute of Technology
Mumbai. A small pumping
station is required to lift
wastewater from the buried
sewer network to an above-
ground vertical structure. The
facility was built in place and
filled with selected soil media
and plantings that achieve the
treated effluent standards set
by the Ministry of
Environment and Forest and
Central Public Health and
Environmental Engineering
Organisation (CPHEEO).
Recovered water is safely
returned to the environment
for reuse for agricultural irri-
gation, particularly in the dry
summer months.
Operation & Maintenance
The following efforts were
made to ensure affordable life- system.
cycle operation and mainte- Furthermore, the village
nance of the system for long- will assume responsibility for
term improved sanitation in operating the system after
the village. training from the technology
Clearford One System supplier.
Features
The new sanitary infra- Remarks
structure is designed for mini- Since construction was
mal maintenance. The inter- completed in May 2016, the
ceptor tanks do not require village has established sani-
electricity or additives. The tary management zones to
removal of solids, oils and encourage proper use of the
grease in the tanks protects new facilities. Households
the small bore sewers from have dismantled their old out-
blockages, so that practically door washing areas and
no maintenance is required. improved their home plumb-
Meanwhile, anaerobic diges- ing in order to benefit from
tion in the tanks minimizes delivering clean water to their
sludge production, thereby new toilets and bathrooms.
requiring only infrequent A plan for treated water
pump-out compared to alter- reuse is being developed for
native systems such as septic farmers to receive water for
tanks. irrigation of their fields, which
Low Cost Treatment is expected to lead to greater
The treatment facility uses drinking water conservation
just 15 kWh/day of electricity and improved agricultural
costing around Rs. 2250 per productivity.
month. Most maintenance Towards Sustainable
work requires no more skill Sanitation
than that possessed by a Although long-term suc-
trained handyman or gardener. cess of the project remains to
Long-Term Funding for be confirmed, the positive
Operation response and involvement of
A communal fund made up the community are clear steps
of government and household towards achieving sustainable
contributions was set up to sanitation and public health in
sustain the operation of the the village. The experience in
system for at least 15 years, Jambudiyapura offers an
removing the common risk in appealing model for output-
India of systems failing short- based CSR funding of projects
ly after installation. A new in rural India through commu-
sanitation committee of resi- nity engagement, careful
dents will manage funds and selection of technologies, and
lead the village in responsible thoughtful project planning
use and maintenance of the and implementation.
CSR in India
In 2013, India’s Parliament passed legislation requiring
that companies doing business in India must spend 2% of
their net profit on approved CSR activities, such as promot-
ing health care, education, gender equality, and ensuring
environmental sustainability.
Special mention is made of contributions to the Swachh
Bharat ‘Clean India’ Mission towards improved hygiene,
cleanliness and sanitation across India.
Targeted Public Outreach
Targeted public outreach was used to promote accept-
ance of new sanitation practices and to communicate the
value of the project to residents. Besides public health, the
project would allow the recovery of treated reuse water for
agriculture. Other outreach activities included community
involvement in project planning and a public ceremony of
personal commitment to improved sanitation.
March, 2018 31
 CASE STUDY
Fine Screen and Clarifier PlayVital Role
in CommunityPlant
The Spiraflo clarifier and Raptor screen help in upgradation work of Addison Wastewater
Treatment Plant in the New York state.
By Lakeside Equipment Corporation
Clarifier Pre-Construction at Addison, Worn Gearbox, Cracked Walls and a Worn Arm that Would Often Stick
WORKING ALONE IN
NEW YORK State, approxi-
mately 90-100 miles south of
Rochester and Lake Ontario,
plant operator Chuck Wright
depends on the good perform-
ance and reliability of the
equipment he diligently looks
after near the Village of
Addison.
With such a high level of
responsibility, the beauty of
well-engineered, low mainte-
nance equipment cannot be
underestimated - and follow-
ing a $3.34M upgrade to bring
the 34-year-old treatment
facility up to code and meet
New York State Department
Environmental Conservation
(DEC) requirements, Chuck is
rightly proud of the clean and
well maintained Addison
Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Village of Addison had
32 March, 2018
equipment that have very paper and heavier particles
steadily kept on doing their before they can get to the clar-
job at the (average) 220,000 ifier”.
gallons per day (420,000 per- The Lakeside Spiraflo
mitted) plant are a Spiraflo Clarifier was retrofitted into
Clarifier and a Raptor Fine the existing concrete struc-
Screen, which were both sup- ture to replace an old center-
plied by Lakeside Equipment feed peripheral take-off clari-
Corporation in 2008. fier that performed poorly due
“I do my best to keep to short-circuiting. With the
everything clean and running new peripheral-feed center
smoothly”, said Chuck Wright take-off Spiraflo Clarifier,
at Addison, “but I have no Chuck Wright certainly does-
problems at all with the clari- n’t have to worry about short-
fier or the screen. Apart from circuiting because its spiral-
occasional oil changes and a ing flow pattern flows around
few squirts of grease, these the baffle skirt and under the
keep working very well” skirt to ensure maximum use
He added: “Compared to of the entire tank volume (26-
some pieces of equipment, feet diameter – and shallow
Lakeside’s seals and bearings 8.5-feet depth).
are of exceptional quality. This is in contrast to a typ-
retained emerging national lems within the Village. Nothing gums up or clogs. ical center-feed clarifier flow
architecture, engineering, and Amidst the substantial The Raptor Fine Screen does pattern that is subject to the
survey firm Larson Design improvements, two pieces of a great job getting rid of the waterfall effect and sludge
Group (LDG) for design and
construction services, devel-
oping the project scope and
funding applications for reha-
bilitation of the anaerobic
digester unit, replacement of a
wastewater pumping station,
installation of a standby emer-
gency generator and a
mechanical bar screen.
Other improvements
under LDG’s contract includ-
ed the major task of replacing
the clarifier internals, as well
as raw wastewater pumps,
trickling filter recirculation,
and HVAC upgrades. Larson
Design Group has also provid-
ed engineering services for
the Village’s water supply and
treatment system, local
streets, and drainage prob- Looking into the New Lakeside Raptor Screen at Addison
EXPRESS WATER
 CASE STUDY
New Lakeside Raptor Screen at Addison
wall creep, which allows the
influent to short-circuit
directly to the effluent weirs,
allowing solids carry over. The
center-feed flow pattern flows
counter-current (outward),
compared to the sludge
scraper that is moving solids
inward to the sludge draw-off
pit.
This short-circuiting pre-
vents the complete use of the
tank volume for the settling
process.
Conversely, wastewater
enters the Spiraflo Clarifier at
the periphery of the tank and
New Lakeside Spiraflo Clarifier at Addison
EXPRESS WATER
is directed along the narrow
raceway formed by the baffle
skirt and the outer wall. This
flow pattern dissipates the
wastewater's hydraulic ener-
gy as it flows around the race-
way and eventually spirals
down under the skirt.
Wastewater enters the main
settling area from the full cir-
cumference of the skirt and
slowly rises to pass over the
centrally located effluent
weirs.
The inflow is prevented
from flowing directly to the
effluent weir by the specially
designed race baffle skirt,
which extends down to
approximately two feet above
the tank floor. The Spiraflo
hydraulic flow pattern is in the
same direction (inward) as the
sludge collector is rotating
and moving the solids
(inward) to the sludge draw-
off pit. The spiralling flow pat-
tern makes use of total tank
volume for more effective
solids settling.
Gregory M. Cummings,
PE, Twin Tiers Director of
LDG’s Operations (Civil
Division), commented:
“Before the recent main
upgrade, the previous clarifier
was getting overloaded and
had started exceeding recom-
mended values, so we had to
act then to keep the Addison
plant in compliance”.
He added: “We’d had previ-
ous experience with Lakeside
and always found them good
to work with. We also knew of
the many advantages of the
Spiraflo Clarifier, the Raptor
Screen, and their proven
track record. Nine years later,
this equipment certainly
meets the ‘fit and forget’
description. There haven’t
been any problems at all”.
As well as screening
Addison’s wastewater, the
Lakeside Raptor also washes,
compacts and transports the
screenings. With a screen
diameter of 26 to 71 inches
and maximum flow capacities
higher than 20 MGD, liquid
flows through the Raptor’s 3-
plane screening basket, with
solids efficiently trapped by
the screen bars that form the
circular basket. When liquid
rises to a predetermined level,
the rake begins to rotate,
cleaning the screen bars. The
rake's teeth pass between the
bars of the screen to remove
captured materials. When the
rake reaches the top of the
screen, the captured material
drops into the central screw
conveyor. For complete clean-
ing, the rake reverses direc-
tion and passes through a
hinged comb. The central
screw conveyor then trans-
ports the material as it is
washed, compacted and dewa-
tered on its way to the dis-
charge chute. After discharge,
dewatered screenings have a
solids content exceeding 40
percent.
Screenings are initially
washed as they are deposited
in the collection trough.
In the upper section of the
transport tube, screenings are
washed a second time. The
macerating action of the
screw breaks down large
organic particles, which are
then washed back into the
flow stream. A spray wash
system in the dewatering
chamber removes any collect-
ed material to ensure free
drainage of water, which is
then removed in the com-
paction process.
LDG is currently working
with the Village to address
infiltration and inflow (I&I)
issues into the wastewater
collection system. During
periods of wet weather, the
flow through the wastewater
system can sometimes triple,
indicating that water is enter-
ing the system where it
shouldn’t be. Work includes
uncovering buried manholes,
televising the entire collection
system and rehabilitating por-
tions of the system where I&I
issues are identified to be at
their worst.
Gregory M. Cummings,
added: “At Larson Design
Group we very much embrace
innovation and welcome cut-
ting-edge, new approaches
within our practice areas, but
the tried and tested design and
cost-effectiveness of the
Lakeside Spiraflo are hard to
beat. There’s the superior per-
formance, not to mention the
savings that are made on con-
struction and installation. The
Raptor Screen is also very well
designed and extremely
durable, so we are happy with
the knowledge that as the vil-
lage of Addison’s trusted advi-
sor, we are providing high-qual-
ity long-lasting solutions for the
well-being of the community”.
March, 2018 33
 CASE STUDY
Clever Kayak Rig Navigates Tricky
Bathymetry Challenge
Webb’s study of lake bottom indicated that more than 313,000 cubic yards of sediment has
collected in Lake Forest since 1958, an accumulation of approx. 16,200 tons per year.
By Xylem-SonTek
The Lake Created for the Lake Forest Subdivision is Completely Surrounded by Private Property, Making Access Difficult for Surveyors.
IT WAS A SMALL LAKE,
but a big challenge. Covering
about 43 acres (17 ha), the cen-
terpiece of the Lake Forest
subdivision in Daphne,
Alabama, was completely sur-
rounded by private property.
There was no public boat
access, and heavy overgrowth
prevented surveying eleva-
tions above the pool level.
Bret Webb, associate pro-
fessor of Civil, Coastal and
Environmental Engineering at
the University of South
Alabama, was starting a
month-long study of sedimen-
tation in the lake to help
authorities evaluate flood
storage capacity and potential
restoration activities, but he
was having trouble reaching
the water.
When his team had com-
pleted what it could accom-
34 March, 2018
plish on foot, Webb tried back-
ing a trailer down a narrow
footpath to launch his JagSki,
a Kawasaki Ultra LX personal
watercraft outfitted with a
SonTek HydroSurveyor/
RiverSurveyor-M9 acoustic
Doppler profiler (ADP) and
YSI Portable SeaKeeper mul-
tiparameter sampling system.
He had used the JagSki to
great effect in the wake of the
2010 Deepwater Horizon oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico,
examining water and oil
movement among breaches in
the barrier islands of the
Gulf’s Mobile Bay.
With a top speed of 40
knots and the ability to run in
just a few inches of water,
Webb figured the maneuver-
able JagSki would make quick
work of mapping the lake bed.
He had already opted out of
trying to maneuver the trailer
on the dam’s spillway, which
he realized could easily lead to
a 25-foot slide ending with his
equipment - trailer, truck and
all - in the lake.
Instead, he tried backing
down a footpath to the lake,
but the path’s angle was too
steep, and Webb ended up
cramming the impeller and
water intake full of mud and
vegetation, disabling the
JagSki. Recovering the craft
from the lake, he damaged his
trailer and hitch. Webb real-
ized he needed a more nimble
approach.
Resourceful
Like the hero of the televi-
sion series MacGyver, Webb is
a master of cobbling together
clever fixes with the tools
close at hand. Instead of work-
ing with paper clips and chew-
ing gum like the TV character,
Webb specializes in PVC and
electronics. After all, he had
already built a JagSki. He just
needed to find a lighter plat-
form.
Down to the Bottom of his Budget, Bret Webb Built His Own Sediment
Sampler from PVC Plumbing Parts.
Inspired by literature he
had read about kayak-based
surveying, Webb committed
part of his grant money to
purchase a kayak. Then he
went to a home improvement
store to stock up on parts to
mount the M9 to the hull. He
dubbed his creation the
JagYak in honor of University
of South Alabama’s mascot,
the Jaguars. The concept was
simple, he says, but confesses
that making the first cut was
tough.
“You go to the store not
anticipating spending $600 on
a kayak, then the first thing
you do when you go home is
cut a 5-inch hole in the bot-
tom. There’s a little trepida-
tion there,” Webb laughs.
After cutting a length of 5-
inch (12.7-cm) PVC pipe to act
as a sleeve for the M9, Webb
fashioned a collar that could
fasten on either side of the
kayak’s hull to create a water-
proof seal around the instru-
EXPRESS WATER
 CASE STUDY
A PVC Sleeve Contains a SonTek
M9 Webb Used to Survey the Lake
Bottom; the Orange SonTek
CastAway Provided Quick
Conductivity, Temperature and
Depth Data for Correcting Sound-
Speed Variations.
ment. Originally, he also con-
structed a waterproof enclo-
sure for his laptop in hopes
that he could reference the
M9’s HydroSurveyor software
as he paddled, but the com-
puter kept overheating during
testing.
“It’s probably not smart to
take a computer on a kayak
anyhow, so this was likely a
blessing in disguise,” Webb
concludes.
Onboard Capabilities
Early Efforts to Create a
Waterproof Case for Webb’s
Laptop Led to the Computer
Overheating. Ultimately, Webb
Left the Computer on Shore and
Relied on M9’s Internal Memory to
Log Readings.
EXPRESS WATER
Instead of running the sys-
tem through his laptop on the
water, Webb utilized the dual-
function capability of the M9,
switching from its
HydroSurveyor mode - which
would have enabled him to
navigate with a display of his
line plan on his laptop screen
and view his measurements in
real-time - to its
RiverSurveyor function. The
switch allowed instrument-
based data-logging of depth
and velocity readings that
Webb processed afterward on
his laptop, which was left safe-
ly in his truck during his sur-
vey forays to the lake.
Isaac Jones, the Product
Manager for the
H y d r o S u r v e y o r/
RiverSurveyor-M9 at SonTek
(a Xylem brand) in San Diego,
California, notes that the M9
offers users the choice of
RiverSurveyor or
HydroSurveyor mode.
“RiverSurveyor and
HydroSurveyor modes are dif-
ferent firmware packages for
the M9 hardware, allowing
users to optimize the system
for their needs,” Jones
explains. “RiverSurveyor
firmware optimizes the M9 to
emphasize velocity measure-
ments and calculate dis-
charge. HydroSurveyor mode
is optimized for depth meas-
urement, with less emphasis
on velocity, and displays real-
time and historical data on a
map. That makes
HydroSurveyor mode better
suited for bathymetry. Users
specify the package they want
when they purchase an M9
and can unlock the other
mode if their needs change -
for instance, if they need to
switch from river measure-
ments to lake bathymetry sur-
veys.
“Bret Webb has worked
with the M9 since we intro-
duced it, and has become an
expert in processing raw data
from the system to meet his
needs,” Jones adds. “He has
developed the ability to
process raw data from the M9
to achieve the results other
users would tap the
HydroSurveyor or
RiverSurveyor firmware to
Bret Webb of the University of
South Alabama is a Master at
Cobbling Together Clever
Solutions in Challenging
Situations. When He Realized He
Couldn’t Launch His Instrument-
Laden JagSki Watercraft at Lake
Forest, He Rigged a Bathymetry-
Surveying Kayak - the JagYak.
gather. He’s extremely cre-
ative and has been a real pio-
neer in the field. His work
with the JagYak - not just the
way he deployed the M9 on
the kayak, but the way he uti-
lized its capabilities - is a per-
fect illustration of that.”
Counting Strokes
Counting his paddle
strokes and navigating by
compass and transect plan
printouts, Webb was still able
to follow his survey plan. And
because the water level in the
lake was constant, vertical
data from absolute RTK were
Webb’s JagYak Offered Mobility, Shallow-Water Access, and a Highly Maneuverable Platform for His SonTek M9
Acoustic Doppler Profiler and Home-Made Sediment Sampler.
Stretching the Boundaries
Bret Webb built the ideal sampling platform to map
shoals and pools in Daphne, Alabama’s Lake Forest - mount-
ing a 9-beam HydroSurveyor/ RiverSurveyor-M9 acoustic
Doppler profiler on an ocean kayak. But before his JagYak
touched the water, he had to tackle a thorny challenge with
a computer rather than pipe adhesive.
“We needed to determine the volume of sediment that
had accumulated since the time of construction,” he
explains. “To do that required a comparison of two surveys:
pre-construction and present-day.
“The only pre-construction survey we had was from
1958, and while of very good quality, it did not have any coor-
dinate reference or stated vertical datum,” Webb notes.
“Furthermore, the survey contained no recognizable fea-
tures or landmarks that could be used for geo-referencing,
because the entire area has changed substantially due to
development since 1958!
“We had to get very creative,” he says.
Ultimately, Webb and his team found a U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) quadrangle map from about the same year
as the pre-construction survey, and stretched and scaled the
1958 survey over the map until the 20-foot contours of both
charts were in perfect alignment. Webb could then geo-ref-
erence the 1958 survey using known coordinates from the
USGS quadrangle.
In all, Webb and his team manually digitized more than
800 elevations from the 1958 survey. That set the stage for a
12,000-point survey of Lake Forest and a new understanding
of sedimentation in the system.
not necessary, he notes. He ure five discrete depths in a
just surveyed the water level 50-degree swath. The ADP is
into NAVD88 and corrected equipped with an integrated
the measured depths to accu- GPS, so each data point is
rately labeled elevations. geolocated. Where the instru-
The M9 uses five of its nine ment’s acoustic beams have a
acoustic beams at a time - good fix on the bottom - with-
selecting the optimum fre- out heavy vegetation or mov-
quency for sampling condi- ing sediments - it can also pro-
tions at the moment - to meas- vide additional flexibility by
March, 2018 35
 CASE STUDY
CastAway and reeling it back
Two Instruments in One up at a steady rate provides
Thanks to its innovative firmware packages, the SonTek geolocated conductivity, tem-
M9 acoustic Doppler profiler (ADP) is really two instruments perature and depth readings
in one - a RiverSurveyor and a HydroSurveyor. for the water column.
The M9 uses a total of nine beams - five at a time - to meas- “Even though there were
ure velocity, direction, and depth in the water column. With not ‘salinity’ changes in the
SonTek’s SmartPulseHDTM technology, the M9 utilizes a vari- reservoir, there were certainly
ety of ping types and frequencies - 3.0 Mhz, 1.0 Mhz, and 0.5 temperature differences, and
Mhz - as well as a range of processing technologies to optimize even some conductivity differ-
the instrument for current data gathering conditions. ences, that could affect the
The firmware packages add a further level of optimization. speed value,” Webb points out.
In its RiverSurveyor mode, the instrument allocates a “There were a couple of deep
greater proportion of its measurement capabilities to captur- spots right in front of the dam
ing velocity data, processing onboard discharge calculations. where there was a fairly sub-
In HydroSurveyor mode, more of the M9’s acoustic pings stantial change in tempera-
are oriented toward depth measurement. Users can chart ture (with depth) in those
their survey and visualize their data in real-time on a laptop, holes.
and the processing software easily yields bathymetric maps. “I would never collect data
Most users specify their preferred firmware package, without using a CTD profiler,”
based on their primary application, when purchasing an M9, he adds. “And since I was on a
notes SonTek product manager Isaac Jones, though they can kayak, the CastAway CTD
unlock the other firmware package if needed for a fraction of was ideal due to its size and
the cost of purchasing a second unit. built-in GPS.”
“For significantly less than the cost of a new M9, users can
unlock the functionality of the RiverSurveyor or Massive Build-up
HydroSurveyor package, saving them from having to buy a Webb’s study of the lake
second instrument as your needs change,” Jones says. “We are bottom indicated that more
seeing a lot of interest in that from consultants who use a sin- than 313,000 cubic yards of
gle M9 for contracts that range from discharge studies to sediment has collected in
bathymetric mapping. As budgets get tighter, many govern- Lake Forest since 1958, an
ment agencies are also moving in this direction. accumulation of approximate-
“The HydroSurveyor and RiverSurveyor functionality, cou- ly 16,200 tons per year. Depth
pled with the built-in SmartPulseHD technology, make the M9 has been reduced by 5 to 10
a remarkably versatile instrument,” he adds. feet in most of the lake, and
pool volume has been reduced
by 45 to 60 percent since
engaging its bottom tracking locations. development began - from 356
feature, which uses acoustic- Webb supported his M9 acre-feet in 1958 to less than
derived speed and position data with readings from a 197 acre-feet in 2016.
over the ground to derive CastAway CTD, a palm-sized The lake has experienced
position. instrument from SonTek that significant sediment build-up
In all, between wading provides vital data for cor- on more than 78 percent of its
measurements and data from recting sound-speed varia- area, shoals of five feet or
the JagYak, Webb’s bathymet- tions in his depth and velocity more have built-up on more
ric survey included position readings - a vital step in than 19 acres of the lake bot-
and elevation measurements ensuring accurate depth tom. At the same time, signifi-
for more than 12,000 discrete measurement. Lowering the cant erosion has occurred in
front of the dam, leaving deep
pools that are susceptible to
low dissolved oxygen levels. If
that hypoxic water is drawn to
the upper levels of the water
column by wind or surface
cooling, it could be released
into the spillway and dis-
charged into Mobile Bay,
Webb notes.
Quantifying the massive
build-up of sediment in Lake
Forest was an important step
in helping the decision-mak-
ers understand the lake’s
The M9’s HydroSurveyor Mode Allows Users to Track their Survey Patterns potential role in capturing
on an Onscreen Map in Real-Time. Without his Laptop, Webb Counted His floodwater and its expected
Paddle Strokes and Navigated by Compass to Maintain His Pattern. reserve of sediment storage.
36 March, 2018
Webb’s Creativity Extends Well Beyond Clever Workshop Projects. To Chart
Changes in Lake Bottom Elevations, He Manipulated a 1958 Survey Map to
Exactly Fit a 2016 USGS Quadrangle Map.
Through his survey, Webb locations around the lake.
determined that the lake had Analyzing and sorting grain
enough capacity to capture size, Webb determined that
sediment for the next 90 years the sediments in Lake Forest
at the rate it has been flowing were precisely the same mate-
since it was built. Quantifying rial that was lacking down-
the amount of sediment stream in Mobile Bay to bol-
already in the lake also helped ster beaches and barriers.
him estimate the staggering “They’re essentially identi-
cost of dredging and sediment cal to what we find on our bay
relocation. But Webb also beaches,” Webb says. “We’re
wanted to study the sedi- not seeing beaches able to
ments themselves. keep up with sea level rise,
mostly due to a lack of sedi-
Sediment Samples ment inputs.”
“We wanted to collect sedi- Someday, funds permit-
ment push cores, but had no ting, some of the 700,000 tons
budget left to purchase a com- of sediment that have built up
mercial device,” he explains. in Lake Forest since 1958
So, while he was in the could be used to rebuild dwin-
plumbing department of the dling beaches and eroding
home improvement center riverbanks.
buying parts to outfit the Upstream of Lake Forest,
JagYak, Webb also stocked up the conservation work, along-
on supplies to craft a home- with its two primary tributar-
made sediment sampler. ies, has substantially reduced
An off-the-shelf sampler the volume of sediments flow-
cost $400 to $500. With $30 in ing into the lake. With Bret
parts - including PVC pipe, a 1- Webb’s detailed maps in hand,
inch ball valve, and clear plas- decision makers will have a
tic coring tubes - Webb built great tool for planning the
his own. Using the homemade future of Lake Forest - made
sampler, he and his team col- possible by a scientist with a
lected 20-inch (50-cm) push creative mind and a talent for
cores of sediment from eight improvisation.
Attracting Alligators’Attention
Mapping Alabama’s Lake Forest in a modified kayak pro-
vided University of South Alabama’s Bret Webb with a
detailed bathymetric survey. It also provided a few thrills.
“I have never before worked in an area with so many
active alligators,” Webb says. “They were very curious the
entire time we were working, especially the little baby alliga-
tors. So, every time I attracted the attention of a baby alliga-
tor, I was quickly looking around to find out where Big
Momma was!”
EXPRESS WATER
 CASE STUDY
Del Monte Philippines Harvest Free Green
Energyfrom Food Process Water
The wastewater treatment installation at the pineapple canning plant has achieved 93%
organic pollution (COD) removal in its anaerobic reactors.
By Global Water Engineering
Green Energy Generators Powered by Biogas (Methane) from Wastewater at
Del Monte Philippines Transform a Problem into to a Profit.
A WASTE-TO-ENERGY proj-
ect undertaken by the world’s
largest integrated pineapple
operation, Del Monte
Philippines Inc. (DMPI), has
exceeded even the high effluent
quality targets originally set for
the job.
The Global Water
Engineering (GWE) waste-
water treatment installation at
the Cagayan de Oro pineapple
canning plant has achieved 93
percent organic pollution
(COD) removal in its anaerobic
reactors, producing in the
process enough green energy
(methane-rich biogas) to power
two 1.4 MW generating electri-
cal power generator units or
gensets. The effluent of the
anaerobic digestion step is fur-
ther polished in an activated
sludge type final treatment step
to satisfy the local DENR dis-
charge effluent standards.
DMPI - which accounts for
about 10 percent of the world’s
annual production of processed
pineapple products - will bene-
fit from environmentally clean
electricity to replace fossil fuels
typically used in electrical
power plants. And the waste
EXPRESS WATER
heat from the gensets is also
put to use to heat up steam boil-
er feed water, which is a further
reduction of fossil fuel use in
the factory, says GWE
Chairman and CEO Jean-
Pierre Ombregt.
DMPI processes more than
700,000 tons of pineapple and
papaya a year to produce more
than 100 food and vegetable
variants. DMPI is owned by Del
Monte Pacific Ltd (DMPL), who
also owns Del Monte Foods
Inc., the company that owns the
Del Monte brand in the USA.
DMPI is one of the largest pro-
ducers, distributors, and mar-
keters of premium quality,
branded food products for the
US retail market through its
affiliate DMFI, as well as pri-
vate label products.
Benefits of the company’s
new wastewater and green
energy plant mean that DMPI
can replace fossil fuels with
green energy, and given the
high prices of electricity from
the Grid and the sometimes
erratic supply, the plant will
achieve rapid ROI payback.
Generally, this takes only 2 to 5
years, says Mr Ombregt, whose
company has installed more
than 150 waste-to-green energy
plants worldwide and ca. 400
high-quality industrial waste-
water and waste treatment
plants, the benefits of which are
applicable to any manufactur-
ing operation with one or more
organically loaded wastewater
and waste streams.
“The DMPI plant has sub-
stantially exceeded even the
high environmental goals set by
the company for the treating
more than 13,000 cubic meters
a day of wastewater, or nearly
five million cubic meters a
year.”
“Process results are sub-
stantially better than the
guaranteed levels of the proj-
ect, with anaerobic effluent
achieving ca. 40 mg/l COD (93
percent removal) and final
effluent achieving 70 mg/l
COD, or a further 83 percent
removal.”
“This is remarkable in an
operation so large and a com-
pliment to the foresight of
DMPI. In terms of the positive
environmental impact and the
virtually free electricity gains
going straight to the bottom
line, this is an exemplary proj-
ect for food, beverage and
agribusiness processors
worldwide.”
Elements of the GWE
process tailored to the needs of
the DMPI include:
• Pre-treatment of flume
wastewater for large solids
and sand removal before join-
ing with the rest of the efflu-
ents which pass a primary
clarifier.
• Anaerobic digestion in four
ANUBIX™ B (UASB type)
methane reactors of a type
proven globally for low-to-
medium strength mainly sol-
uble carbohydrate containing
effluents, attaining outstand-
ing COD removal efficiencies,
in some cases even up to 99%
• Aerobic activated sludge
type polishing treatment of
the anaerobic reactor efflu-
ent (upgrade of existing facil-
ities)
• Mechanical sludge dewater-
ing of the aerobic excess
sludge (by reuse of existing
facilities)
• Biogas sweetening in a 2 step
(physicochemical followed by
biological) SULFURIX™,
BIOSULFURIX™ process
for sulphur removal, followed
by GASODRIX™ biogas dry-
ing
• Feed of the sweetened and
dried biogas to the 2 electric-
ity generation sets
GWE anaerobic technolo-
gies have been successfully
deployed on diverse organic
and agribusiness waste
streams produced by industries
including food and beverage
processing, starch and fermen-
tation industry, pulp & paper,
and many other type of agro-
industry.
Their success was recogniz
ed by GWE’s successful entry
in the 2014 IChemE award for
the best project or process to
demonstrate innovation in
renewable energy, alternative
energy sources, efficient ener-
gy use or the development of
energy production methods
that reduce energy and water
intensity.
The winning entry involved
pulp processing at the Chok
Chai Starch cassava processing
plant in Thailand. The
Institution of Chemical
Engineers is the global profes-
sional institution for chemical
and process engineers with
40,000 members across 120
countries.
“Biogas from wastewater is
an outstanding source of base-
load power. As part of a
renewable energy mix - com-
plementing wind and solar
generation, for example - elec-
tricity generated with biogas
is highly reliable and consis-
tent.”
“As the major component
of natural gas, methane is an
environmentally attractive
alternative to fossil fuels,” said
Mr. Ombregt, whose company
was complimented by DMPI
on achieving better than guar-
anteed process results.
GWE was subsequently
awarded a supervision contract
extending until 2017 to opti-
mize plant operation.
GWE Chairman and CEO Jean Pierre
Ombregt
March, 2018 37
 MARKET
Health Concerns of Consumers Increase
Demand for Bottled Drinking Water
By The Business Research Company
THE GLOBAL BOTTLED
water market did not end the
year 2017 without surprises.
After years of strong growth
in the USA, bottled water
sales surpassed carbonated
soft drinks to become the
largest beverage category by
volume in 2016, and numbers
do not stay idle. According to
a report on the bottled water
market published by The
Business Research Company
(TBRC), from 2014 to 2017, the
global bottled market grew to
over $200 billion following a
9% yearly growth. This was
due to the increase in health
concerns caused by consump-
tion of contaminated water. In
addition to the health con-
cerns, rising disposable
income also let people in the
Asia Pacific region influence
the growth of the market sig-
nificantly.
By volume, the market
grew by above 100 billion
liters. The predictions for the
bottled water market are
above expectations. By value,
the market is going to reach
around $350 billion by 2021
following a double digit year
on year growth. The growth
rate of volume will be a bit
lower, but not by a significant
number, at over 9%. Global
per capita average bottled
water expenditure will also
raise from $32.3 per head in
2017 to $45.3 by 2021.
Per Capita Consumption
and Expenditure of Bottled
Water
The bottled water con-
sumption market grew in 2017
at a compound annual growth
rate (CAGR) of more than 7%
to over 400 billion liters. The
bottled water consumption
38 March, 2018
market is expected to further
grow to over 600 billion liters
in 2021 at a CAGR of above 9%.
Analysts from The
Business Research Company
have also forecasted the glob-
al per capita average bottled
water expenditure to grow to
over $45 by 2021.
Regional Analysis
The consumption of bot-
tled water in 2017 was the
highest in the Asia Pacific
region, accounting for more
than two-fifths of the global
consumption. Asia Pacific
region is a host for two most
populated countries where
poor public infrastructure is
quite common and access to
clean drinking water is limit-
ed, which drove the market to
such numbers. These condi-
tions, in particular, raise con-
sumers’ hygiene standards
towards drinking water to
maintain a healthy life.
Following the health aware-
ness trend, bottled water con-
sumers in the Asia Pacific
region are also increasingly
adopting new products with
health benefits, such as func-
tional water, which has added
functional value in the form of
minerals, oxygen, and vita-
mins. Since consumers prefer
to try new tastes and follow
the best of them, the availabil-
ity of a range of flavors and
options in functional water
will boost the market growth.
The second largest region
in terms of volume was
American continent. High
average prices per liter of
drinking water made the
region rank first in value.
Competitor Landscape
The global bottled water
market is highly fragmented
with a large number of local
players present in most coun-
tries, with very few major
players having more than 5%
market share. It is a highly
competitive market and has
many manufacturers operat-
ing across multiple product
segments and geographies.
The leading players in the
global market that have a
multi-country presence are
DANONE, Nestle, Coca-Cola,
and Pepsi-Co.
To stand out among the
numerous competitors, com-
panies have started changing
the look and feel of packaging
to get more traction in mar-
ket. The aim of the producers
has become to establish differ-
entiation and a brand image in
the bottled water market.
Innovative packaging comes
in hand, which includes re-
sealable and recyclable can
packaging material, transpar-
ent sophisticated bottles, and
inks and coatings applied on a
can to enhance customer
experience through unique
visual effects along with an
increasing shelf-appeal.
Market Trends
The Business Research
Company’s report on the glob-
al bottled water market high-
lights the following major
trends shaping the market:
The Shift from Carbonated
Soft Drinks to Water
Consumers, particularly in
North America, are gradually
shifting from soda to bottled
water. This shift is driven by a
shift in consumers’ prefer-
ences from unnatural and
high-sugar drinks towards
healthier alternatives. For
example, in 2017 the bottled
water consumption in the US to the growing concerns about
reached 39.3 gallons per capi- rising obesity levels.
ta, while the carbonated soft Carbonated water can lead to
drinks consumption fell to problems such as digestive
38.5 gallons per capita. issues, weight gain, heart-
burn, etc. This is making con-
Growing Acceptance of sumers shift towards the low-
Premium Bottled Water calorie flavored water and
The acceptance of premi- functional water. Companies
um bottled water is gradually are launching products in this
increasing in emerging segment in response to rising
economies such as Brazil. opportunities in this product
Premium bottled water has
less sodium content, high min-
eral content and special glass
or plastic packaging, and is
priced higher than normal
bottled water. The prices
established for premium bot-
tled water brands are not as
high as imported brands, thus
enabling consumers to opt for
premium bottled water. The
consumption of premium bot-
tled water is also highly incen-
tivized by restaurants in coun-
tries such as Brazil since it is
not common to serve tap
water. This is expected to
drive the demand for premi-
um bottled water in the fore-
cast period.
Innovations in Bottled Wa-
ter Products
Bottled water manufactur-
ing companies are increasing-
ly introducing new products
to offer functional benefits,
better taste, and convenience
to consumers. These innova-
tive products have several type. For instance, Pepsi has
health benefits and are also launched new sparkling
priced higher than regular Aquafina flavored waters to
bottled water products. cater to rising consumer
Increasing Obesity Rate demand in the flavored and
Boosts Demand for Flavored functional water segments.
and Functional Water The Business Research
Bottled water companies Company is a market research
are increasingly offering fla- and intelligence company which
vored and functional water, excels in company, market and
which is in high demand due consumer research.
EXPRESS WATER
 MARKET
IAPMO India to Run Water Quality
India Association’s Operations
PLUMBING CODES AND
Standards India Private
Limited (known as IAPMO
India) has signed a tives,”
Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with
the Water Quality India
Association (WQIA) calling
for IAPMO India to execute
the WQIA’s operations in India
as the management agency.
IAPMO India will manage In
addition to managing the
WQIA’s daily administrative
tasks, IAPMO India will pro-
vide direction to help the asso-
ciation achieve its strategic
goals.
IAPMO India will manage
and organize membership,
meetings, standard develop-
ment, training, certifications,
public relations, social media
initiatives, and the website, in
addition to other routine
administrative functions.
The leading association for
the water treatment industry
in India, WQIA will now have
IAPMO India’s support in pro-
moting industry initiatives
throughout the country. The
MoU was signed on February
21.
“The IAPMO Group has
vast experience in managing
associations all over the
world, providing the neces-
EXPRESS WATER
sary scientific and intellectual
input to help associations
meet their goals and objec-
said Dr. K.
Chandrasekhar, Interim
Managing Director of IAPMO
India. Chandrasekhar will also
serve as Chief Operating
Officer of the WQIA and will
work closely with the WQIA
board to manage its activities.
“This strategic association
with IAPMO India will not
only help in better manage-
ment of the WQIA and its pro-
grams but by including the
plumbing industry sets the
tone to broaden the scope of
water quality in India, where
focus on water quality is nas-
cent today,” said outgoing
WQIA President Rajul Parikh,
Director of Alfaa UV.
The WQIA’s incoming
President, Sarjan Watertech
India Pvt. Ltd. Managing
Director Sunil Trivedi, said,
“IAPMO’s assistance in the
effective management of our
association will help the
WQIA penetrate deeply
across the country with vari-
ous activities for all categories
of members and to be a strong
supporter of the water indus-
try. It will also help the WQIA
fulfill its vision and mission by
achieving its objectives.”
Express Water Exclusive
Mayur Sharma talked to Dr. K.
Chandrasekhar (Interim Managing
Director, IAPMO India and Chief Operating
Officer, WQIA). Excerpts...
What does this development mean for
IAPMO and WQIA?
Dr. K. Chandrasekhar: IAPMO India
has taken the responsibility of running
operations of WQIA on a day-to-day basis
under the guidance and direction of WQIA
board-members who are in senior positions
in their respective companies or are the
owners of companies. IAPMO India will
help WQIA in being recognized as a reliable
resource of information about water quality
issues and improving water quality to
enhance the quality of life for everyone
through right water treatment technologies
and services.
The objectives are promoting standards
& product certification, promoting con-
sumer awareness about water quality, train-
ing & education, marketplace protection,
liaising with Government bodies, and net-
working. The overall aim will be to see
WQIA become the “Voice of Industry”.
What will be the scope of work for
IAPMO? And your responsibilities?
Dr. K. Chandrasekhar: IAPMO India
has an excellent staff in place in Bengaluru
which will perform activities like marketing
the WQIA membership and its programs,
organizing WQIA meetings and conducting
WQIA board meetings, initiating standard
development activities, promoting and
expanding education and professional certi-
fication, administering the “Seal of Purity”
product certification program, providing
meeting space and logistics for WQIA,
maintaining WQIA website and social
media accounts, attending meetings and
trade shows on WQIA’s behalf, leveraging
our industry relationships to introduce
WQIA into foreign markets (US, Mexico,
Canada, Australia, Indonesia and other
countries where IAPMO has a presence),
producing WQIA’s quarterly newsletter, and
coordinating with WQIA’s legal and
accounting firm.
I will oversee all the activities on a day-
to-day basis and report to the WQIA board.
I will also be taking their guidance and
directions to run the association.
Please tell us about your own journey
in the Indian water sector.
Dr. K. Chandrasekhar: It has been a
fantastic journey of nearly ten years in the
water treatment industry with so many
changes in terms of new innovations, invest-
ments and above all so much awareness for
the safe drinking water. I got an opportuni-
ty to run WQA India Task Force for nearly 8
years and was able to interact with thou-
sands of traders and manufacturers of resi-
dential water treatment systems. Regional
associations like WAPTAG, WAPTEMA,
SRW, and IWA, with their huge member-
base, are helping traders and manufactur-
ers to make good products.
How do you see the growth of Indian
water sector in near future?
Dr. K. Chandrasekhar: Many reports
say that Indian water sector is growing at
the rate of 25-30% every year and will grow
further. The safe drinking water availability
is a great challenge for 1.3 billion people of
this country. WQIA will play a key role in
helping industry make quality products
using relevant standards available, creating
new standards for water treatment, and
providing education & professional certifi-
cation for service engineers and salespeo-
ple, and making the consumers aware about
the benefits of safe drinking water.
March, 2018 39
 MARKET
Jewel-of-the-Ocean Inspires New,
Environment-Friendly and More Hygienic
Wastewater Treatment
By CST Wastewater Solutions
Lord Howe Island
AN ENVIRONMENT
FRIENDLY and cost-efficient
wastewater treatment system
is being engineered by
Australian company CST
Wastewater Solutions for
smaller, remote and ecologi-
cally sensitive community,
municipal, agribusiness and
industrial applications
throughout the Asia-Pacific.
The two-stage system uses
a combination of coarse and
fine screening and advanced
dry compaction technology to
produce a more hygienic and
more compact output that is
easier to handle and trans-
port. The system is more eco-
nomical, compact and uses
less energy and minimal
water compared to alternative
40 March, 2018
systems.
The new system - incorpo-
rating the world’s best tech-
nology into an Australian
engineered package - has been
selected for use by the Island
Board of World-Heritage list-
ed Lord Howe Island after
extensive testing to determine
the best solution for the man-
agement and disposal of waste
generated on the island.
The existing waste man-
agement facility for the Island,
900 km off the coast of
Eastern Australia, sorts vari-
ous waste streams including
food waste, paper & card-
board, green waste, recyclable
materials re-usable materials
and general waste. Septic
Waste from the residential
and commercial system is also
treated at this facility, drawn
from about 220 wastewater
systems on the island, 25 of
which are commercial opera-
tions. Currently, pumpouts
are delivered to the facility via
a 1,800 liter wastewater
tanker.
“CST Wastewater
Solutions was tasked to
review a “best fit” sludge
dewatering system for the
septic waste because the cur-
rent infrastructure is becom-
ing outdated and the existing
drying beds are to be decom-
missioned,” said CST
Wastewater Solutions
Chemical Engineer and
Managing Director Michael
Bambridge. Michael and his
brother Peter Bambridge
worked extensively with the
Lord Howe Island Board’s
Project Manager to find an
optimal solution that com-
bined outstanding environ-
mental performance with
equally strong OHS perform-
ance - and which has a much
smaller footprint than the
drying rack system used cur-
rently.
“The extensive work done
by Peter with the Lord Howe
Island Board Project Manager
inspired us to take a fresh look
at the type of environmental
solutions on offer to communi-
ties and industries in environ-
mentally sensitive locations
throughout the Asia-Pacific,”
said Michael.
CST proposed a new
two-stage system:
• The first stage is a CST
Screen Extractor with a
coarse screening at 6.0mm
up front to remove plastic,
rags and other disposals
typically found in the com-
munity, commercial and
industrial wastewater treat-
ment plants.
• The second stage employed
CST’s new KDS Separator
technology for fine screen-
ing and dewatering of the
fines. The clog-free auto-
matic liquid-to-solid waste
separator is being intro-
duced to the Asia-Pacific by
CST Wastewater Solutions
EXPRESS WATER
 MARKET
The New Clog-Free Automatic Liquid-to-Solid KDS Waste Separator (Left), and the More Hygienic and Easily Handled Output Obtained in the Lord
Howe Island Application (right)
for compact dewatering
applications ranging from
food processing, food waste,
grease trap and waste oil
through to municipal waste-
water sludge, livestock
manure, and agribusiness
processes. The KDS system
was developed in Japan, a
country which is highly
focused on food and water
purity. CST Wastewater
Technologies engineers
KDS’ latest technologies
into Australian-engineered
packages specified to
achieve best results in indi-
vidual locations, such as
Lord Howe Island.
“CST completed successful
trials on Lord Howe Island
The Unique Self-Cleaning Action of the KDS Separator, Which is
Available in Hydraulic Capacities from 264-4092 gal/hr (Approx. 1000-
15490 Litres) with Input Solids Content of 2%
EXPRESS WATER
under the supervision of the
Board’s Project Manager,
obtaining impressive results
from the pilot plant KDS
Separator, with high screen-
ing capture and effective
dewatering of the fines from
the wastewater delivered by
the tanker servicing the com-
munity,” said Michael.
The compact KDS multi-
disc roller separator features
a unique self-cleaning dewa-
tering and conveying system
with oval plate separation and
transfer structure that pre-
vents clogging and permits
automatic continuous opera-
tion that handles oily and
fibrous material with ease.
“This simple-to-maintain
separator offers a high
throughput within a small
body, with the smallest model
being just under 350mm wide
and weighing 50 kg. It is ideal
for applications such as Lord
Howe Island and other small-
er communities and industrial
applications throughout the
Asia-Pacific, including coastal,
remote and ecologically sensi-
tive areas. It is more hygienic
and produces an output that is
twice as light and half the cost
to transport for disposal, com-
pared to other systems. It is
also extremely compact, ener-
gy efficient and uses minimal
water.”
Designed for efficiency,
sustainability, and conserva-
tion of resources in small-to-
medium applications, the
energy-efficient KDS separa-
tor consumes as little as
0.06kW hr of electricity and
uses no wash water, says
Mike. Compared to alternate
technologies it saves on
power, space and money.
“The KDS separator uses a
fraction of the power of a cen-
trifuge and involves no water
usage during operation, unlike
a belt press or a screw press.
For a relatively low invest-
ment cost, it offers a high-per-
formance alternative for
example to sludge drying beds
and geobags, says Michael.
The KDS technology can
also be used for thickening of
dissolved air flotation sludge -
a very common application
throughout wastewater oper-
ations - in which role it
achieves solids capture of 97
percent thickened sludge at a
dryness of 17 percent. Waste
activated sludge dryness lev-
els are typically 15-25 percent.
The compact rotational
oval plate structure achieves
high transportation and sepa-
ration efficiencies, while the
simplicity of the machine’s
overall structure offers low
maintenance, achieving cost
and OH&S benefits through
less handling being required
to clear hazardous materials.
The applications, for which
the separator is designed,
include:
• Food processing waste,
including snack-foods,
kitchen and restaurant
waste, raw wastewater (pri-
mary screening) and sludge
• Sewage treatment, includ-
ing raw wastewater (pri-
mary screening) and sludge
to the landfill
• Abattoir, feedlots, and dairy
farm wastewater and
sludge. Cattle manure cake
dryness of 25-35 percent is
typically achieved
• Pig farm raw manure and
sludge, with cake dryness of
20-30 percent.
• Barrel polishing water,
water-based paint waste-
water, grease trap waste,
dyeing wastewater, waste
oil, and plastic recycling.
• Seafood processing
March, 2018 41
 MARKET
Where to Start with Electronic Instrumentation
and Automation in Water Distribution Systems?
By Justin Arseneault
Pilot System with 5 Pressure Reducing Pilots, Each with a Different Set-
point. A Latching Solenoid is Paired with Each, Allowing a Controller to
Switch Between Set-points at Pre-Program.
ADDING ELECTRONIC
INSTRUMENTATION and
automation to a water man-
agement system can provide
enormous benefits, but it can
seem daunting when first
moving from a purely
hydraulic system. While there
are many instrumentation and
automation options available,
an electronic control system
does not have to be overly
complicated. Control valves
are a natural place to start
since they already perform
much of the control in water
management. For those con-
sidering instrumentation and
automation for their valves,
but unsure of where to start,
here are some simple sugges-
tions that can have a large
impact.
I Don’t Have Any Electron-
ics - Where Do I start?
A good first step into the
world of electronics is on the
instrumentation side: add sen-
42 March, 2018
sors to monitor pressures,
flow rates, tank levels, valve
positions and other parame-
ters throughout your system.
Sensors provide valuable feed-
back that enables operators
and engineers to monitor sites
and gain a deeper understand-
ing of their system’s perform-
ance. Even when control is
accomplished by hydraulic
and mechanical means, having
sensor feedback is critical to
setting up that control effec-
tively. For example, a flowme-
ter can give data valuable to
setting up a PRV chamber and
ensuring equal flow across
multiple lines. Electronic
instrumentation has become
increasingly common in many
parts of the industry as a fun-
damental piece of water sys-
tems and it is worth incorpo-
rating if it is not already.
I’m Interested in Electronic
Automation, But I Don’t
Want to Abandon Reliable
Mechanical Methods - Pilot Actuators a control signal. They are not
What Options Do I Have? Pilot actuators fit over a limited to a few pre-chosen
When first adding electron- pilot and turn the set-point set-points but instead can
ic automation, it can be easier adjusting screw in response to adjust the pilot to any set-
to use products that work with
existing mechanical compo-
nents rather than to replace
them completely. There are a
number of products that
enhance valve control by
adding the ability to change
set-points or actuate valves
electronically. These methods
retain the original mechanical
control mechanism but
remove the need to send per-
sonnel into the field to adjust a
pilot screw when a pressure
needs to be adjusted.
Battery-Operated Latching
Solenoids
Battery-Operated Latching
Solenoids that can be paired
with a programmable timer
are solenoid valves that do not
need constant power to hold a
position but instead switch
position when they receive a
pulse of power. They are ideal
for low power applications in
remote locations which need
pressure modulation set-point
changes.
Latching Solenoids are
commonly used to address the
need in water distribution sys-
tems for pressure regulation
to two set-points at varying
times throughout the day.
Lowering system pressure
during off-peak hours reduces
pipe wear and breakage and
lowers costs in maintenance
and water loss. A latching
solenoid on a control valve can
switch between high and low-
pressure pilots at preset
times, removing the need for
manual set-point adjustment,
but retaining mechanical pilot
control. Pilot Actuator
EXPRESS WATER
 MARKET
Two Way Solenoid Control Valve
point in its range. This makes them a
good addition to control-valves in
applications that need multiple set-
points.
Pilot actuators are ideal for adding
electronic automation to an existing
valve because they are easy to retrofit
and simple to control. Since the
mechanical pilot is doing the actual
modulation, the actuator does not
require a complicated control algo-
rithm.
Instead, operators just send the
desired 4-20mA set-point signal from a
control panel, SCADA system, or sig-
nal generator. The actuator then
adjusts the pilot set-point and the pilot
continues to control the valve as usual.
Valve Actuators
Valve actuators are used for butter-
fly valves, ball valves, and other direct
acting valves. They work similarly to
pilot actuators, except that they are
mounted on the main valve rather than
on a pilot. These actuators can typical-
ly be controlled with a 4-20mA signal.
However, valve actuators require a
control algorithm and can have com-
plex behavior in modulating applica-
tions, making them a bit more difficult
to control. These actuators can be
retrofitted onto existing valves and are
ideal for adding electronic automation
to butterfly valves and ball valves.
Solenoid Valve:
An electronic on/off valve driven by
an electromagnet. Solenoids are
often used in valve pilot systems for
electronic control and can be 2-way,
3-way, or 4-way, similar to ball
valves. Solenoids usually hold one
position (open or closed) when
unpowered and the other when
powered.
Actuator:
Components that move other parts.
Within the scope of electronic
automation, actuators are generally
electric motors that can be used to
open/close a valve.
EXPRESS WATER
What If I Want More Control and
Flexibility?
To get the full potential of electron-
ic automation, consider full electronic
control. For diaphragm valves, that
means solenoid pilot systems. The
main valve is still operated hydrauli-
cally via the diaphragm; however, the
mechanical pilots are replaced with
electronic solenoid pilots. For modu-
lating control, a two-solenoid pilot sys-
tem is used. A two-solenoid control
valve sometimes called a “double click-
er”, works by having the solenoids
pulse on and off at varying lengths to
control the flow of water entering or
leaving the valve bonnet, similar to
how a mechanical pilot throttles the
bonnet flow to modulate the valve. The
pulse lengths are determined by a con-
trol algorithm to smoothly and accu-
rately bring the valve to its set-point.
Dealing with control algorithms can
be one of the most daunting aspects of
adding electronic automation.
However, manufacturers who offer
electronic control valves often also
offer control panels pre-programmed
with algorithms tailored to control
their valves. These kinds of ready-
made, plug-and-play options greatly
simplify the switch to electronic
automation and make it easy for oper-
ators and engineers to adapt to. A
panel like the SCP-TP (as seen below)
allows both local and remote set-
points, data logging, signal retransmis-
sion, alarm notifications, and SCADA
communication. It also allows valve
control speed and accuracy to be
adjusted through the panel.
These panels can be connected to
SCADA for remote control or act as
standalone units. For applications with
multiple processes or custom require-
ments, custom panels like Singer’s
Sensor/ Transmitter:
“Sensor” and “Transmitter” are
terms often used interchangeably
for devices that measure character-
istics of a system such as pressure,
flow, level, or valve position, and
produce an electric signal from that
measurement.
SCADA:
Supervisory Control And Data
Acquisition (SCADA) is the overar-
ching computer system that moni-
tors and controls an entire plant or
water distribution system, usually
from a central control room.
MCP-TP are a good option. Custom Instrumentation and Automation
panels require more communication to Engineer for Singer Valve, is part of
design to your needs, but ultimately the design and commissioning team
they are only as complicated as your
requirements.
I’m Still Unsure of What I Need…
When in doubt, ask questions. Valve
manufacturers and their local repre-
sentatives are usually happy to help in
determining the best fit for a given
application.
Talking to others who have already
implemented electronic automation in
their systems can also be helpful for
seeing what is possible. Also be sure to
know what you want your valve to do
and what benefits you want to see from
adding electronics. Knowing what you
want, seeing what others have done
and talking to the experts will get you
on the right track to bringing electron-
ic automation to your valves. for innovative electronic automation
About the Author solutions that improve control valve
Justin Arseneault, an efficiency and functionality.
STATEMENT ABOUT OWNERSHIP AND OTHER PARTICULARS OF
EXPRESS WATER, MUMBAI, AS REQUIRED UNDER RULE 8
OF THE REGISTRATION OF NEWSPAPERS (CENTRAL) RULES, 1956
FORM - IV
(SEE RULE 8)
1. Place of Publication : Express Towers,1st Floor
Nariman Point, Mumbai-400 021
2. Periodicity of its publication : MONTHLY
3. Printer's Name : Ms. Vaidehi Thakar
Whether citizen of India : Yes
Address : Express Towers,
Nariman Point, Mumbai-400 021
4. Publisher's Name : Ms. Vaidehi Thakar
Whether citizen of India : Yes
Address : Express Towers,
Nariman Point, Mumbai-400 021
5. Editor's name : Mayur Sharma
Whether citizen of India : Yes
Address : Express Towers, 1st Floor
Nariman Point, Mumbai-400 021
6. Name and address of individuals : The Indian Express (P) Ltd
who own the newspaper Express Towers, Nariman Point,
Mumbai 400021
AND
Shareholders holding more than : Indian Express Holdings & Entp Private
One per cent of the total capital Limited, Express Towers,
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021
: Mr. Viveck Goenka & Mr. Anant Goenka
Express Towers, Nariman Point,
Mumbai 400021
: Mr. Shekhar Gupta & Mrs. Neelam Jolly
C-6/53, Safdarjung Development Area
New Delhi 110 016
I, Vaidehi Thakar, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true and to the
best of my knowledge and belief.
sd/-
VAIDEHI THAKAR
Date : 1/3/2018 Publisher
March, 2018 43
 MARKET
POSTEVENT
TECHNICAL SEMINAR ON ADVANCES IN RO
MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGIES
By EW News Bureau
Yasushi Maeda - SME/Asia Pacific
Technical Leader (Water Solutions
Division) - LG Chem
A TECHNICAL SEMINAR
on the Advances in RO
Membrane Technologies was
organized on 9th February
2018 at the Hyatt Regency in
Chennai for a selective gather-
ing of around 60 water profes-
sionals.
The team of LG Cheam
made technical presentations
about LG Water Solutions
which is part of LG Chem Ltd
and manufactures the full line
of NanoH2OTM sweater,
brackish water and residen-
tial reverse osmosis (RO)
membranes. The presenta-
Joint Team of LG Chem and Geofluid Processors at the Seminar
44 March, 2018
The Interactive Session in Progress
tions were followed by a round
of questions and answers.
As the LG team explained
in detail, NanoH2OTM RO
membranes are developed
based on innovative Thin Film
Nanocomposite (TFN) tech-
nology which improves mem-
brane performance by embed-
ding benign nanomaterials in
the surface of the membrane.
These membranes are said to
deliver best in class flux and
salt rejection. These mem-
branes are provided in various
spiral wound configurations
that fit easily into new or
existing RO systems.
Express Water Exclusive
DURING THE SEMINAR, Mayur Sharma
talked to - Anand Sathya - Director -
Geofluid Processors, and the team of LG
Chem (Water Solutions Division) - Yasushi
Maeda - SME/ Asia Pacific Technical Leader
and Younghoon Ko - Application Engineering
Manager - Sales & Marketing Team, and
Mohd Imran Umar - Country Manager
Indian Subcontinent. Excerpts...
Please tell us a little about Geofluid’s as-
sociation with LG Chem.
Anand Sathya: We had been trying to
associate with a company which could really
make a difference in terms of normal TFC
membranes which have been running in the
market for years. Suddenly NanoH2OTM
came in and said we have invented a revolu-
tionary new membrane. And that is when I
approached them. Everybody has normal
TFC membranes. A TFN membrane is a tech-
nological change from the TFC which was
invented by Dow. Before TFC, we were all
using cellulose acetate, and we had to wait for
fifteen-twenty years for the change of technol-
ogy from TFC to TFN. The TFN is an amaz-
ing technology and that is why we decided to
bridge the gap and be a technological partner
with them about two years ago (before
NanoH2OTM was acquired by LG Chem). If
you have an amazing polymer you will under-
stand that the membrane’s consistent flow
rate and consistent pressures will be main-
tained for a longer period of time, unlike cer-
tain TFC membranes.
So, you are now presenting LG Chem in
India exclusively?
Anand Sathya: Yes, we are presenting
and promoting them exclusively in India. We
also have huge installations with respect to
replacing competitors. Our strategy forward
is that we pick up a competitor site and we do
a piloting. For example, we have just done one
such piloting in Gujarat and they were incred-
ibly happy with our polymer quality.
Please tell us about the growth markets
of these membranes.
Anand Sathya: We have many sewage
treatment plants coming up across India, for
example a big one in Vizag. Chennai has the
first desalination plant, with a second one
coming up soon, followed by a gigantic one in
Mumbai. Both desalination and reuse require
RO and there is unbelievable potential in the
market as the biggest growth rate in technol-
ogy is in RO. The membrane is here to stay
and we anticipate the market to grow by at
least thirty percent every year.
What were the ideas behind the event?
Anand Sathya: After every such event, we
get a lot of customers and we would like to
bring them inside and educate them that
membranes are not a commodity, but a tech-
nology. There has been a dramatic drop in
prices of membranes due to sheer volumes,
leading it to be treated like a commodity. But
it is the most sacred technology in water
today, and that is our primary objective for
this event. We are also distributing a water
diary with the complete basics of water treat-
ment - people should know technology for
sure, but they should know water better.
How do you see India as a market for LG
Chem?
LG Team: India is a large market, especial-
ly with the power plants coming up as well as
desalination plants. The applications for RO
are wide, so we have large potential markets.
Indians know LG as a brand and we aim to let
them know that we are in water as well
through such events, exhibitions and other
marketing ways. Currently, we have one prod-
uct - Reverse Osmosis. For over 40 years TFC
was used and we have brought this down to
TFN, which gives better results with same
feed pressures.
EXPRESS WATER
 MARKET
POSTEVENT
THIRD NATIONALSUMMITON SUSTAINABLE
WATER & SANITATION INDIA
Over two days, the event brought together water and sanitation professionals from all over
the country.
By EW News Bureau
NISPANA INNOVATIVE
PLATFORMS, in association
with CDD Society India, suc-
cessfully organized the 3rd
National Summit Sustainable
Water & Sanitation 2018 at the
Sheraton Grande Bengaluru
from 18-19 January 2018. The
two-day summit was inaugu-
rated by Eshwara Khandre,
Minister of Municipalities and
Local Bodies (Urban
Development Department)
and Department of Public
Enterprises, Karnataka State
Government in the presence of
Anjum Parvez, Secretary,
Urban Development
Department, Dr. Sreedevi -
Director Municipal
EXPRESS WATER
Administration, Govt. of
Telangana, Thiru Prakash
Govindsamy, Director,
Municipal Administration,
Govt. of Tamilnadu and other
distinguished guests and per-
sonalities.
While speaking at the inau-
gural session, Minister
Eshwara Khandre emphasized
the need for effective water
resource management and
also the initiatives towards
fecal sludge management in
Karnataka. He also announced
the sanctions by the State
Govt. of Karnataka towards
this sector. He also visited the
exhibition stalls and interact-
ed with the speakers and dele-
gates.
Over 250 participants
attended the summit from
more than 65 cities, towns and
water & sanitation boards
from all across India.
The participants also took
a unique Swacchta Pledge to
promote cleanliness and move
towards a cleaner India. The
summit hosted more than 30+
speakers who made insightful
presentations and case studies
and joined in interactive panel
discussions.
The highlights of the open-
ing day was a case study on
Water Harvesting presented
by Dr. Rajendra Singh
(Waterman of India) and an
interesting keynote from Ravi
Narayanan - Chair, Asia
Pacific Water Forum.
The second day focused on
Sustainable Sanitation and
Fecal Sludge Management
spearheaded by a presentation
from Madhu Krishna, Country
Head, WASH from the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation
(BMGF) along with case stud-
ies by Utkarsha Kavadi from
the AIILSG followed by an
interactive discussion moder-
ated by Krishnan Hariharan
from DASRA and a panel dis-
cussion on Groundwater and
Sanitation moderated by Prof.
Vishwanath from BIOME.
A special field trip to the
Devanahalli Sewage
Treatment Plant (STP) was
also arranged for the interest-
ed participants.
Photos Courtesy: Nispana
March, 2018 45
 MARKET
Express Water Exclusive
Mayur Sharma, Editor of Express
Water, talked to Eshwara Khandre,
the Minister of Municipalities and
Local Bodies (Urban Development
Department) and Department of
Public Enterprises, Karnataka State
Government, during the event.
Excerpts...
Please tell us about the ongoing
efforts on the sustainable water
and sanitation, specifically in re-
gard to Karnataka state.
Mr. Khandre: Today, the major
challenge in the world is sustainable
water and sanitation, especially in
urban areas because urban areas are
growing. There has been an increase
in urbanization mainly due to rural
migration.
In Karnataka itself, the urban pop-
ulation is at forty percent and is
expected to rise to fifty percent in the
next couple of years. This will put
major pressure on us to provide infra-
Eshwara Khandre, the Minister of Municipalities and Local Bodies (Urban Development Department)
and Department of Public Enterprises, Karnataka State Government during interaction with Mayur
Sharma, Editor, Express Water
Express Water Exclusive
VR Raman, the Head of Policy,
WaterAid India was one of the speak-
ers at the summit. Mayur Sharma
talked to him about the event and
issues like water availability for all
and water security.
What are your thoughts on the
event?
Mr. Raman: This event can play
an important role because it brings
together various actors. In that
46 March, 2018
structure to these increased num-
bers. Already we have great pressure
to provide safe drinking water, roads,
drainage, sanitation, etc.
When I became the minister, I
spoke with the Honourable Chief
Minister of Karnataka and we are
planning to allocate more funds for
infrastructure projects in the state. In
fact, this is our top priority. For exam-
ple, the Nagarothana project got
sanctioned by the government for
about 2,857 crores across the state.
There are approximately 276
ULBs in Karnataka, 256 of which
come under me, all of these have been
allocated funds and given top priority
for sanitation and drinking water. The
projects have already begun.
In your opinion, how an event like
this is helpful for the cause?
Mr. Khandre: This summit organ-
ized by Nispana, CDD, and BODA, is a
great event and I am honored to inau-
sense, all these conferences play an
important role, but who is approach-
ing it from which angle, that is the dif-
ficult question. The industry may be
approaching to take the knowledge
from the experts, which is a very
important angle. Or it could only be a
marketing angle. We need to, there-
fore, approach events from the over-
all outcome and perspective.
For the politicians, I think getting
them involved is the angle, getting
gurate it. I must congratulate the
organizers for this international level
summit where a lot of people have
come and where lots of new technolo-
gies and innovations have been show-
cased. This summit will create aware-
ness and give input to the government
to act and make Swachh Bharat, and
Nirmal Bharat a successful mission.
Your thoughts on the FSSM?
Mr. Khandre: I would like to
emphasize on FSSM - Faecal Sludge
and Septage Management because
underground drainage systems and
sewage treatment is practically
becoming quite difficult for the devel-
oped cities.
Most cites have grown without
proper planning, which makes the
application of underground drainage
systems very difficult. FSSM is a solu-
tion which was just introduced a few
years back by CDD - they have con-
ceptualized, planned, designed and
VR Raman, Head of Policy, WaterAid India (Photo Credit: WaterAid)
them into these conferences and tak-
ing them through the knowledge ele-
ments and evidence. This would
assist them in making informed deci-
sions. Their presence is very much
required especially like during the
inaugural session here - where the
ten specific things about the event
theme were presented. This would
definitely make an impact on the min-
ister and allow him to think from a
very reflective point of view. He
implemented it. It has been success-
fully done in Devanahalli and I was
really impressed with it, as it will save
time, it will save money and solve
other ground level difficulties. I have,
therefore, proposed the implementa-
tion of FSSM from 2018-2019 in
approximately thirty ULBs.
We plan to gradually implement
FSSM in all Karnataka towns wher-
ever there is no underground
drainage system in place. There are
around 276 ULBs in Karnataka, and if
we exclude ten corporations then
there are around 266 ULBs, out of
which nearly 120 are having their
underground drain - though in some
places a lot of problems are there. We
are going to earmark approximately
2,000 crores funding for this from the
Karnataka Government and I have
already sent the proposal. I hope
within one year Karnataka will lead in
FSSM and will be a pioneer in the
implementation of technology.
would be able to reflect if the matter
was being approached correctly, and
how are we going about this. That is
of importance.
There was a pledge taken by all
the participants at the event. And
the minister also seemed to ap-
preciate it a lot.
Mr. Raman: That’s an important
soft action. And the hard part is, of
course, the implementation - the ten
EXPRESS WATER
 MARKET
specific things mentioned, how are
you implementing those is the ques-
tion. But I’m sure he will be attending
to that so that’s quite positive.
One reason why these events are
so important is that we get to ask
some pertinent questions: Are we
actually identifying the right question
to answer while developing the objec-
tives of the conference? What are the
exact questions this conference is
going to answer? Are we answering
the already answered questions? Do
we have something new to contribute
to the knowledge field? This is what I
look for in each conference. Here, I
am yet to see if we are reaching there,
but the discussions and sessions
which included me have definitely
raised some new dimensions.
Please summarize your panel dis-
cussion session for us.
Mr. Raman: The session was
largely based on the options for sus-
tainable solutions for water security
from an ecological perspective and
from a long-term perspective.
There are many answers which
have come up. How to make partner-
ships between the government, socie-
ty, private sector and all other play-
ers, with clear role clarities. We also
discussed how to integrate strategic
planning as a pre-process and not as
kind of a fire-fighting arrangement,
which is quite a critical point.
Facilitating the right kind of research
for decision making was also dis-
cussed. What can I, as a decision
maker, take away from this session?
In that aspect, each session needs to
have its own objectives and these
objectives need to be known to all the
panelists. Thereafter all the panelists
should contribute accordingly.
Can you highlight the challenges
in India in terms of state of water,
and the way forward?
Mr. Raman: We have set up a very
ambitious goal for ourselves as a
country. The government says that
by 2022, ninety percent of all house-
holds will have individual piped water
connections. We are currently stand-
ing at seventeen percent - in terms of
access it is thirty-five percent but in
terms of household level, it is seven-
teen percent. By 2017, we were sup-
posed to be at fifty percent access.
These numbers itself are saying it is
important to be ambitious at the gov-
ernment level, otherwise we cannot
achieve our target.
EXPRESS WATER
I will look at how we are matching
that ambition. What installations and
measures have we set up? Are they
adequate? If we are to provide all
rural habitats with piped water, what
is this going to entail in terms of fund-
ing? That is the starting point.
Last year, our budget was approx-
imately 6000 crores and we need
approximately 600,000 crores for the
entire 3-4 years of the mission, which
means we need more than 60,000
crores per annum but we are only
allocating about 6,000. This is proba-
bly because the Swach Bharat mis-
sion requires more allocations. So,
the government has to look at the
money allocated - that is the chal-
lenge - how the government is going
to find the resources for making this
commitment a reality.
If power has not reached all the
villages yet, how will water
reach?
Mr. Raman: One of the interest-
ing twists between power and water
is that water is a shared resource
available at the community level.
Power is something you have to
bring. You don’t have to necessarily
bring water. In Telangana, they are
trying to do it through the mission
Bhagirathi program, making the
water travel a long distance.
Similarly, there is the Sardar Sarovar
project in Gujarat. But that is not
needed for small communities - here
you can look for and tap the
resources of the groundwater and
solar power is very much there. With
alternative energy, you need to find
the sources to use it, so these are the
places we can use alternative energy.
About power again, in China - which
is, of course, a much larger country
and much larger population, they
have small decentralized hydropower
projects which cater to a small area
rather than looking for a mega proj-
ect. This is something we should also
aim for - if we have to address large
scale then probably the scale of proj-
ects should be large rather than
mega.
We cannot look at national gov-
ernment policies and predict what is
going to happen at the state-level, but
state level policies are equally impor-
tant. In that sense, the seriousness
with which central policies are com-
municated, and the follow-up action
the central government takes with
the state government to make a simi-
lar reflection by the state, is the
important question. I have seen this
happening in Bihar and Telangana
where there are very clear alloca-
tions for this purpose. Many other
states still do the traditional alloca-
tion. It is also not very clear whether
piped drinking water is there in the
mission or not, so one major thing we
need to work towards is getting the
commitment of the state govern-
ments. It starts with their commit-
ment.
How to ensure the quality of
drinking water at the ground
level?
Mr. Raman: We already have dis-
trict level laboratories set up but they
are only looking at specific chemical
contamination. Once a water source
is found to be a contaminated water
source, what are we doing with it? Is
it closed? The protocol is that it is red
marked and closed. But the access
that we report continues, meaning
the water source is still reported
despite it being shut down. Thus, the
numbers that we see about water
access are a major mismatch. That is
where local sources are useful. How
are we decentralizing the quality
testing and once the quality is found
to be poor or contaminated or
undrinkable, then what are the imme-
diate next steps as a protocol that the
district or state level government
should take - this binding should be
there.
One of the gaps here is that water
is seen as a right to life as per the
principles of the constitution, but
there is no specific right to water.
This often becomes an issue - when-
ever there is a convenience, water
becomes a right. Whenever there is a
difficulty, water becomes a service
and welfare kind of a measure. We
need to have systems for quality
checking in terms of chemical con-
tamination and in terms of bacterial/
biological contamination. For this
purpose, our current system needs to
be revamped and we need more
trained lab technicians - trained very
specifically on how to handle things
in a very faster way rather than rou-
tinely.
Can the Government do this on
its own, or does it need to rope in
the private sector?
Mr. Raman: Whenever we use the
word private, the first thing which
comes to mind is the profit point. The
social responsibility of the private
sectors should be tapped for this pur-
pose. You can take profit, but not
beyond a certain point, so this should
be regulated. Then you see what kind
of water source people are getting,
how communities can manage it
together, their capacity building, etc.,
all that needs to be thought through.
We don’t have a parallel system to
watch what is happening, some sort
of a watchdog function in the commu-
nities. There should be some sort of a
triangulation with the government.
There should be some parallel citizen
system which reconfirms that our
water supply is as good as the govern-
ment says or that our water supply is
not up to the mark.
It should be both ways - to verify
and question what the government
says. This system should be there at a
community level. Like many other
lateral governments our government
should also set up community level
monitoring systems, data triangula-
tion systems, and other such mecha-
nisms.
For technologies, we can probably
set up community level apps using
android phones, having programs to
look at the water quality in all the
various necessary parameters. How
can we report back the water quality
to the central government and get
back feedback on that situation, what
kind of actions can be taken, these
are things we need to do via techno-
logical introductions.
Can you give us examples where
this is currently happening?
Mr. Raman: It is happening in
India as well on the pilot basis. AKVO
is such an organization, and the
INREM Foundation. They are actual-
ly providing these alternative solu-
tions in a very important way. And
when there is a water leakage issue in
the drinking water supply system you
can use a sensor to understand where
the leak is and immediately fix it.
This kind of new thinking needs to
happen rather than going by the old
PHED systems. PHED also needs to
be revamped.
Please tell us more about educat-
ing the community.
Mr. Raman: Currently we are
using the Jaldhara kit which can look
at many of these things and parame-
ters. Thus, you can test the water
quality then and there and if there is
a problem, you send it to the govern-
ment for verification.
March, 2018 47
 OUT OF THE BOX
KSB Group Takes Action Against Asian
Brand and TrademarkInfringers
While counterfeiting is a serious global problem for all pump manufacturers, it is also a
problem for would-be pump buyers.
By Bryan Orchard
The KSB Etanorm Pump Series is an International Best Seller, But Has
Been the Subject of Counterfeiting.
WHEN THE SUBJECTS OF
counterfeiting and infringing
trademarks and patents are
discussed, it is a commonly-
held view that this happens
predominantly in the con-
sumer goods markets where
large global organizations go
to extreme lengths to protect
their brands and corporate
identities. The global market
in counterfeit goods costs
companies many billions in
lost revenues and it goes way
beyond high profile consumer
goods.
Manufacturers of capital
goods are also affected signifi-
cantly by the illegal activities
of enterprises that go to great
lengths to copy their products
and distribute and sell them as
genuine items. They have no
concerns about the potentially
dangerous consequences of
their illegal activities. The
international pump industry is
no stranger to counterfeiting
and the challenges that many
of the leading brands face in
trying to fight what is termed
EXPRESS WATER
‘low-end disruption’.
Cynics may say that the
global leaders in pump tech-
nology would want to close
down any competition in order
to maintain their profit mar-
gins, and there may be an ele-
ment of truth in this. However,
the use of counterfeit pumps
across all areas of fluid han-
dling puts the end-users at the
risk of damaging their produc-
tion equipment, producing
sub-standard products that do
not comply with international
regulations, contributing to
environmental pollution and
putting employees and the
public at risk. Those end-users
that knowingly purchase
counterfeit pumps and compo-
nents are equally complicit in
this pernicious trade.
Many German industrial
enterprises are complaining
about soaring problems with
counterfeit products from
China. The VDMA (Verbund
Deutscher Maschinen- und
Anlagenbau) Mechanical
Engineering Industry
Association represents more
than 3,200 mostly medium-
sized companies in the capital
goods industry, making it the
largest industry association in
Europe. In its 2016 Product
Piracy Study, 70 percent of its
participating companies indi-
cated that they were victims of
product or brand piracy. Its
findings indicated that the
damage to Germany’s mechan-
ical engineering sector was
estimated to be € 7.1 billion
every year.
Internet Expansion
Whilst the rapid growth in
the internet has brought huge
benefits, it has also created
opportunities for unscrupu-
lous individuals and organiza-
tions to conduct illegal opera-
tions that can seriously harm
legitimate businesses. Within
the framework of the global-
ization and digitalization of
business models, large-sized
and high-priced investment
goods are now also sold over
the Internet. This is leading to
a sharp increase in brand and
trademark infringements
regarding offers made on
online platforms.
Over the last few years, the
German-based pump and
valve manufacturer KSB has
been closely monitoring this
situation. The KSB Group is
among the world’s leading
suppliers of pumps, valves,
and related services, with
applications ranging from
building services, industry and
water transport to wastewater
treatment and power plant
processes. The company has a
presence on all continents
with its own sales and market-
ing organizations, manufac-
turing facilities and service
operations. The success of the
company is based on innova-
tive technology that is the fruit
of its own research and devel-
opment activities in
hydraulics, materials develop-
ment and the automation of
pumps and valves.
According to Franz
Bosbach, KSB Technology
Foresight, a significant num-
ber of Asian manufacturers
are using the good reputation
of the long-established manu-
facturer KSB to market their
products. “Under protected
KSB brand names, they offer
pumps and valves as well as
spare parts for sale on interna-
tional trading platforms,” com-
ments Bosbach. “In particular,
the names of well-known prod-
ucts such as Etanorm, Omega,
and BOA, are frequently used.
But the umbrella brand ‘KSB’
is also often misused to mali-
ciously deceive the targeted
KSB Goes to Great Lengths to Protect its Brands and Reputation Around
the World and Has Set-Up a Task Force to Combat and Shut Down Illicit
Activities.
buyers.”
Not content to sit back and
let this situation continue,
KSB is being proactive in tack-
ling both the manufacturers
and the online shops selling
the counterfeit products. To
put a stop to these activities
that are harmful to its busi-
ness, KSB has now established
a task force to combat these
illicit activities. In cooperation
with Italian project partner
Convey, KSB is reporting
these infringements to the
platform operators and
instructing them to take down
the offending offers. If neces-
sary, legal action is also
brought against the brand and
trademark infringers. It is
proving to be highly successful
for in its first year, starting in
July 2016, the KSB Group
identified 420 marketers on
eight different online plat-
forms who had been illegally
misusing its product names.
Between April and August
2017 it uncovered 4,000 illegal
offers and had them removed
March, 2018 49
 OUT OF THE BOX
from the associated trading
platforms.
“This is a great success for
KSB since KSB stands for reli-
ability, quality, and know-how,
especially in Asia. Our policy
is to continue identifying coun-
terfeits on Chinese trading
platforms in order to defend
KSB’s brand and trademark
rights more vigorously,” con-
tinues Bosbach.
Global Challenge
Clearly counterfeiting is a
serious global problem for all
pump manufacturers, but it is
also a problem for would-be
pump buyers. Many of the
counterfeiters use sophisticat-
ed techniques to replicate the
OEM’s website and this makes
it very difficult to check prod-
uct authenticity. Buying
pumps that claim to be from
the OEM (Original Equipment
Manufacturer) and then fail
because they are counterfeits,
can do major harm to the
user’s business, not to mention
the OEM’s reputation.
Counterfeiters will go to great
lengths to replicate the true
product employing reverse
engineering techniques. This
low-end disruption is a prob-
lem that is of major concern
not only to KSB but many
other global brands.
“KSB has many brands
that are several years old and
are well-established and are
regarded as a premium prod-
uct,” says Bosbach. “We are
constantly upgrading these
brands to meet our customer’s
requirement and to offer
improved operation, but this
adds costs to the purchase
prices and end-users are not
always willing to pay more. We
are aware of one Chinese man-
ufacturer that has built up a
considerable customer base
selling a copy of one of our
established brands. The quali-
ty is not the same as the KSB
product, but some customers
are willing to accept the risk
because it is cheaper than the
true KSB pump. By taking
down these manufacturers
before they get too big we pro-
tect our brands, quality and
sales reputation.”
Convey Cooperation
50 March, 2018
Franz Bosbach says that
KSB is highly active in track-
ing down counterfeiters and
getting them closed down.
“The problem is that it can
take a long time to take them
down. For a single company
like us, it is difficult to get a
platform to take down a coun-
terfeiter’s site so it was for
that reason we teamed up with
Convey,” he reports. “They
have established connections
with all the major platforms
and this gives them consider-
able influence.”
Italian-based Convey is an
internet brand protection
agency and hunts down fakes.
The internet is probably the
cornerstone of the counterfeit
industry, and Convey has a
dedicated team of engineers to
develop new products to
detect counterfeiters and
multi-lingual experts in inter-
national property rights. Once
a counterfeiter has been
tracked down, Convey take the
appropriate action to defend
its clients’ brands. Whilst
China leads the world in the
manufacture and sales of
counterfeit products, the irony
is that some Chinese manufac-
turers are turning to the
resources of companies like
Convey to protect their own
products.
“Throughout the world,
there are a great many plat-
forms which make it easy to
set up an online shop,” says
Michele Provera, Vice-
President IPR Protection
Convey SRL. “In the pumps
and valves industries, there
are the manufacturers who
make counterfeit products
and traders who sell counter-
feit products. Many of these
traders sell any number of
pump and valve brands and
not all customers are end-
users. Thus the counterfeit
sales chain is complex. The
internet provides counterfeit-
ers with a world-wide market
and anonymity. Then there are
spare parts, where the num-
ber of units purchased can run
into thousands.”
Michele Provera continues:
“In our first year of working
with KSB we concentrated on
manufacturers selling in
China and South East Asia as
they are the starting off a
point in the trade. It is very
difficult to shut down the man-
ufacturers, but we can take
steps to reduce and shut-down
their sales over the internet.
We have sophisticated tech-
nologies called ‘crawlers’
designed in-house that can
analyze hundreds of thou-
sands of web pages on the
internet each day. We are able
to detect all the shops selling
KSB products and we can see
the products that they are sell-
ing, the prices, suppliers and
where they have come from.”
KSB recognizes that coun-
terfeiting has been a problem
for a long time, but identifying
rogue sellers has been difficult
and taking them down took a
long time and involved consid-
erable resources. With the
expansion of the internet and
growth in counterfeiters set-
ting up websites, the incidents
of counterfeiting have a higher
visibility so it is possible to
take them down more effec-
tively. However, as soon as
KSB takes a site down which
has been selling counterfeit
products, the site re-emerges
often selling competitors’
products.
Convey has been checking
twenty online trading plat-
forms and eight social media
channels for KSB to root out
counterfeits. In future, patent
and design rights are to be
added to the monitoring of
brand and trademark rights. It
is also possible that the num-
ber of trading platforms to be
checked will be increased and
that the project will be further
expanded globally.
“KSB has a great many
registered trademarks and
patent rights so we can see if
the products being offered are
registered,” says Provera. “If
they are not then we can insti-
gate enforcement procedures
to take the offending websites
down. The seller receives a
warning and if they fail to
respond we alert their service
provider to the violation of
intellectual property rights via
their network. This involves
issuing Take Down notices to
the website hosting providers
informing them of infringe-
ments, for they are legally
obliged to cease transmission
in such instances. If they do
not take action, then they
become liable to prosecution
by KSB. This approach is very
effective. Most sellers remove
their offers after the first
warning.”
Many websites operate a
penalty points system, so
when the first notice of
infringement is issued they
will be served a penalty point.
If they ignore this, a second
penalty is issued and again if
this is ignored then the site is
shut down with immediate
effect. Within the pumps and
valves industry, it is highly
probable that the trader is
selling any number of manu-
facturers’ brands, so by shut-
ting down the website, the
trader can lose its entire port-
folio of products. This
approach is more effective
than instigating legal proce-
dures which are expensive,
complicated and take a long
time. In the meantime, the
seller can move their trade
elsewhere or continue under a
new name. Convey makes sure
an offer is taken off the inter-
net within days and that the
seller is removed from the
marketplace.
The China Connection
In China, arresting the peo-
ple behind the counterfeits is
one of the central elements of
the work with KSB. It is not
enough to merely delete a
counterfeiter’s offer. The goal
must be to shut down this
shop on the respective trading
platform and ensure through
constant checks that the trad-
er does not open a new shop.
This requires close coopera-
tion between the parties
involved.
Due to the excellent con-
tacts between Convey and the
platform provider Alibaba and
their IP complaint systems,
these infringements of law can
be quickly eliminated. This is
also in Alibaba’s interest since
the company does not wish to
find these infringements of
law in the wider Chinese e-
shopping marketplace either.
According to Michele Provera
those responsible at Alibaba
want to ensure that Western
companies have secure access
and are able to examine the
associated legal bases. Convey
takes care of that for KSB as
its team includes law enforce-
ment specialists who are qual-
ified in trademark and patent
law and speak Mandarin
Chinese fluently. In close coop-
eration with its subsidiary in
Shanghai and local lawyers,
KSB takes legal action against
serious violations of law.
Summary
The pump industry is prob-
ably one of the most exposed
to counterfeiting and it is huge
and is worth many billions of
dollars. For KSB, and for a
great many other companies,
the major problem is what
happens when a company
buys what it believes to be a
genuine product and it turns
out to be a fake. The failure of
a pump or valve can have very
serious consequences, so
should such a situation arise
then the user will usually take
issue with the manufacturer.
Problems can also arise when
a counterfeit component is fit-
ted as a replacement in a gen-
uine KSB pump and then
causes damage to the pump.
Investigating claims for com-
pensation can be complex and
costly and the onus is on the
manufacturer to prove that
the product is a counterfeit.
Where litigation is
enforced, courts may well
acknowledge that the product
is a counterfeit. However, they
will argue that it is not suffi-
cient to prove that it is a coun-
terfeit but to demonstrate
that the manufacturer has
taken action against the coun-
terfeiter. If it can be shown
that efforts were not under-
taken then the manufacturer
can be charged with negli-
gence. What KSB is doing by
working with Convey is to
show that it is taking all possi-
ble steps to close eliminate
counterfeiters internationally
and protect its patents and
trademarks.
About the Author
Bryan Orchard is an inter-
national freelance journalist
who specializes in water &
environmental engineering.
EXPRESS WATER
REGD. WITH RNI NO. MAHENG/2017/74894