Water Company of the Year
Desalination Company of the Year
Desalination Deal of the Year
Water Project of the Year
Wastewater Project of the Year
Water Reuse Project of the Year
Desalination Plant of the Year
Industrial Water Project of the Year
Water Performance Initiative of the Year
Water Technology Company of the Year
Water Company of the Year
For the water company that made the most significant contribution to the development of the international water sector in 2013.
Beijing Enterprises Water Group
What is it?
A Hong Kong-listed developer of water and wastewater projects.
What has it done?
BEWG continued to leave its competitors in the dust last year by maintaining its unstoppable portfolio expansion in the Chinese project market. More importantly, it made a major breakthrough in the international sector, establishing a valuable bridgehead from which to expand further.
What makes it special?
BEWG’s takeover of Veolia Water’s Portuguese contract portfolio in 2013 marked the first time that a Chinese private water operator had taken charge of an established reference base in Europe. Not only will the deal save the company immeasurable legwork in terms of grassroots business development, it will provide an important base from which to develop its municipal and industrial business in Europe and beyond.
Big-time project developers need bigtime access to finance. In 2013, BEWG proved in spades that it enjoys wide-ranging support from a variety of sources. The company drew $4 billion of demand for its inaugural $500 million international bond issue, and secured a $240 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to further its ambitions in the municipal reuse market in China. Meanwhile, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah injected $152 million of fresh equity into BEWG, becoming its third-largest shareholder.
Size matters in the competitive Chinese project market, and last year, Beijing Enterprises Water proved again that it was king of the hill, adding an incredible 5.8 million m3/d of treatment capacity to its portfolio, acquiring assets from domestic and international rivals. With a domestic strategy like that, BEWG’s international ambitions can no longer be ignored.
Winner: GE Water & Process Technologies
What is it?
The water subsidiary of General Electric.
What has it done?
Over the past seven years, GE Water has transformed itself from a bundle of overpriced acquisitions into the most formidable industrial water company in the world, positioned at the centre of the water-energy nexus. In 2013, it was arguably the most successful water company in the business, advancing its activities on all fronts, while many of its competitors struggled.
What makes it special?
While other companies have tried and failed in the past to offer a full portfolio of technologies, chemicals and services, GE has made a unique success of this combination, proving that it has an unrivalled understanding of its customers’ businesses.
GE Water has consistently placed itself at the cutting edge of innovation right across its portfolio. From its pioneering use of membrane distillation in treating brines from the unconventional gas industry, to its development of all-polymer dispersants to complement reverse osmosis-based boiler feed water treatment, GE Water is developing the technologies which deliver to its shareholders, its customers and the environment.
GE Water’s successful projects in 2013 include phase one of the A$1 billion Kenya Water Treatment Plant in Australia, which uses a complete suite of technologies including UF, ion exchange, RO, and brine concentration, to reuse coal seam gas produced water for agricultural and municipal use – an astounding technological and environmental achievement.
Severn Trent plc
What is it?
The fourth-largest private water company in the UK, quoted on the London Stock Exchange and serving more than 8 million customers. Its non-regulated arm, Severn Trent Services, supplies water treatment solutions and operating services to municipal, industrial and military clients in the UK, the US, Ireland and Italy.
What has it done?
Severn Trent had a landmark year in 2013. It took its contract operations business in the United States to a whole new level whilst maintaining its position at the forefront of the debate on regulated private water in the UK, all whilst successfully fending off a hostile takeover bid and ensuring a smooth transition for its outgoing chief executive.
What makes it special?
Access to capital markets when it matters is vital if UK private water companies are to fund their ambitious capex programmes and earn a fair return on their asset base. Having become the first UK water company to launch a retail bond in 2012, Severn Trent’s dynamic treasury team continued its pioneering streak in 2013, executing the company’s largest ever bond, a popular £500 million 13-year issue which was oversubscribed in a matter of hours.
While virtually every other regulated UK water company retreated from the international water services market with its tail between its legs, Severn Trent has consistently maintained its presence. Following a sustained pruning phase, 2013 witnessed a return to the acquisitions rhythm of prior years, and the group now has an enviable portfolio of contracts and treatment technologies which will enable it to capitalise on key growth trends in its end markets.
Severn Trent Services’ US contract operations business had one of its most successful years ever in 2013. Its ability to capitalise on opportunities ignored by its competitors continues to mark it out as a pioneer. Its regular string of contract signings was supplemented by the acquisition of a portfolio of contracts from SWWC Services, while its daring – and victorious – bid for the renewal of a previously loss-making contract in Connecticut had its rivals wondering what they had missed.
VA Tech Wabag
What is it?
The publicly listed Indian treatment plant supplier and operator which has transformed itself into a formidable international player since floating on the stock exchange in 2010.
What has it done?
2013 was the year in which Wabag reasserted its position at the top table of international private water companies. Its strategy of engaging with selective emerging markets paid huge dividends last year, as the company romped through Africa and South East Asia picking up a variety of new contracts, while hiring staff to launch a fresh assault on Latin America.
What makes it special?
The company’s solid reference base in its home market of India has proved to be a valuable business development tool in furthering the group’s international ambitions, as it proved that it is equally at home supplying large-scale turnkey treatment plants to municipal customers in Turkey and the Philippines as it is providing bespoke industrial solutions in Libya and India. In 2013, it achieved the full 100,000m3/d production capacity for the first time at the newly commissioned reverse osmosis plant in Nemmeli, India, whilst bringing online an expanded SWRO facility at Sohar Industrial Port in Oman. It also launched a bold new business development strategy in Latin America.
Africa is the new frontier for the Asian water majors, although few have made a major impact to date. Wabag is the exception, securing its inaugural contract in Tanzania last year, while demonstrating dogged persistence in its successful bid to secure contracts in post-revolutionary Egypt and Libya.
Wabag is a master at turning difficult situations to its advantage. After withdrawing staff from Libya as the previous regime imploded, the company was on hand to successfully negotiate the signing of a major thermal desalination contract at the end of last year. It scored a similar coup in Nepal, winning a contract to supply an 85,000m3/d water treatment plant as the first phase of the long-delayed but vital Melamchi Water Supply Project.
Desalination Company of the Year
For the desalination plant supplier which made the greatest overall contribution to the desalination industry in 2013.
Doosan
What is it?
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is an engineering, procurement and construction contractor with skills in both multi-stage flash and multiple effect distillation. Its US division, Doosan Hydro Technology, specialises in membrane desalination. Both are divisions of Doosan Corporation, a South Korean conglomerate.
What has it done?
Doosan seemed to be everywhere in 2013. When it was not commissioning Korea’s largest desalination plant, the 45,460m3/d project at Busan Gijang, it was fighting for – and winning – the right to build the 216,000m3/d SWRO for the Escondida copper mine project in Chile. Its continued commitment to the Middle East saw the commissioning of the 240,000m3/d Jeddah RO phase III plant.
What makes it special?
Doosan’s mastery of the art of desalination – both thermal and membrane – means that no other company in the sector has over-achieved so consistently since the end of the last desalination boom in 2008. Its unique DAF system with ball filtration, used in the intake for the Busan plant, is a prime example of the company’s technical prowess.
The competition to secure the Escondida project – Doosan’s first large-scale project outside the Middle East – was truly fierce, and allowed the group’s technical competitiveness to come to the fore. Doosan Hydro Technology’s industrial reference base in Latin America was further boosted by a contract to supply ultrafiltration and double-pass RO systems to Colombia’s largest refinery in Barrancabermeja.
Shipping MSF units to the Ras Al-Khair plant in Saudi Arabia at the same time as successfully completing the Kingdom’s largest working membrane plant in Jeddah underscored the breadth of Doosan’s desalination dynamism in 2013. The company also underlined its commitment to further innovation by opening a water R&D centre in Dammam, Saudi Arabia last year.
IDE Technologies
What is it?
An Israel-based EPC contractor and developer of desalination plants.
What has it done?
Bringing the largest SWRO plant in the world online is no small achievement, and yet the commissioning of the Soreq facility, with a maximum capacity of 624,000m3/d, was only one of a number of milestones passed by IDE last year. It successfully started up China’s largest desalination plant at the Tianjin SDIC power station (200,000m3/d), as well as a 60,000m3/d facility at the Vasilikos Power Plant in Cyprus. Its business development efforts did not skip a beat, meanwhile, as it secured the contract to build Reliance Industries’ first SWRO plant at Jamnagar in India, whilst starting work on the 189,250m3/d Carlsbad project in California.
What makes it special?
Not content with 400 references in 40 countries over four decades, IDE continues to innovate in order to meet the demands of its clients. Last August, its eco-friendly PROGREEN reverse osmosis technology was chosen for a new desalination plant serving the five-star Hayman resort on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The sensitivity of the surrounding natural environment meant that a chemical-free, low-energy system was the ideal choice to replace the island’s outdated and energyintensive thermal unit.
The raging drought in California has brought the issue of rainfall-independent water resourcing infrastructure to the top of the state’s political agenda as never before. The completion of more than 25% of the ground-breaking Carlsbad desalination project within budget last year is proof that IDE and its construction partners are taking the challenge seriously. When completed in 2016, the plant will offer residents of the Golden State a truly drought-proof water source.
IDE’s research and development programme is the envy of the desalination industry. The company signed a strategic technology partnership with Beijing Enterprises Water Group last year, while embarking on a research partnership with Clean Harbors to increase the reliability of mechanical vapour compression (MVC) evaporators to treat oil sands produced water in Canada. It is initiatives like these which will ensure that IDE remains at the cutting edge of the desalination industry for at least another four decades.
Winner: Qatar Electricity & Water Company
What is it?
The largest power and desalination developer in Qatar, holding a desalination portfolio with a total capacity of 1.65 million m3/d. QEWC is majority government-owned, with a portion of its shares traded on the Qatar Exchange.
What has it done?
Having negotiated investments in power generation facilities in Oman and Jordan, QEWC formalised its international water ambitions in 2013, launching the $1 billion Nebras Power Company – in which it will hold a 60% stake – to invest in power generation and desalination opportunities overseas. Closer to home, financial close was achieved on a complex deal for the 163,656m3/d Ras Abu Fontas A2 independent water project.
What makes it special?
The financing of the RAF A2 complex was a groundbreaking deal which marked the first time a privately developed project of this scale had been fully financed by domestic Qatari banks. As well as being a significant coup for the Qatari financial system, it also marked a bold step forward for Islamic project financing in the Gulf.
QEWC’s reputation as the desal developer of choice in its home market was underscored by the decision – by national water utility Kahramaa – for QEWC to take an equity lead in the next major greenfield power and water project to be procured in the state. It will hold a 60% stake in the 2,000MW and 120MIGD (545,520m3/d) Facility D plant, which is currently under tender.
Focusing on its home market has given QEWC an enviable position in the Qatari power and desal sector, and allowed it to accumulate the cash and the expertise to seek out opportunities elsewhere. The creation of a fund through which to consolidate its international power and water interests demonstrates a towering ambition for expansion, and cements the group’s commitment to developing its reputation as a regional powerhouse.
Seven Seas Water Corporation
What is it?
A project developer with its roots in the Caribbean, specialising in desalination and wastewater treatment services.
What has it done?
In 2013, Seven Seas made strides into the hotly contested Latin American market, building up teams at subsidiaries in Mexico, Peru and Chile, where it is developing a deal to supply a 7,949m3/d SWRO plant to serve the Bahia Caldera Fishery and other clients. It also commissioned two SWRO facilities in the US Virgin Islands – a 12,490m3/d plant on St. Thomas and an 8,327m3/d facility on St. Croix – on a build-operate-own basis. The company also successfully executed a 5.5 MGD (20,817m3/d) plant at Point Fortin in Trinidad and Tobago.
What makes it special?
Seven Seas’ efforts to build a formidable business development team for the LatAm market really began to pay dividends last year. The development of the Bahia Caldera project demonstrates how the company has built on a string of references in its traditional Caribbean stronghold to expand overseas. Seven Seas is now using the same strategy to move into Asia and the Middle East.
For years, delivering a desalination project in Trinidad and Tobago had looked all but impossible. Seven Seas turned that philosophy on its head: the Point Fortin project was completed in the face of numerous obstacles, including site and permitting issues, space constraints, and the need to rehabilitate and replace much of the existing site’s infrastructure.
The company’s build-own-operate agreement with the Virgin Islands Power and Water Authority means that it is now responsible for 100% of the potable water supply to the entire territory. The St. Croix and St. Thomas plants replaced existing costly thermal facilities, ensuring significant savings for the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and the population of the islands, as well as underwriting the security of their water supplies for many years to come.
Desalination Deal of the Year
For the deal, closed during 2013, which represents the most significant step forward for the industry in terms of financial innovation or in meeting the demands of challenging circumstances.
Az-Zour North 1 IWPP, Kuwait
What is it?
The first Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) in Kuwait. The co-located 1,500MW power plant and 486,000m3/d MED desalination facility represents the first project to be successfully procured by Kuwait’s Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB) under the country’s 2008 privatisation law, and the first stage of the massive power and water build-out at Az-Zour North. It will be funded by a $1.8 billion finance package from the private sector.
Who is responsible?
The PTB is the client, advised by a team comprising BNP Paribas (lead and financial), Chadbourne & Parke (legal) and Lahmeyer International (technical). The winning developer team was made up of GdF Suez, Sumitomo and A.H. Al Sagar and Brothers, which funded the project on an 80:20 debt to equity basis. JBIC provided $645 million of debt finance, while the $785 million dollar-denominated commercial debt package was split amongst National Bank of Kuwait, Standard Chartered, BTMU and SMBC. NEXI provided $283 million of 23-year political and commercial risk insurance cover for the Japanese commercial lenders. Allen & Overy acted as legal adviser both to NEXI and the commercial lenders.
What makes it special?
The success of the project underscores Kuwait’s national commitment to making PPPs work. Despite political opposition and taxing legislative demands that required an early IPO of the project company and a 40-year contract lifespan, the power and water purchase agreement was signed at a very competitive rate for both developer and client.
The success of the Az-Zour project finance package as a pathfinder for PPPs in Kuwait means that the PTB can forge on at an accelerated rate with its ambitious pipeline of much-needed infrastructure projects.
Despite the international nature of the deal, Kuwaiti entities will play crucial roles as developers, contractors and lenders. The project will bring benefits to the local economy through the involvement of NBK as the most significant commercial lender, as well as paying dividends to individual investors in Kuwait through an upcoming public share distribution.
Paraquita Bay, British Virgin Islands
What is it?
A $43 million finance package signed in 2013 to support the construction of a 2.3MIGD (10,400m3/d) seawater reverse osmosis plant under a 16-year build-ownoperate- transfer contract on Tortola, the largest and most populous of the British Virgin Islands. The innovative contract also involves the construction of two wastewater treatment plants serving more than 15,000 people.
Who is responsible?
The plant is being built by a whollyowned subsidiary of UK-based Biwater, with technical support from Arup, and is due for commissioning in 2014. The $43 million debt financing was supplied by Barclays through a 7.75-year loan package carrying an interest rate of Libor +350bps. The funding was supported by a 100% repayment guarantee from UK Export Finance.
What makes it special?
Biwater’s unique vision to supply a state-of-the-art desalination plant whilst at the same time extending the wastewater treatment infrastructure on the island is truly inspirational. The new funding package will make this a reality, enabling the company to supply crucial drinking water for just $2.84/m3, less than half the price the island’s water authority currently pays for desalinated water.
The involvement of UK Export Finance and the strong fundamentals underpinning the project gave Barclays the confidence to take the unusual step of acting as sole debt provider to a foreign currency infrastructure project.
Biwater’s bold decision to undertake construction using its own funds in advance of receiving external debt support reduced the element of construction risk in the final loan pricing, whilst minimising the interruptions to the successful delivery of the project.
Shuweihat S2 refinancing, Abu Dhabi
What is it?
A $2.3 billion funding package to refinance project company debt originally taken out to fund the Shuweihat S2 IWPP in Abu Dhabi. It features a trailblazing $825 million international project bond with an average life of 21 years, as well as a $1.475 billion 18-year loan package involving JBIC and a host of commercial lenders.
Who is responsible?
The Shuweihat 2 project is owned by Ruwais Power Company, a joint venture comprising TAQA (54%), the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (6%), GdF Suez (20%), Marubeni (10%) and Osaka Gas (10%). Six banks were mandated as bookrunners for the $825 million bond issue: BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered. Trowers & Hamlins acted as UAE legal counsel to the lenders and bond underwriters, while Milbank acted as international counsel.
What makes it special?
The innovative use of project bonds marked the most significant deployment of fixed-income securities in the Middle Eastern water project finance market to date. Not only did it take pressure off commerical lenders and ECAs, it was a major feature of an attractive low-cost refinancing package which replaced a historically expensive long-term loan signed at the height of the financial crisis.
Apart from diversifying the project’s investor base to include a broader pool of accounts, the project sponsors were able to take money out of the project at a relatively early stage, benefitting from a special shareholder distribution paid out of the proceeds of the bond.
Following a roadshow canvassing investors in the Middle East, US, Europe and Asia, the bond generated some $2.2 billion of investor interest – much of it from the United States. The fact that it was able to price successfully during Ramadan underscores the international nature of the investor base, and the momentum behind the trade bodes well for the further development of the project bond market in the Middle East.
Winner:Victorian Desalination Project refinancing, Australia
What is it?
A multi-stage A$3.7 billion (US$3.3 billion) deal to refinance project debt originally taken out in 2009 to fund the construction of the 411,000m3/d Victorian Desalination Project. The refinancing enabled the project company to repay expensive debt negotiated at the height of the global financial crisis and extend maturities significantly, whilst opening up the financing of Australian water infrastructure to new investor bases in the Australian and US bond markets.
Who is responsible?
The Victorian Desalination Project was established under a 30-year PPP agreement between the Victorian State Government and the AquaSure consortium. Lead managers for the seven- and ten-year bond issues – which raised more than half a billion dollars from institutional investors in the US, Australia and Asia – were CBA, HSBC, NAB and Westpac. Those financial institutions also committed funds to the commercial loan portion of a package which featured A$-denominated tranches repayable after three, five and seven years. With Macquarie acting as financial advisor, the deal also attracted funds from BTMU, Credit Agricole, Mizuho, Scotia, SMBC and SMTB.
What makes it special?
With rate step-ups looming on the original loan package, AquaSure was under pressure to refinance the project debt at more attractive rates. The new package of loans and bonds significantly reduced the ongoing debt service load and reduced refinancing risk by extending the average tenor of the debt.
With refinancing risk – and reward – being shared between AquaSure and the Victorian State Government, the entire process was subject to a detailed State Government consent process prior to completion, to ensure the best outcome for water customers. The refinancing will generate savings over the term of the new facilities, thereby reducing water tariffs at a time when the cost of desalination in Australia is under scrutiny as never before.
Australian state governments are increasingly discussing the monetisation of infrastructure assets. The innovative use of bonds as part of the Victorian Desalination Project refinancing marks a major step forward in terms of opening up an entirely new investor base for the funding of Australian water infrastructure.
Water Project of the Year
For the water supply project, completed during 2013, that shows the greatest innovation in terms of optimising its physical or environmental footprint.
Abuja water supply project, Nigeria
What is it?
Nigeria’s capital Abuja typifies the trend towards rapid urbanisation; officials project that the population of the capital territory will double to ten million by 2018. The Nigerian government’s response has been assertive, damming the Gurara river and financing two new water treatment plants to avert a potential water crisis. 2013 saw the commissioning of both these 240,000m3/d plants, breaking the city’s reliance on unreliable and extortionate tankered water.
Who is responsible?
Biwater International undertook the design, construction and commissioning of both plants, as well as a sludge clarifier treatment facility. The feedwater is sourced from the Lower Usama Dam and the new Gurara Dam, and supplied to Abuja and surrounding districts. The Federal Capital Territory Water Board operates the facilities.
What makes it special?
Biwater’s efforts to minimise the plants’ environmental footprint were nothing short of inspired. Literally building into an uninhabitable local hillside, the construction team worked with nature to eliminate the need for pumping, leaving the distribution of both raw and treated water to gravity. This had the added effect of slashing operational and maintenance costs.
Using sludge blanket lamella clarifiers, with their unique inclined plates, was another important decision, cutting by two thirds the space traditionally occupied by clarifiers in the city’s other two treatment plants.
With many forecasts singling out the oil-rich state as a future economic giant, Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit offers huge opportunities for intrepid companies. By training locals at an onsite lecture theatre and using Nigerian labour, Biwater has demonstrated its commitment to the country and secured an enviable foothold in a market with vast future potential.
Rajasthan rural supply project, India
What is it?
In the parched deserts of Rajasthan, on India’s tense militarised border with Pakistan, a former nuclear test site has been transformed by a remarkable new supply project. 100,000 residents, formerly dependent on walking up to eight kilometres to contaminated boreholes, are now connected to a modern piped system, courtesy of the Pokhran-Falsoond-Balotra- Siwana (PFBS) water supply project, which transfers and treats water from the Indira Gandhi Munak Canal.
Who is responsible?
SPML Infra secured an EPC and a tenyear O&M contract from the client, the Public Health Engineering Department of Rajasthan.
What makes it special?
Although the project’s chief objective was to bring water to remote communities, its proximity to the Pakistani border meant that the bulk demands of the defence forces also had to be met. Add to that a thirsty local textile industry and you have enough different clients to alarm even the most experienced of international contractors. SPML’s unmatched expertise in the domestic market meant that it was able to step up to the challenge with ease.
Involving 80km of piping, 125,000m3/d of capacity across three water treatment plants, and two raw water reservoirs holding a combined 600,000m3, this project was a massive logistical undertaking. SPML’s astounding achievement in bringing water to the deepest desert interior has since led to two pipe extension contracts, which will bring the distribution system to almost 400km and supply a million people in 580 villages. Taking this project as the blueprint, Rajasthan’s government has already awarded ten more regional water supply projects to SPML, with a total value of over $350 million.
Thundering industrial expansion and an ever-rising population are competing with growing desertification across India, meaning that water utilities must always keep one eye on the future. SPML has installed a classic example of prescient crisis capacity, with raw water storage facilities prepared for up to 30 consecutive days of canal closure.
Riyadh water supply enhancement programme, Saudi Arabia
What is it?
The Riyadh water supply enhancement programme is proof that with the necessary funding and relentless political will, water infrastructure mega-projects can be delivered in a fraction of the usual time. The project encompasses a network of 43 groundwater wells, 27 brackish water desalination plants and 29 reservoirs spread across Saudi Arabia’s capital city, built at breakneck speed to meet a 200,000m3/d potable supply shortage before the summer of 2013.
Who is responsible?
The water treatment elements of the contract were carried out by two contractors, Wetico and Suez Environnement subsidiary Degrémont, on behalf of the client National Water Company (NWC), the water utility serving the Kingdom’s major cities.
What makes it special?
A number of factors conspired to confront Riyadh with an unexpected and formidable water supply shortage in 2012. NWC brought this emergency project to the table at an unprecedented speed, squeezing two years of design, procurement and construction into just six months. This achievement has smashed the industry’s efficiency records and cemented NWC’s reputation as an outstanding performer.
The political and organisational coherence that drove this project to a successful conclusion was simply stunning. NWC’s prestigious public standing allowed it to call upon an array of contractors representing some of the most skilled companies in the global water sector. It also used its considerable clout to persuade customs officials to speed up the processing of the 450 separate shipments which came in from suppliers around the world.
This project was never intended to be permanent. With this in mind, NWC ensured that as many parts as possible, including the reverse osmosis units, are modular, so as to enable easy transfer to other sites in future. It is this sort of vision which marks the company out as a regional pioneer at the forefront of developing an increasingly sustainable water resourcing strategy in a hugely challenging environmental and financial climate.
T-Bar Ranch, USA
What is it?
The T-Bar Ranch Well Field Development and Delivery Project represents a race against time to supply the drought-ridden Texas city of Midland with 20MGD (75,700m3/d) of piped water from the Pecos Valley Aquifer almost 60 miles away. The Colorado River Municipal Water District’s inability to supply Midland’s summer 2013 quota forced the city to take immediate action. With a relentless oil industry drilling across the landscape, the city needed more water, and in May 2012, it had just 12 months to secure additional supplies.
Who is responsible?
Having bought T-Bar Ranch and its attendant water rights in 1965, the City of Midland contracted with a separate public agency, Midland County Fresh Water Supply District No. 1 (MCFWSD1), to put a distribution system in place. MCFWSD1 in turn contracted Black & Veatch (B&V) and Garney Construction to design and build the requisite infrastructure by May 2013. The consortium employed Parkhill, Smith and Cooper, LBG Guyton, and Hilliard Energy to bring the best local skills on board.
What makes it special?
B&V and Garney Construction demonstrated their capability to make things happen at speed with this truly unique project. Set an aggressive 12-month schedule to purchase land from 55 landowners, navigate 200 oil pipe and road crossings and sink 45 wells, the consortium came in 17 days ahead of schedule, earning a much-deserved performance bonus.
This project is a brilliant example of streamlined project management. As Hilliard Energy took the land acquisitions vanguard, B&V installed the wells, pumps and storage facilities, ordering materials even as it submitted designs, while Garney Construction built the well field collection system and the entire 60-mile pipeline. Midland has the highest employment rate in the USA, leading to concerns over a lack of trained operatives to implement the project. Garney Construction and B&V, with subsidiary Overland Contracting, Inc., overcame the challenge by drawing upon their extensive labour networks.
Nowhere is the innovation of this project more evident than in the financing of the deal. A consortium of local banks, recognising the significance of the project, pulled together to provide bridge loans to kick off construction early. Meanwhile, city coffers were protected by the buffer of the MCFWSD1, which raised nearly $200 million in bonds in one day, including short-term securities issued to repay the interim bank financing before longer-term revenue notes were sold.
Wastewater Project of the Year
For the wastewater treatment plant, commissioned during 2013, that shows the greatest innovation in terms of optimising its physical or environmental footprint.
New Cairo WWTP, Egypt
What is it?
A 250,000m3/d wastewater treatment plant designed to support the explosive growth of one of the Egyptian capital’s newest satellite cities, New Cairo. The concessionaires managed to dodge every conceivable form of social, political and financial pitfall to bring the long-anticipated prototype for Egypt’s wastewater PPP programme online last September.
Who is responsible?
The Egyptian Ministry of Housing, Utilities & Urban Development selected Orasqualia, a 50/50 joint venture between aqualia and Orascom Construction Industries, to carry out a 20-year build-own-operate-transfer contract. The IFC and DevCo (representing the UK, Sweden, Holland and Austria) joined forces in an advisory role.
What makes it special?
The New Cairo WWTP was a response to alarming population growth forecasts, which predicted that New Cairo would expand from 550,000 people to more than three million in 2029. However, the contractors, who won the award in 2009, did not predict the social uncertainty, political unrest and economic crash which followed the 2011 revolution. Orasqualia’s resilience in continuing construction through three successive governments is nothing short of remarkable.
The conventional process train treats the influent to tertiary standards before the water is reused to irrigate green spaces in the notoriously crowded capital. Capturing biogas from the anaerobic digestion process and thickening sludge for reuse as agricultural compost represent additional ways in which Egypt, like the rest of the Middle East, is waking up to the value-fromwaste imperative.
As the first major privately financed wastewater project in Egypt, the New Cairo WWTP was always going to be a blueprint for the PPP Central Unit’s ambitious rollout of wastewater infrastructure. It offers tangible evidence that regardless of political upheaval, the country is committed to bringing 21st-century services to its citizens.
Taboada WWTP, Peru
What is it?
Last year saw Lima, the world’s secondlargest desert city, emerge triumphantly into a more sustainable era with the commissioning of the Taboada wastewater treatment plant. The colossal facility, with a maximum capacity of 1.8 million m3/d, gives the marine environment a chance to recover from the 20m3 of untreated sewage which was formerly pumped into it every second.
Who is responsible?
Spain’s Tedagua was awarded a 25-year build-operate-transfer concession by the state PPP agency ProInversión. The plant will treat wastewater collected by Lima’s state-owned utility, Sedapal. Halcrow, a subsidiary of CH2M Hill, carried out the initial design.
What makes it special?
Taboada is the largest wastewater treatment plant in South America, transforming Lima in one fell swoop from a notorious polluter with a dismal sewage treatment record of just 16% into a regional leader, delivering 75% of the city’s wastewater back into the water cycle as treated effluent.
The mechanical treatment process employs 22 of the largest screening filters in the world (3,000mm in diameter), rough grates and 1mm fine screening. Integral to the treated effluent discharge system – which disposes of treated wastewater almost four kilometres out to sea – are the 250 diffusers which allow the effluent to be assimilated into the marine environment in under three hours.
When Tedagua won the contract, it was one of the last major PPPs left standing after political opposition from local authorities scuppered several concessions. With plans for a tertiary treatment upgrade and potential reuse for urban parks and gardens being discussed, Tedagua has an excellent opportunity to prove the ingenuity of the private sector to the sceptical Peruvian public.
Tubli WWTP upgrade, Bahrain
What is it?
A unique solution to an all-too-common problem: how to increase treatment capacity without expanding a site’s physical footprint. With an overloaded sewage works spewing sludge solids and ammonia-heavy effluent into Tubli Bay, Bahrain’s Ministry of Works turned to Bluewater Bio for a bespoke capacity upgrade.
Who is responsible?
After initially considering a membrane bio-reactor system, the Ministry of Works contracted Bluewater Bio to retrofit its patented HYBACS (Hybrid Activated Sludge) technology and operate the system for one year.
What makes it special?
Landtake in Bahrain is more than just an environmental consideration; in the country with the fourth-highest population density on earth, space is an existential issue. For this reason, a technology which can increase treatment capacity by 150% with minimal greenfield infrastructure was a godsend. HYBACS’ use of biomass to remove nutrients and ammonia from sludge is at the core of Bluewater Bio’s offering, and was a perfect solution to Tubli’s overflow issue.
Installation of the new technology was both quick and effective. Bluewater Bio upgraded two of the ten aeration lanes and four of the twelve clarifiers before deploying HYBACS to turn 40,000m3/d of capacity into 100,000m3/d. The technology was particularly suited to off-site development, allowing the existing works to continue operating at capacity during installation.
This project falls under Bahrain Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s ambitious state redevelopment master plan, which places a strong emphasis on infrastructure improvement and efficiency. For Bluewater Bio, the plant represents the first large-scale reference site for its proprietary HYBACS technology.
Warsaw wastewater treatment system, Poland
What is it?
A game-changing upgrade to Warsaw’s wastewater treatment network, including the construction of 30km of wastewater pipes, a tunnel under the Vistula river, a sludge incineration facility and an impressive new treatment plant which more than doubles peak treatment capacity to 515,000m3/d. The completion of the four-year project is a significant milestone in Poland’s race to meet European urban wastewater standards.
Who is responsible?
For the Czajka wastewater treatment plant, Warbud – the Polish subsidiary of Vinci Construction – led a consortium of three Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies subsidiaries and German company WTE. For the sludge incineration plant, the construction consortium was led by Veolia and included three VWST subsidiaries and Warbud. Siemens, in partnership with Hach Lange, provided the automated process control system and low-voltage power supply services.
What makes it special?
In 2004, when Poland joined the European Union, Warsaw treated less than 40% of its wastewater, while the rest was dumped raw into the Vistula river, from where it flowed out into the Baltic Sea. With the completion of this project, which was part-financed by the EU Cohesion Fund, the city’s treatment capacity has skyrocketed to 100%. The Czajka WWTP is the largest in Eastern Europe, serving a population equivalent of 2.1 million.
Subject to the full scrutiny of EU regulators, this project has exemplary green credentials. While the WWTP meets stringent EU discharge and emissions demands, the incineration plant uses the latest odour prevention and noise dampening techniques, and releases flue gas of a quality well within the required limits.
Demands on the environment are kept to an absolute minimum with the use of steam turbines and gas motors powered by biogas from sludge methanisation. This makes the WWTP entirely self-sufficient in heat, and able to cover up to 30% of its energy needs. The system is essentially emergency-proof, as the facility can supply enough of its own energy to keep vital engines running even in the event of a power blackout.
Water Reuse Project of the Year
For the project, delivered during 2013, that represents the most significant advancement in terms of water reuse.
Big Spring Raw Water Production Facility, USA
What is it?
A groundbreaking reuse facility with a design capacity of 2.5 MGD (9,462m3/d), which in April 2013 started refining treated wastewater to potable standards. Although the produced water is blended with reservoir water in ratios as high as 20 parts to 80, the process is classified as direct potable reuse (DPR) since it channels treated wastewater into a conventional drinking water source without touching an environmental buffer.
Who is responsible?
Colorado River Municipal Water District (CRMWD) contracted Freese & Nichols to design the plant, and CSA Construction for the construction element. Tertiary effluent from the Big Spring WWTP is run through Pall Microza MF and Toray RO membranes before undergoing advanced oxidation treatment using a system supplied by Trojan UV.
What makes it special?
This project constitutes the most serious advance in DPR applications in the USA to date. As the first large public agency to embrace DPR, CRMWD has demonstrated its untiring commitment to diversifying its water supply options in drought-stricken Texas. With reservoir levels dwindling to a critical 0.19% in 2012, and a population boom and industrial activity putting an increasing strain on water resources, Big Spring’s decision came not a moment too late.
The repurified effluent, subject to 75 operational and quality checks by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, emerges cleaner than the high-TDS raw reservoir supply. This exceptional standard is a gift to the DPR campaign, which has often struggled against a public convinced that ‘natural’ surface water must be cleaner. At just 1.41 kWh/m3, the power consumed by the streamlined MF/RO/UV system is little more that the 1.33 kWh/m3 already required to pump water from the reservoir to the existing municipal WTP.
At an estimated $0.74/m3, Big Spring’s DPR process comes in substantially below the average unit cost of generating desalinated water. With no need for changes to the distribution system, and few added operational costs, DPR is an essential weapon in the war against America’s snowballing infrastructure deficit.
Billund BioRefinery, Denmark
What is it?
A dual-feed plant treating both solid waste and wastewater, covering a population of 70,000 and dealing with 2,500 tons of solid waste per year from both households and agriculture in the Billund area of Denmark.
Who is responsible?
The plant was built by a consortium of Billund Municipality, utility company Billund Vand and Veolia subsidiary Krüger A/S. Funding came courtesy of a €2 million grant from the Danish Ministry of the Environment, and the Foundation for Development of Technology in the Danish Water Sector.
What makes it special?
The plant showcases an impressive array of both new and established treatment technologies, including the continuous thermal hydrolysis of sludge, post-polishing filtration, and advanced online dynamic control, to act as a lighthouse for technology development as well as a testbed for the most exciting new techniques in the industry.
The biorefinery serves as a model for internal complementary technologies, with parallel wastewater and biomass treatment lines working in synergy. The wastewater treatment process produces biomass, which is then treated to generate biogas for energy production, reducing the plant’s power requirement and creating additional income through the sale of surplus energy to the local grid. Water treated by the wastewater treatment line is reused in the power generation and sludge treatment areas of the plant.
The installation closes the local resource circle by linking agricultural and municipal waste treatment, acting as a model of holistic thinking for the industry.
naked Stables water reuse, China
What is it?
A comprehensive ‘Reduce, Treat & Reuse’ water strategy at a luxury mountainside ecoresort in China, completed in July 2013 with the delivery of two containerised membrane bio-reactor (MBR) sewage treatment plants. The neat, pre-fabricated, low-maintenance units demonstrate how reuse is not just the province of industrial mega-projects.
Who is responsible?
PACT Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. provided EPC services to naked Retreats, a luxury rural resort company catering to Shanghai’s wealthy weekenders. PACT’s membrane bio-reactor employs Toray’s submerged membrane technology.
What makes it special?
naked Stables is the first resort in China to receive the LEED Platinum rating for its exceptional environmental pedigree. Sewage from guest rooms, staff quarters, stables and public areas is processed directly through the treatment plants and funnelled through the woodland as a manmade stream. This water feature aerates the treated effluent before it is reused for irrigation, toilet flushing, firefighting and landscaping.
Small-scale energy production at the resort takes place courtesy of filters which strip grease and oil from kitchen and car wash effluent for use as biofuel. Meanwhile, a closed-loop water system eliminates water losses, while rainwater and stormwater is harnessed for use from roofs and roads. Any unused treated water is filtered through an on-site wetland for potable use in the local community.
The result of this ambitious campaign is that the naked Stables luxury resort consumes 30% less water than the average hotel, offering a shining example to an industry often characterised by waste and excess. As China’s wealthy urbanites continue to seek countryside idylls, the resort industry is a fantastic way to instill an ethos of sustainable, naked infrastructure.
Desalination Plant of the Year
For the desalination plant, commissioned during 2013, that represents the most impressive technical or ecologically sustainable achievement in the industry.
Jebel Ali M Station, Dubai
What is it?
A combined power and water plant producing 2,060MW of electricity and 636,000m3/d of desalinated water using multi-stage flash distillation in Dubai, UAE.
Who is responsible?
Fisia Italimpianti was the EPC contractor on behalf of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). Fichtner acted as the consultant.
What makes it special?
The Fisia-supplied MSF units are the largest operating anywhere in the world today. Weighing in at 5,500 tonnes apiece and each able to generate 85,850m3/d of desalinated water, they allowed a reduction in the overall number of units employed at the plant, reducing O&M costs as well as the physical footprint of the plant.
Jebel Ali M features a suite of state-ofthe- art technical solutions, including SEACURE super ferritic stainless steel tubes to deal with high levels of corrosion and stress on the plant’s equipment. The massive units were built completely on-site to reduce the risks associated with transportation, while CO2 from the complex’s vent gases is reused in the remineralisation plant, which itself is one of world’s largest.
Fisia succeeded in delivering one of the largest and most technically challenging projects in the world in the teeth of Dubai’s financial crisis, all while satisfying the most stringent water requirements. The result is a plant which will provide vital water supplies and underpin the emirate’s growth for years to come.
Soreq, Israel
What is it?
Israel’s largest seawater reverse osmosis plant, with a total contracted capacity of 150 million m3 per year, and a maximum daily capacity of 624,000m3.
Who is responsible?
The project was developed on a 25-year build-operate-transfer basis by Sorek Desalination Ltd., a partnership between main EPC contractor IDE Technologies (51%) and Hutchison Water (49%). Dow Filmtec and Hydranautics supplied the membranes, and the plant employs Calder’s DWEER energy recovery devices, supplied by Flowserve.
What makes it special?
Following its successful commissioning in 2013, Soreq is the largest SWRO plant operating anywhere in the world today. The plant provides clean potable water to over 1.5 million people, satisfying 20% of Israel’s municipal water demand.
In a revolutionary departure from other large-scale SWRO facilities, the Soreq plant employs 16-inch membranes arranged in a vertical formation. This innovation reduces the number of elements, pressure vessels and piping headers required by a factor of four. It also allows for the safer operation of the membranes, as well as fast installation and increased accessibility.
Smart design and construction within the boundaries of a uniquely challenging site footprint has enabled the plant to be environmentally sensitive, despite its gargantuan size, with no shoreline impacts due to underground pipe-jacking techniques. A sophisticated ‘pressure centre’ minimises energy consumption by coordinating the high-pressure pumps and energy recovery devices, and enables the feed pressure to the RO trains to be finely controlled, which means fluctuating production demand is handled as efficiently as possible.
Swansea desalination plant, USA
What is it?
The first ever municipal desalination plant in New England, combining an MF/RO system treating 4,452m3/d of tidal water from the Palmer River with an MF/UF system treating 3,785m3/d of groundwater from the Vinnicum wellfield.
Who is responsible?
The plant was constructed by a team of Hoyle, Tanner & Associates and HDR on behalf of Swansea Water District in Massachusetts. Toray supplied the RO membranes, and the MF membranes were furnished by Pall. The on-shore civil contractor was Waterline Industries Corporation.
What makes it special?
Municipal desalination is virtually unheard of in rural Massachusetts. Developing a new brackish water source to meet growing local demand was the only viable option, after the area had declared multiple water emergencies. The need to run the intake and outfall lines under Interstate I-95 meant that the permitting process took more than two years to be resolved, and the plant’s successful commissioning last year is a testament to the doggedness and resolute vision of the project team.
The presence of multiple feedwater streams with varying salinity levels required dual treatment trains to be installed. As well as wide variations in feedwater TDS levels, the systems also had to be flexible enough to cope with variable raw water, often containing high TOC levels and significant coloration. An extensive pilot study undertaken by HDR ensured that the equipment configuration was optimised before construction commenced.
The plant combines technical accomplishment and environmental sensitivity out of all proportion to its size. Energy costs are minimised by withdrawing water during two daily low-tide periods when the river’s salinity is at its lowest, and the plant’s SCADA systems are programmed to discharge brine concentrate at high tide. Because the raw water intake system was constructed in protected salt water marshes, special care had to be taken to satisfy environmental requirements.
Tuaspring, Singapore
What is it?
A 318,500m3/d seawater reverse osmosis plant in Singapore. The site will also accommodate a 411MW power plant.
Who is responsible?
Hyflux developed the plant under a designbuild- own-operate model, contracting to deliver treated water to Singapore’s Public Utilities Board for 25 years. Black & Veatch served as PUB’s engineer on the project. The RO membranes were supplied by Toray, and Flowserve provided 68 Calder DWEER energy recovery devices.
What makes it special?
Hyflux’s genius in creating Asia’s first independent water and power project at Tuaspring single-handedly addresses Singapore’s dual challenges of having no natural groundwater or energy sources. The commissioning of the RO plant last year means that desalination now provides 25% of Singapore’s water needs, greatly strengthening one of the nation’s ‘four taps’ in anticipation of a much greater level of water independence in the future.
Far from being a carbon copy of the SingSpring desalination plant built by Hyflux in Singapore in 2005, Tuaspring is the first of a new breed of Asian megaplants, featuring a compact design which reduces the physical footprint per cubic metre by more than 30%. This is a vital pre-requisite in a country where urban infrastructure growth is reaching its natural limits.
As well as featuring one of the world’s largest ultrafiltration pre-treatment systems for seawater desalination, a partially split SWRO membrane train configuration and a self-sufficient on-site power plant all combine to ensure that Tuaspring is one of the most energy-efficient large-scale desalination plants on the planet.
Industrial Water Project of the Year
For the project, commissioned in 2013, that represents the most impressive technical or environmental achievement in the field of industrial water.
Bapco wastewater treatment plant, Bahrain
What is it?
A $120 million facility treating 4,400 US gallons per minute (24,000m3/d) of secondary wastewater at the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) refinery in Sitra, Bahrain. The four-stage membrane bio-reactor (MBR) process treats water to industrial reuse standard, meeting very stringent nitrogen and phosphorus discharge limits.
Who is responsible?
CH2M Hill led the front-end engineering design for the process plant, and acted as owner’s engineer for Bapco. The construction of the plant was carried out by GS Engineering of Korea.
What makes it special?
As one of the largest MBR systems ever installed in the petrochemicals and refining industry, the plant is a shining demonstration of how cutting-edge treatment technologies can meet the stringent requirements of industrial clients with difficult-to-treat wastewater streams.
The four-stage MBR sequence allows for the reuse of spent caustic – one of the most challenging waste products in the refinery system – as a carbon source for the biological denitrification stage. This eliminates the need for expensive spent caustic treatment and disposal facilities.
A groundbreaking two-stage plate interchanger cooling system using plant permeate and a lithium bromate chiller allows for adjustable temperature control, letting the plant deal with extreme ambient temperatures, which can rise to 48°C during the summer months.
Kemper County Energy Project, USA
What is it?
An integrated project to supply process water and treat wastewater to zero liquid discharge levels at the 582MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power project near De Kalb, Mississippi.
Who is responsible?
The water and wastewater treatment plant was supplied on an EPC basis by Aquatech, which will also operate and maintain the facility for a period of five years. The client is Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company.
What makes it special?
Aquatech’s design deploys a panoply of treatment technologies, including ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, demineralisation and thermal evaporation, to provide a complete single-package solution for a vital power installation.
The total ZLD approach means that none of the water used to generate electricity is discharged into the environment as effluent, marking a new level of commitment to environmental awareness in the energy generation industry.
The wider adoption of IGCC technology as a viable alternative to traditional coalfired power plants has been held back by its propensity to generate toxic wastewater streams. The expertise shown by Aquatech in addressing the water treatment needs of the clean coal industry single-handedly solves this issue, and will allow the technology to carve out a greater share of the market in future.
Permian Basin zero discharge treatment, USA
What is it?
The first commercial carrier gas extraction (CGE) unit to treat produced water from the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin. The 4,000 barrel-per-day plant treats hypersaline produced water from gas wells, with zero liquid discharge.
Who is responsible?
The plant was designed and is operated under a long-term contract by MIT spin-out Gradiant Corporation, which commercialised the CGE technology. The plant is operated in collaboration with unconventional oil and gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources.
What makes it special?
The quick progression from an award-winning technology to a working field installation in one of the world’s most demanding industries is a graphic demonstration that successful new water technologies can bridge the problematic gap between lab and field.
The low-footprint modular design makes for a capex-light solution in a highly cost-conscious industry. Meanwhile, the high permeate retention rate means less need for pretreatment capacity – and thus lower operating costs.
The elimination of liquid waste offers enormous potential to an industry that spends more than $2 billion a year on produced and flowback water disposal.
Tirupur ZLD pilot, India
What is it?
The devastating contamination of rivers and farmland with 100,000m3/d of highly saline effluent from Tirupur’s 800 cotton dyeing units has been a global sensation which has shamed the textile industry. A new ‘treated brine reuse technology’ has made zero liquid discharge (ZLD), the holy grail of industrial reuse, feasible in the textile industry for the very first time.
Who is responsible?
Tamilnadu Water Investment Company (TWIC), which operates 9 of the 20 Tirupur common effluent treatment plants (CETPs), pioneered the technology, extracting local government and reluctant industry funding for three years of trials and modifications. TWIC is a private entity, the fruit of India’s first water sector PPP between the Government of Tamilnadu and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited. The Arulpuram CETP features RO membranes from Filmtec, UF membranes from Membrane Hitec, and softener and decolorant resins from Purolite.
What makes it special?
As TWIC’s pilot project at the Arulpuram CETP receives its consent to operate, the revival of the remaining 19 CETPs is imminent. The Tirupur CETPs, originally built in 2008, were shut down in 2010 as their ill-prepared mechanical vapour compression brine concentrators failed to cope with the complex feedwater streams. TWIC’s solution was an innovative treated brine reuse technology which integrates ultrafiltration, decoloring and softening into the pre-treatment stage and adds a second RO train to prepare the liquid brine for direct use in the textile dyeing baths.
The new system allows 98% of the RO-treated water and 90% of the salt to be recycled. Excess brine passes through multiple effect evaporators into adiabatic coolers to make 98% purity sodium sulphate salt for reuse and resale, minimising the production of hazardous waste salts which need costly disposal.
The revival of Tirupur’s CETPs heralds the rebirth of its struggling textile cluster. The local community, which feared economic disaster after the state’s ‘impossible’ ZLD demands, can now revel in its new role as the vanguard of sustainable industry.
Water Performance Initiative of the Year
For the initiative which represents the most significant commitment to improving the long-term performance of water services to the public.
Bahamas Water and Sewerage Corporation
What is it?
BWSC is the water and wastewater utility serving the Bahamas.
What has it done?
The partnership formed between the Bahamas Water and Sewerage Corporation and Israeli water loss reduction specialist Miya envisages a comprehensive 10-year non-revenue water (NRW) reduction project. As well as infrastructure improvements, the project also involves a raft of enlightened measures such as a pilot education campaign aimed at reducing water consumption in the home.
What makes it special?
The initiative has already led to 24/7 water supply at consistent pressures for all residents in its first year, thanks to a new advanced pressure management system. This dramatic turnaround showcases the relatively short payback period which can be enjoyed by pioneering utilities willing to act as early adopters of cutting-edge techniques.
Public support and awareness are essential ingredients for the long-term success of water efficiency projects. The pilot education programme undertaken by Miya and BWSC has been singularly effective in this area, leading to a 20% reduction in water use in student homes alone.
The genius of the programme is that the utility will save significantly on pumping costs in the early stages, freeing up funds to invest back into the system. It is a world-class exemplar of how demand management can be combined with minimal supply-side intervention to ensure a sustainable long-term water resourcing strategy.
Cachoeiro, Brazil
What is it?
The water and wastewater system for Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, a city of 200,000 people in Espírito Santo state, is operated by Foz do Brasil (FDB), a subsidiary of Odebrecht Ambiental, under a 50-year concession.
What has it done?
FDB has completely eliminated the utility’s energy costs by implementing a boldly innovative solution for a water utility – a hydro-electric power plant. In its first year of operation, the 3.8MW plant has produced a surplus for the utility. 2013 also saw water loss rates in the system fall to less than half what they were when the concession began in 1998.
What makes it special?
Thanks to Foz, the city has blazed ahead of its peers both in terms of water supply and sewerage coverage. Forcing water losses down to 24% puts Cachoeiro in a different league to the rest of Brazil, where the average water loss rate is 40%.
The hydro-electric power plant has been nothing short of a triumph, eliminating one of the utility’s largest bills and enabling the resultant savings to be re-invested in further network improvements – a clarion call to other municipalities to make use of local geographic advantages to boost performance.
Not only has the utility made itself selfsufficient in energy, but the surplus power balance generated is sold at a discount to residents. This kind of commitment to service excellence is an example of why Foz do Brasil’s Cachoeiro initiative was awarded ISO 17025 certification in 2013. It is an inspirational grand slam of environmental and social sustainability.
Delhi Jal Board, India
What is it?
The utility providing water and wastewater services to some 18 million people in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
What has it done?
The utility has simultaneously overhauled its financial status and the quality of the service it provides to customers. It has successfully weaned itself off state subsidies whilst reducing its debt burden, and has become one of the first utilities in India to cover its O&M costs. It has also revitalised its obsolete billing and collection system, reducing the billing cycle, improving accuracy and developing a customer database.
What makes it special?
Utilities cannot manage what they cannot measure. Prior to 2013, just 55% of the water meters in DJB’s franchise area were functioning, meaning that billing for water use was largely a shot in the dark. The utility has implemented a massive programme to extend metering penetration and replace defective units, and in 2013 alone, it procured 400,000 new meters for rapid deployment.
Delhi Jal Board’s bold decision to give the private sector a chance to improve service delivery by handing three pilot management contracts to foreign and local operators was a smart move. Structuring the deals as pilots will give the scheme’s political opponents hard evidence of the benefits of private sector management before the decision is taken whether to extend the approach city-wide.
DJB’s efforts to tackle the city’s infamous ‘tanker mafia’ and secure a safer service for its vast client base have set a shining example to the rest of the country.
Smartwater4Europe
What is it?
A collaborative project comprising 21 players from the public and private sectors led by Dutch utility Vitens and featuring Acciona Agua and Thames Water, focused on making the business case for smart water supply networks around the world.
What has it done?
By combining data and experience from four sites in different circumstances across Europe, the initiative allows for forward thinking and knowledge-gathering about smart water on an unprecedented scale, giving new insight into an industry that could save global water operators an estimated €10 billion a year.
What makes it special?
By bringing together the brightest minds and the most impressive technologies with the experience and presence of major utilities, the group can take a uniquely holistic view of the benefits of smart water management. This is crucial in an industry niche which has struggled with fragmentation in the past.
Creating a ‘safe space’ for the testing of new technology gives some of the most exciting innovators in water tech an unparalleled chance to demonstrate the effectiveness of their applications to a traditionally conservative industry.
A €6 million grant from the European Commission, secured in 2013, has allowed the group to take its message to the industry on a completely new scale, and moves it from being an agitator for change to a collaborative force capable of revolutionising the entire water industry.
Water Technology Company of the Year
For the company which has made the most significant contribution to the field of water technology in 2013.
Anaergia
What is it?
A Canadian project developer and technology supplier serving the municipal wastewater, solid waste and agri-food industries, with a focus on renewable energy generation and value-from-waste applications.
What has it done?
Spurred on by the creative minds that made Zenon a global phenomenon, Anaergia has quietly been building a reputation as a supplier of bespoke technology solutions focussing on the sludge side of the water equation. Following a string of acquisitions and key project wins, 2013 was the year the company finally broke into the big time.
What makes it special?
Whether in the fields of solidsliquids separation, anaerobic digestion or hydraulic mixing, the company has built an impressive portfolio of proprietary technologies which enhance its competitive advantage. The launch of a next-generation hybrid ultrafiltration membrane last year marked the culmination of years of research and development by some of the greatest minds in the membrane business.
The closing of a Can$47.5 million (US$46.1 million) funding round last October marked the largest equity-raising exercise for any water technology company in 2013. The deal will catapult Anaergia into its next phase of development, allowing it to roll out its proprietary solutions to a broader array of customers, using a variety of different delivery models.
2013 saw Anaergia at the top of its game both at home and abroad. It negotiated a contract for the first biogas generation plant in China’s Jinan Province to use food waste as the feedstock, and secured the first major reference for its proprietary FibrePlate hybrid membranes.
Cambi AS
What is it?
A venture capital-backed Norwegian supplier of thermal hydrolysis systems to treat biosolids and biowaste prior to anaerobic digestion.
What has it done?
Cambi enjoys unrivalled domination of the market for large-scale municipal installations featuring thermal hydrolysis technology for sludge treatment. Its continuous product innovation means that it has successfully maintained a competitive edge over its rivals.
What makes it special?
Cambi’s patented energy-efficient thermal hydrolysis process (THP) is the leading technology in the space, boosting biogas yields from municipal wastewater treatment plants by adding a pre-treatment step prior to sludge digestion. As well as increasing biogas generation potential and freeing up digester capacity, THP increases the dewaterability of the sludge, resulting in lower sludge volumes.
Rising landfill costs and increasingly stringent regulations affecting everything from odour control to greenhouse gas emissions mean that municipal wastewater treatment plant managers are under more pressure than ever to optimise processes and save costs. Cambi’s thermal hydrolysis technique dramatically transforms the economics of running a WWTP, with the added benefit of an odour-free, fully disinfected end product which is suitable for use as a fertiliser.
2013 saw Cambi take its technology to the international market as never before. It completed work on its flagship reference project at the Blue Plains wastewater treatment plant in Washington, D.C., while picking up inaugural contracts in Sweden and Spain. Its heavy investment in cuttingedge technology means the company is one of the unsung heroes of the sludge treatment business.
LiqTech International
What is it?
A publicly-traded air and water filtration company from Denmark focused on the manipulation of silicon carbide (SiC). LiqTech is witnessing huge growth in its ceramic membranes division, particularly for onshore and offshore oil and gas applications.
What has it done?
After launching a successful initial public offering (IPO) in 2012 on the OTCQX market, LiqTech successfully made the transition to the NYSE MKT exchange in December 2013. This move demonstrates how the company has matured from a technology start-up into a fully-fledged membrane supplier.
What makes it special?
Harnessing the growing market for produced water treatment and reuse has proved frustratingly difficult, as polymeric membranes often collapse under the high fouling potential of the industry’s feedwater streams. LiqTech’s SiC tubular membranes are changing the landscape; their impressive chemical and thermal resistance levels have been demonstrated across three major installations and more than ten field tests in 2013, and carry a seven-year guarantee. These membranes are also gaining traction in power plants, where they highly effective at treating corrosive scrubber water.
In mid-2013, LiqTech unveiled the commercial release of its flat-sheet SiC membranes designed for RO pre-treatment, municipal wastewater treatment and groundwater filtration. Early interest has come from the Middle East, where clients are looking to take advantage of the highest flux rates of any membrane on the market today to operate their groundwater filtration systems.
LiqTech’s role as an industry pioneer at the heart of the water-energy nexus was underscored last year with the launch of its dynamic crossflow disc membranes, which produce enough force to cut out the need for recirculation pumps, reducing energy and associated costs by up to 90%.
Oasys Water
What is it?
A Boston-based start-up specialising in forward osmosis (FO) technologies developed at Yale University, particularly for industrial applications.
What has it done?
Oasys launched into the global market in 2013, securing high-profile deals, obtaining eight new patents, and doubling staff numbers. Commercially proven in 2012 as a means of treating oil shale produced water from the Permian Basin, Oasys’ membrane brine concentrator (MBC) technology employs a proprietary engineered osmosis (EO) technique to recover up to 85% fresh water from feedwaters five times more saline than seawater. Product water can supply potable systems or be reused for industrial applications.
What makes it special?
Last December, Oasys signed an exclusive two-year licencing agreement with National Oilwell Varco (NOV), a bluechip international upstream oil and gas service provider. The deal allows NOV to use Oasys’ MBC systems in all its upstream produced water treatment applications, giving Oasys rapid exposure to clients on an unprecedented international scale. Their first partner project, the largest FO system in the world, should be deployed in 2014.
Oasys’ versatile technology was originally developed for seawater desalination, but its ability to tackle highsalinity feedwaters without boiling or highpressure components means that it can generate huge cost savings for the growing produced water market.
The need to access development capital is vital for all water start-ups, and last October, Oasys received a $15 million equity injection from Chinese engineering, procurement and construction firm Beijing Woteer. Not only was this one of the largest equity commitments to a water start-up anywhere in the world in 2013, but the strategic partnership gives Oasys an essential foothold in the vast Chinese industrial wastewater market.