Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/107143
BUSINESS ChrISt dESalINatIoN CoNtraCtS StIll hIttINg ovIvo fIgUrES Desalination contracts had a significant unfavourable effect on consolidated results for Canada's GLV Inc in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and the last quarter of fiscal 2011. The company took over the desalination and water treatment company Christ Water Technology (CWT) in 2009 and rebranded all these operations under the name Ovivo. For the first quarter of fiscal 2012, GLV reported on 7 June 2012 that its overall operations used cash flows of Can$ 7.5 million (US$ 7.3 million) compared with Can$ 30.6 million (US$ 29.8 million) for the same quarter of fiscal 2011. This fall was due mainly to the negative effect of payments required for further completion of certain contracts in the desalination and energy segments. The company says that new contracts have been won by the desalination division during the quarter that meet GLV's set profitability and risk criteria. NEw dIStrIBUtorS aNd EU ComplIaNCE for pwt Membrane chemicals supplier Professional Water Technologies (PWT), the US arm of Canada's H2O Innovation, recently signed agreements with two new distributors in Brazil and Argentina, increasing its presence in South America. Additionally, PWT's products line has just been qualified as REACH compliant, an important milestone enabling its sale in the European Community. The company announced both events on 25 May 2012 in the wake of its first annual international distributor conference held in San Diego the previous week. Distributors from Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand, South Korea, the US and Europe attended the conference. PWT's new distributors are LAX Logistica in Brazil and Aquarep in Argentina. In their respective national markets, they will represent the company's line of patent-pending high performance reverse-osmosis (RO) chemicals and membrane cleaners, including its flagship product SpectraGuard™, a concentrated phosphate-free antiscalant for RO systems. REACH compliance is a mandatory requirement under EC regulation 1907/2006, which regulates the sale of chemical substances in the 27 EU states. Omya International AG, PWT's representative in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, can now actively market PWT's products to European municipal and industrial customers. NEw CoNSolIdatEd Jv to BUIld BahamaS Uf/ro plaNt Seawater desalination provider Consolidated Water Co Ltd, based in the Cayman Islands, announced 23 May 2012 that it has formed a joint venture ( JV) with The New Providence Development Company Limited (NPDC) in Nassau, Bahamas. This JV will own and operate a retail water utility that will provide potable water to some of the most prestigious areas in the Bahamas, including Lyford Cay and Old Fort Bay. Its contract will include a new ultrafiltration (UF)/reverse osmosis (RO) plant. Consolidated has agreed to purchase 50% of the ownership in the JV for Bah$ 7 million (US$ 7 million). NPDC is transferring its existing retail water utility business, which presently provides water to approximately 1,000 customers, to the JV for its 50% ownership. | 14 | Desalination & Water Reuse | August-September 2012 The JV will operate pursuant to a 25-year exclusive water utility franchise granted by the Bahamas government for the western end of New Providence Island. "We are pleased to have the opportunity with this JV to add a Bahamian retail water utility to our operations," commented Rick McTaggart, Consolidated's CEO. "The expertise we have acquired operating a retail water utility in Grand Cayman for more than 38 years, combined with NPDC's operating experience in the Bahamas, which began the mid-1960s, will enable the JV to provide customers on the western end of New Providence Island with a world-class water supply." NPDC is transferring a business to the JV that currently collects groundwater from approximately 1,700 acres (690 ha) of land, treats that groundwater and distributes potable water to its customers. The JV will have a license to continue collecting this water for the term of the 25-year franchise. Consolidated will be contracted to provide management and engineering services for the JV, including the construction of a new water treatment plant that incorporates UF and brackish-water and seawater RO technologies. Construction of the plant should be completed by the end of 2012. "We expect to close this transaction on or before 30 June 2012, after which we will commence construction of the new plant improvements," concluded McTaggart. gErmaN fIrm opENS SINgaporE CENtrE for r&d aNd Uf Mann+Hummel Singapore, worldwide headquarters of the water business division of the German-based filtration specialist, on 29 June 2012 opened a new centre and ultrafiltration cartridge production line. The firm says the new Singapore facility will increase production substantially and expand its research and development facilities. Initially, production capacity will be doubled, enabling manufacturing to expand and provide sufficient capacity for a new range of products. The new facilities are necessary to meet global demand for Mann+Hummel's filtration products. At present, 100 water filtration specialists are employed at the Singapore company to serve customers from all over the world. The team is expected to grow by 30% in 2012. grUNdfoS BUyS amErICaN Uv dISINfECtIoN SpECIalISt Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos announced on 5 June 2012 that it had acquired Enaqua, a San Diego-based company specializing in UV disinfection technology and specialized membranes for water purification. The purchase marks a step toward Grundfos' ambition of deriving one third of its future turnover from sources other than pump solutions and being a trendsetter in water technology. Peter Røpke, Grundfos Group executive vice president of business development, commented: "The partnership with Enaqua doubtlessly strengthens us. Most of all because, in the short view, we shall obtain new technology and competence which will, in the long view, enable us to deliver new solutions for water treatment with strengthened focus on sustainability." Enaqua, which was founded in 1985, will continue to be managed by Manoj Jhawar, who is the second of three generations of the founder's family that works at the company.