Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1085636
6 The Quarterly March 2019 Water. desalination + reuse Global Calls for better brine UN-backed research paper urges industry to improve Ghana Teshie-Nungua plant AquaVenture pursues purchase amid union dissent Global Fluence on front foot Company pursues global domination Australia Sydney plant restart Facility to begin producing water amid drought What happened? Who covered it? Why does it matter? Wired kicked off a flurry of online stories about a research paper which raised concerns over the industry's track record on brine management. The story's reference to 'toxic brine' in the headline apparently caught the imagination of other media outlets. Reuters, the BBC, Business Insider, National Geographic and various national newspapers and science publications picked up the story. The story unfolded across the Ghanian press a er the Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) of Ghana petitioned president Nana Addo to halt the sale of Teshie-Nungua desalination plant to AquaVenture. National news websites Ghanaweb.com and Primenewsghana.com were among those to carry the story. The Daily Graphic interviewed Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) communications director Stanley Martey in what appeared an attempt to diffuse tension surrounding the deal. Australian investors' newsletter Markets & Money noted a share price rise for Fluence Corp a er it won a contract for a new desalination plant in Egypt. The decentralised tech specialist won the New Mansoura Desalination Plant 80,000 m3/d reverse osmosis project in partnership with Egypt-based engineers Hassan Allan. Australia's state and national media have closely followed the story of Sydney Desalination Plant as all eyes were trained on the city's dam levels. The plant was ordered to reactivate a'er total dam levels dropped below 60 per cent. At this point, reports followed the restart process and the inevitable price hike to follow. The paper is backed by the United Nations' think tank on water, UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-IWEH). The coverage was sparked by a statement from UNU-IWEH that connected questions about the environmental impact of brine to the rising number of desalination plants operating worldwide. The implication is that as desalination capacity rises, the industry is likely to come under ever-closer scrutiny on its environmental impacts. The story reflects unease among communities about public- private partnership (PPP) arrangements in the water sector. While the project's difficulties may be characterised as a one-off, the Accra plant is a case study in how not to structure a water purchase agreement so that it overburdens the local utility. The latest win marks another step in Fluence's plan 'to become the worldwide leader in decentralised water and wastewater treatment solutions'. In November 2018, the company secured a $50 million non-recourse debt facility for financing build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) projects. The company can access the facility project-by-project over three years and will use it to support growth in recurring revenue business. The plant is an important strategic asset within the New South Wales government's strategy on water supply management. A'er a period of low production and an incident of storm damage, successful operation of the plant will demonstrate how desalination can be used effectively as part of an overall water management portfolio. The Quarterly $50 million Projects fund