Water. desalination + reuse

BUSINESS | 10 | Desalination & Water Reuse | August-September 2014 Yemen poised to build first desalination plant Yemen is set to build its first desalination plant in collaboration with its regional partners. The US$ 300 million project is a response to growing water demand as the country's natural water resources have become dangerously depleted. According to Yemen water and environment Minister, Abdulsalam Razzaz, Yemen suffers with "the most water shortages in the Arab region." Yemen's increasing population growth rates and limited rainfall have, Razzaz said, exacerbated the country's water crisis. And he noted that should those rates persist, Yemen would soon be unable to sustain its water supplies. Each Yemeni has access only to 140 m³ of water a year against the Middle East average of about 1,000 m³ per capita a year. "The precarious water situation in Yemen can be better appreciated when you consider it is the only country in the world that uses groundwater for agriculture, industry and for drinking," explained the minister. This has dangerously depleted Yemen underground water reserves, which cannot be replenished easily. Experts have warned that the country was already beyond the point of safe return when it came to its water resources. Seawater desalination, said the minister, is a perfect solution, not only for Yemen but also for the region. Razzaz confirmed that an agreement would soon be signed with the Saudi Fund for Development for the project's financing. The plant will provide water for the provinces of Taiz, Lahj, Aden and Ibb. Within the next decade the desalination plant will also be able to supply the Yemen capital, Sana'a. Barclays backs Biwater US$ 43 million British Virgin Islands project Barclays Corporate and Investment Banking has awarded a two-tranche finance facility to Biwater totaling US$ 43 million to fund the construction of a seawater desalination, water-storage and wastewater plant on Tortola - the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands. Barclays acted as the sole advisor, arranger, lender and facility agent. The successful financial close of the complex transaction relied upon substantial collaboration between specialist units across Barclays Corporate and Investment Banking, including Capex Financing Solutions, Infrastructure and Project Finance and the Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics team. The project was supported by the UK government export credit agency UK Export Finance which collaborated closely with the British Virgin Islands' government said Barclays. Biwater delivers Jacksonville desalination Water and wastewater management company Biwater has delivered a custom 15 million-litres-a-day reverse osmosis desalination system for Onslow Water and Sewer Authority near the USA city of Jacksonville, North Carolina. The facility at Dixon Water Treatment Plant will treat unusable brackish well water to provide drinking water that meets Environmental Protection Agency standards. The plant includes pre-treatment cartridge filtration of silica and organics from the influent. Under the design, manufacture, supervise, and commission contract Biwater will provide chemical dosing, a membrane cleaning system, plant instrumentation, remote IO stations, programmable logic controllers, and supervisory control and data acquisition. The custom reverse osmosis trains and accompanying equipment for the project were designed and assembled in Biwater's factory in California and tested before being shipped semi-assembled to the site, which aided the overall speed of delivery and subsequent supervision of installation. Biwater was contracted for the project under TA Loving Company to increase water capacity and quality. Biwater anticipates commissioning the facility in the coming months. San Diego awards a $1 million deal for water reuse information campaign The US city of San Diego has awarded a US$ 1 million contract with communications firm Katz to develop an outreach campaign to inform the population of the city's water reuse plans. San Diego officials said they hoped the two-year deal will lead to progress in state law to go beyond currently limited allowed use of purified water largely in irrigation of public to encompass direct potable reuse. Deputy director of external affairs for the city's Public Utilities Department, Brent Eidson said there was hope that so-called "toilet to tap" reuse will be possible and permissible. "But for now, the outreach was limited strictly to what's possible with indirect water reuse," he added. Explaining the distinction between recycled water and reused purified water will be a major goal of the outreach campaign. In 2011, the city kicked off an indirect potable reuse pilot project as part of a 20-year Pure Water San Diego initiative. The pilot project used reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light and advanced oxidation treatment. San Diego City Council accepted the project report in spring 2013.

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