NEWS

August 2008 Membrane Technology7

to expand their share in the water and wastewater sector,’ continued Lieu.

‘However, large unmet needs in the sector indicate that numerous opportunities exist for companies that can offer needed technologies at competitive prices.’

Foreign companies entering the Polish water and wastewater treatment market will confront difficulties if they are unprepared for the par-ticular challenges that define this market. One of the methods of overcoming this barrier is to create strong partnerships or alliances with well-established local firms.

Contact:

Frost & Sullivan, 4 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH,

UK. Tel: +44 20 7730 3438, www.environmental.frost.com

Frost & Sullivan, 7550 West Interstate 10, Suite 400,

San Antonio, TX 78229-5616, USA.

Tel: +1 877 463 7678, www.frost.com

Drought-proof water supply ensures golf course stays green

In Australia, GE Water & Process Technologies and Pennant Hills Golf

Club, which is based in Sydney, have officially opened what they say is the country’s first commercial ‘sewer min-ing’ water reuse plant.

The system will use ecomagination-certified technology from GE to conserve approximately 100 million litres (25 million gallons) of fresh water a year – enough water to sustain over 280 households.

‘Sewer mining’ is a process that ‘harvests’ wastewater from municipal sewers and treats it to a high quality that is suitable for non-potable reuse applications such as irrigation. At Pennant Hills, wastewater is treated with GE’s membrane bioreactor technology. The system produces 650 kilolitres (172 000 gallons) of high-quality water per day which is used to irrigate the 22 hectares (55 acres) of greens, tees and fairways.

‘With water supplies in question and prices rising, we needed a cost-effective way to mini-mise our water footprint while protecting the natural beauty of our course,’ said Steve Walker, President of Pennant Hills Golf Club.

‘We are proud to be the first to embrace this innovative approach. It is bringing us a drought-proof supply of water that minimises impact on Australia’s fresh-water reserves.’

When combined with GE’s advanced water reuse technologies, sewer mining can also help munici-palities offset or even cancel centralised wastewater treatment plant expenditures by reducing flow to downstream facilities that are at capacity. A

secondary benefit is that the highly treated water becomes a valuable asset that can be sold.

Contact:

GE Water & Process Technologies, 4636 Somerton

Road, Trevose, PA 19053-6783, USA.

Tel: +1 215 355 3300, www.ge.com/water

Millipore works to reduce its carbon footprint

US-based Millipore Corporation has announced a global sustainability ini-

tiative, which it describes as an ambitious effort aimed at reducing the impact the company has on the environment and its carbon footprint by 20% over five years.

The life science firm, which provides tech-nologies, tools and services for bioscience research and bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing, says the initiative encompasses a range of pro-grammes that focus on reducing its non-renew-able resources, eliminating waste and adopting behavioural changes which support long-term environmental sustainability. Many of these pro-grammes are aimed at substantially reducing the company’s contribution to greenhouse gas emis-sions, a key factor in global climate change.

‘As a leader in our industry and a multinational company, we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to be environmental leaders and stewards on a global scale,’ said Martin Madaus, Millipore Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President.

‘Millipore has launched this long-term effort because I believe that environmentally sustainable operations are essential to the long-term viability of any sizeable company, and that it is the right thing to do in light of the scientific evidence of the effects of climate change on future generations. I am personally committed to decreasing Millipore’s environmental impact, and I hope that many more people will join in this effort.’

Some of Millipore’s sustainability programmes have been under way at the company’s manufac-turing facilities for years.

‘Our largest manufacturing facilities were certi-fied to ISO 14001, a voluntary environmental standard, years ago,’ added David Newman, Director of Sustainability at Millipore.

‘At these sites and others we have already seen amazing successes in the areas of water conserva-tion, waste recycling and chemical reuse.

Contact:

Millipore Corporation, 290 Concord Road, Billerica, MA

01821, USA. Tel: +1 978 715 4321,

www.millipore.com/sustainability

I n B r i e f

EMCOR subsidiary completes installation work at water treatment plant in San DiegoEmcor Group Incorporated has announced that its subsidiary in California, University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors Incorporated (UMEC), has completed mechanical piping and equipment installation work on a water treatment plant for the San Diego County Water Authority. It is claimed that San Diego’s Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant is the largest submerged membrane facility in the USA – producing over 378 500 m3 (100 million gallons) of water per day.

Bundamba plant wins prestigious awardStage 1A of Australia’s Bundamba Advanced Water Plant (AWTP), which produced puri-fied recycled water only 10 months after construction began, has received the pres-tigious ‘Global Water Project of the Year’ Award from Global Water Intelligence news-letter. The AWTP – delivered by a Black & Veatch/Thiess joint-venture in partnership with Western Corridor Recycled Water Pty Limited and the Queensland Government’s Department of Planning and Infrastructure – is part of the AU$2.4-billion Western Corridor Recycled Water Project. The plant uses membrane and oxidation technolo-gies to provide purified recycled water for cooling and other purposes at the power station.

AwwaRF study investigates potential effects of carbon sequestration on ground-water resources In the USA, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Research Foundation (AwwaRF), has announced a new study to investigate the potential effect of under-ground carbon sequestration on groundwater resources. Currently undergoing examination as a method for reducing green-house gas emissions, carbon sequestration entails separating carbon dioxide from other emissions and injecting it into deep, under-ground natural storage areas, such as oil and gas reservoirs. ‘Previous and ongoing research on carbon sequestration largely focuses on long-term efficiency for contain-ing carbon emissions, without consideration of the potential impact on the water supply. CO2 injected into underground formations could potentially leak into overlying water supplies, with associated implications for groundwater quality, or it may displace fresh water with saline water in aquifers,’ said Robert Renner, Executive Director of AwwaRF.