Around the Water Cooler
First Annual 'World Water Monitoring Day' Set for October
In an effort to ensure clean water around the globe for domestic, agricultural, commercial and recreational uses, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has partnered with America's Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) and the International Water Association (IWA) to initiate the first World Water Monitoring Day, which will be held Oct. 18, 2003. The three groups hope to urge people around the world to test the quality of their streams, lakes, wetlands and coastal waters.
EPA Assistant Administrator for Water G. Tracy Mehan III, Roberta Savage, ACWF president, and Andrew Speers, representing the UK's IWA, held a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to announce the first World Water Monitoring Day and to talk about the importance of monitoring water quality by collecting and analyzing water samples and using adequate data to protect the world's water resources.
"At this time we do not have sufficient information to provide a national answer to characterize the condition of waters and watersheds in the U.S.," said Mehan. "We risk flying blind if we aren't able to get dramatic improvements in water quality monitoring and data to support wise management decisions."
Roberta Savage, ACWF president said, "As the creator of National Water Monitoring Day, America's Clean Water Foundation was delighted by the participation of more than 75,000 Americans in 2002. Now in 2003 we have the opportunity to work with the International Water Association, EPA and other federal partners, state and interstate agencies, watershed organizations and individuals throughout the world to promote personal stewardship and individual responsibility for the integrity of our world water. Our goal is to involve people throughout the world in this annual event and establish a base line for evaluating water quality trends."
Andrew Speers, who represented the IWA, said, "World Water Monitoring Day is about raising awareness at the global level of the importance of water to us all and the quality of the environment in the local community. World Water Monitoring Day is a perfect example of thinking globally and acting locally."
Volunteers of all ages will perform four key tests to measure dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity/clarity and temperature. They can then enter their findings on the Web. Test kits may be ordered through America's Clean Water Foundation at www.worldwatermonitoringday.org.
From Sept. 18, 2003, to Oct. 18, 2003, citizens throughout the world community will have an opportunity to monitor the quality of their local watersheds and enter the results of their efforts into an international database. Then, on Oct.18, we will celebrate World Water Monitoring Day together.
In 2002, the first National Water Monitoring Day was held to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act. More than 75,000 Americans participated in monitoring events and educational programs throughout the United States.
International Activated Carbon Conference Hall-of-Fame Awardees
Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley of Rice University has been awarded the International Activated Carbon Conference's (IACC) Hall-of-Fame Award, which will be presented during IACC-11 in Pittsburgh. Smalley will be accepting the award at the Hall-of-Fame Luncheon on the second day of the conference, Sept. 26, 2003.
The Hall-of-Fame Award uses an open nomination process to honor outstanding individuals who have contributed to the activated carbon subject through origin, research and development, new products, teaching, implementation and commercialization of major significance. The objective is to foster cooperation between inventors, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and marketing functions.
The IACC is currently seeking nominations for the Hall-of-Fame Award for IACC-12, March 1-2, 2004, in Mexico City and IACC-13, Oct. 21-22, 2004, in Pittsburgh.
IACC is sponsored by Professional Analytical & Consulting Services (PACS), a 21-year-old flexible service-providing firm incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania. For more information on PACS, the IACC or nominations for the Hall-of-Fame Award, please visit www.pacslabs.com.
South African Student Wins Stockholm Junior Water Prize
The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has awarded the Stockholm Junior Water Prize to Claire Reid from South Africa. Reid was presented with the prestigious award on August 12, 2003, in a formal ceremony held in Stockholm, Sweden, during World Water Week.
Reid, a student at St. Teresa's Mercy School in Guateng Province, received the prize from the hands of Her Royal Highness (HRH) Crown Princess Victoria on behalf of the Stockholm Water Foundation. She also received a $5,000 scholarship and a crystal sculpture.
The Stockholm Junior Water Prize is presented each year to a high school-age student whose research has conducted an outstanding water-related project focusing on topics of environmental, scientific, social or technological importance. The international honor is given to an individual or group who, like their 26 co-competitors, has been awarded the top prize among national competitions. The National Country winners travel to Stockholm from as far afield as Israel, Australia and the Ukraine. This year China, Cameroon and Russia joined as first-time entrants in the competition, which has grown each year since being founded in 1995 as a Sweden-only contest.
In South Africa, water is a scarce resource. To help farmers to be more efficient in their use of water in growing crops, Reid developed a so-called "Water Wise Reel Gardening" system. This simple and effective seed-planting system cuts down water usage by as much as 80 percent by reducing water leakage into the soil. Among its many benefits, it keeps seeds moist, so that they can germinate without wasting water.
The nominating committee, in its official motivation, awarded the prize to Reid "for an innovative, practical, easily applicable technique for planting and successfully germinating seeds in water-scarce areas to improve rural and peri-urban livelihoods."
In the United States, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is the national organizer of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize and ITT Industries is the national sponsor.
New Hires
, a stormwater treatment systems provider, has recently expanded its staff at the company's corporate headquarters in Scarborough, Maine. Ted Jones has been named the new operations manager for Vortechnics. Jones has relocated to Maine from Delaware, Ohio, where he was the general manager for the Hydro Conduit division of Rinker Materials' Columbus, Ohio, Pipe Plant. As the operations manager for Vortechnics, Jones is responsible for developing and directing the company's inside sales teams, which service commercial, municipal/public, transportation and industrial customers throughout the United States and Canada. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers. Additionally, Brian McLaughlin joined Vortechnics in the new position of product development engineer and is responsible for the design and development of new stormwater quantity and quality control products.
- AnAerobics Inc.
has named Diane Creel chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Canandaigua, N.Y.-based provider of organic waste management systems. Creel has a proven track record in growing companies in the environmental industry. The first female CEO of a publicly held engineering firm, Creel is former CEO and president of Earth Tech, an international consulting and engineering firm. Under Creel's leadership, Earth Tech's revenues grew from $50 million to $1.5 billion, culminating in a successful initial public offering (IPO) launch. AnAerobics provides customized, high-rate waste treatment systems designed to reduce capital and operating costs while increasing plant-operating capacity. Visit www.anaerobics.com for more information.
- CDS Technologies
, provider of engineering and equipment solutions to wet weather flow pollution, has announced the addition of Michael McLaughlin as president of U.S. operations. McLaughlin comes to CDS with more than 25 years' experience in the water and wastewater industry. He has been at the helm of multinational environmental companies such as Infilco Degremont Inc. and Leopold Co. Since the acquisition of UK-based Copa, and its full line of wastewater treatment and stormwater management products, company representatives state that CDS is poised for rapid expansion. McLaughlin will be based out of the company's Winter Park, Fla., office.
Pionetics Secures $5 Million in Funding for Purification Systems
Pionetics Corp., a water purification solutions company based in San Carlos, Calif., has announced it has closed $5 million in series B funding led by NGEN Partners. RockPort Capital Partners, Topspin Partners, Pangaea Ventures Fund and Firelake Strategic Technology Fund LP also participated in the financing round. Pionetics will use the funding to further advance the development of its suite of water purification and water conditioning systems for residential, commercial and industrial customers.
The company has signed an initial development and distribution agreement with a national residential water treatment corporation and is targeting additional original equipment manufacturers (OEM) of water treatment equipment.
Pionetics has developed and patented a technology that enables a new generation of water purification, water treatment and ion extraction products. The core of the product line is a replaceable cartridge containing a proprietary electrochemical membrane. Pionetics will offer a patented, environmentally friendly water purification system at a time when water quality is becoming a critical issue with consumers. According to company representatives, Pionetics' products do not produce salt discharge and produce one-tenth the wastewater of a traditional reverse osmosis system. These features significantly cut down on two growing national issues -- wastewater handling in water treatment facilities and the increasing salt content in natural water supplies.
Pionetics was founded by Dr. Nyberg, a technology and chemistry industry veteran with 20 years of experience in the fields of ion exchange materials, electrochemistry and technical marketing. Prior to founding Pionetics, Dr. Nyberg managed large groups in the development of complex technologies at Raychem Corp. (now Tyco), including technical marketing, invention and product development.
For more information, visit www.pionetics.com.
Florida City Uses Synergen to Integrate Management System
The city of Clearwater, Fla., has chosen Synergen Inc.'s Synergen SeriesTM to replace several existing work management systems.
The city's goal is to eliminate redundancies in data entry and standardize their computerized maintenance management (CMMS) needs with one integrated system to provide an enterprise workflow platform to automate customer service requests, generate work orders, institute a preventive maintenance program and track multiple warehouse inventory and facility assets.
Clearwater resolved to address the challenge of multiple city departments each using disparate asset management systems with limited functionality and enterprise reporting capabilities. The city chose the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Synergen Inc.'s Synergen Series to achieve their vision of a citywide, integrated system for all city departments (including public utilities, public services, the Clearwater Gas System, customer service, building and maintenance, parks and recreation and fleet maintenance) that would also integrate with other city-mandated systems. The Synergen Series' Web-architected solution is designed to make it easy and cost-effective to deploy a system to support 2,000 city users at 250 separate sites throughout the city.
"Synergen exhibited the functionality and reporting capabilities that are essential to our operations and demonstrated a thorough understanding of our business requirements," said Dan Mayer, director of information technology for the city of Clearwater.
Synergen Inc. provides enterprise asset management (EAM) and CMMS solutions, and can be reached on the Web at www.synergen.com.
MYCELX Names Exclusive Licensee for Air Filtration Applications
MYCELX Technologies of Gainesville, Ga., has named Pureatech Inc. as the Exclusive Licensee of MYCELX infused air filters for use in Pureatech Air Treatment Systems.
MYCELX Technologies is the developer and manufacturer of patented MYCELX technology, which instantly bonds to hydrocarbons to make them hydrophobic and viscoelastic, thus removing them permanently from the airflow. The single pass efficiency through MYCELX is 99.9 percent with almost no pressure drop all the way to saturation. MYCELX is able to remove pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), oil mist, hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, organically bound metals, organic solvents and pesticides, to below detectable limits in a single pass.
Pureatech Inc., located in Atlanta, provides air-purification systems for residential and commercial applications throughout the United States and North America. The Pureatech System is a patented air- treatment system that purifies climate-controlled space by continuously exchanging the air through the duct system. The Pureatech System utilizes a series of effective and efficient technologies by first collecting the particulates, second eliminating the microorganisms, and third removing toxins (gases) and odors to provide clean and fresh air.
Pureatech Inc. is a member and sponsor of the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) and is staffed with several Certified Indoor Environmentalists trained to assess problems associated with the indoor environment. Specially trained and certified heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians install the Pureatech System. Pureatech cleans and sanitizes the HVAC system and provides ongoing services.
For more information about MYCELX Technologies Corp., please visit www.mycelx.com.
USFilter and Paques Sign License Agreement
USFilter and Paques BV of the Netherlands have signed an exclusive license agreement encompassing three of Paques' biological wastewater treatment technologies. USFilter will design and supply Paques Biopaq® IC and UASB anaerobic technologies and Circox® aerobic reactors for all industrial applications in the United States and Canada. The agreement also includes the Thiopaq® gas-cleaning technology for specific applications.
Under the license agreement, Paques will share the technology with USFilter. A team of wastewater specialists, working in cooperation with Paques experts in Europe, will design and supply treatment plants throughout the United States. and Canada. USFilter's sister company, Veolia Water Systems (formerly Vivendi Water Systems), recently signed a similar agreement for five major European regions.
For more information about Paques, visit www.paques.nl. For more about USFilter, go to www.usfilter.com or www.veoliaenvironnement.com.
This news section originally appeared in the September/October 2003 issue of Water & Wastewater, Volume 3, Number 5.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2003 issue of Environmental Protection.