Around the Water Cooler

• Sep 01, 2002

Black & Veatch Provides Security Training
Black & Veatch announced July 15, 2002 that more than 1,500 water industry professionals have completed security training offered by the company in association with the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The company is also working with Sandia National Laboratories to provide training designed to help utilities protect their customers and the nation's water supply.

Through the "Counter Terrorism and Security in the Water Industry" seminars, Black & Veatch water system security experts helped utilities nationwide prepare for the possibility of both natural disasters and terrorist acts. Between November 2001 and May 2002, Black & Veatch conducted 16 seminars that focused on vulnerability assessment and the development of emergency response plans.

In accordance with directives developed in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, water utilities serving more than 100,000 citizens are required to assess their vulnerability to a terrorist attack and submit that assessment to EPA by March 31, 2003.

Under an agreement with the AWWA Research Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories and EPA have developed a "Security Risk Assessment Methodology for Water Utilities (RAM-WSM) - Train the Trainer" program that focuses on water utility security. Black & Veatch security experts completed this training and are now certified to lead workshops that provide water and wastewater utilities with a greater understanding of potential new threats, tools for assessing a facility's vulnerability and suggested measures for improved security.

"We were pleased to work with AWWA and to be among the first consulting, engineering and construction companies serving the water sector to be selected for the Sandia program," said Americas Division President Jim Patton. "With many years of security assessment and design, as well as comprehensive water system experience, Black & Veatch was a logical training program participant."

The AWWA and Sandia training programs are just two of the many integrated Black & Veatch security offerings. The company most recently is providing security assessment services for the San Juan Water District in Granite Bay, Calif. The district is among the first three utilities in the country to receive a water security grant from EPA for vulnerability assessment.

"Security concerns will continue to evolve in the water industry as more becomes known about detection and prevention of chemical, biological, radiological and cyber attacks. Utilities should prepare to institutionalize security beyond current levels -- not because we expect water to be attacked, but because it makes good business sense," said Patton.

ACHMM Conference Focusing on Security, Emergency Preparedness
Beginning September 29, 2002, Louisville, Ky., will be the venue for the annual conference of the 2002 Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers (ACHMM), hosted by ACHMM's Kentuckiana Chapter, in cooperation with the University of Kansas. The conference, with more than a thousand attendees expected, will be held September 29 through October 2 at the historic Galt House Hotel.

As a result of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, environmental health and safety professionals nationwide are in the limelight and are being called upon to deal with the aftermath of September 11. This year's conference program places special emphasis on homeland security, emergency preparedness and response, crisis communication, contingency planning, facility security and recovery.

In addition to environmental health and safety professionals, the conference is geared toward corporate policy decision makers, plant managers, directors of health and safety, hazmat transportation managers and specialists, emergency responders, consultants, government representatives, environmental scientists and engineers, industrial hygienists and buyers and purchasing agents.

Keynote speaker will be Dr. Peter M. Sandman, a nationally recognized risk communication speaker and consultant. Dr. Sandman's address is entitled, "Outrage, Panic, Denial: How Should Environmental Professionals Deal with the Nontechnical Half of Risk?"

One of the highlights of the conference is an Emergency Response Scenario (ERS) that will be conducted on Wednesday, October 2. The Ohio River is a source of drinking water for more than three million people in six states and home to 150 species of fish. In Louisville, the river is the northern boundary of the city and state.

The scenario is dramatic - a river accident results in 55-gallon drums of flammable liquid to be dropped into the water. Some of the drums remain intact, others are damaged and their contents spill into the river. One drum hits a pleasure boat. The boat catches fire and victims have to swim to safety. The current also pushes some of the drums into the Louisville Waterfront Marina, where flammable liquid floating on the water must be contained.

Units from area fire departments, police agencies and emergency medical services will work with the U.S. Coast Guard, Waterfront Authority, EPA Region IV, and the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection to handle the emergency.

Participants will first play out the simulation during a "tabletop" exercise. They will later run the actual scenario, which will begin on the Great Lawn at Louisville's Waterfront Park.

Watching Out for Wetlands
On July 8, British Petroleum (BP) signed an agreement with the state of Louisiana and the non-profit organization White Lake Preservation Inc., under which BP will contribute to the state and assure the preservation of one of the largest undeveloped fresh water marshes in the southeastern United States.

The 71-thousand acre property, known as White Lake, is located approximately 100 miles southwest of Baton Rouge, in Vermilion Parish.

In addition to the 71-thousand acre property, BP has agreed to contribute $1.25 million over a five-year period to establish a fund for the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities. Ownership of the White Lake property and its buildings and improvements will be transferred to the state, however the facility will be operated by the non-profit entity, White Lake Preservation Inc.

The state of Louisiana and BP jointly established White Lake Preservation Inc., and focused the non-profit body on three core objectives: (1) preservation of one of the last remaining freshwater marshes on the Gulf Coast, (2) development of a center dedicated to environmental research that can be accessed by researchers and students from colleges and universities across the region and (3) development of an environmental education program for Louisiana citizens -- so that they can learn about biodiversity and environmental preservation.

"BP is very pleased to be able to permanently protect this very special environmental asset," said Tim Holt, BP vice president. "It has been in our care for almost 70 years, and over that time we have done our best to assure this critical freshwater marsh retains its habitat value for the transient and over-wintering birds and the aquatic and other species that depend on it. By making this donation, we feel we can enhance the value of White Lake by making it available more broadly to researchers and others for study and enjoyment. Placing this property into public hands and assuring its permanent protection is entirely consistent with the core values I share with BP's 42,000 employees in the United States," Holt said.

BP and the governor's office developed the donation plan and the BP funding agreement, with guidance from the Nature Conservancy. The land is the first stopping point for millions of songbirds migrating from Central and South America. Some 500,000 migratory birds feed and roost there during the winter months, and hundreds of species of birds, mammals, reptiles and plants already inhabit the property.

Governor Mike Foster said the state of Louisiana is very fortunate to acquire this particular property, and he praised BP's commitment to assuring its preservation. "The state of Louisiana has long recognized the ecological value of the White Lake property, and we are very happy to have BP donate this treasure to the state. BP's actions speak volumes about their vision and leadership in helping to conserve important natural resources."

The governance structure for White Lake and the operating philosophy have been developed with the assistance of The Nature Conservancy, which partnered with BP and the state of Louisiana to ensure the best long-term management of the site.

Pentair Water Treatment Forms New Group
Pentair Water Treatment announced June 10, 2002 that it had formed a new industrial/municipal business group. This new business group's goal is to become the premier source of water treatment components, subsystems and evolving technologies for the North American and global industrial and municipal marketplaces.

"By clearly separating and focusing our residential/commercial business from the newly formed industrial/municipal business group, we aim at better serving our customers," said Jorge Fernandez, president of Pentair Water Treatment.

As part of Pentair Water Treatment, the industrial/municipal roup will be dedicated to advancing water technologies through its ongoing investment in its people and products. Defined by market need, Pentair Water Treatment will target the municipal drinking water market for future growth, as well as the industrial process, reuse and wastewater markets. By developing one stop for components used in the production of process water, such as enclosures and pumps, the industrial/municipal group plans to increase the value it provides to its customers, particularly better, faster service.

Pentair Water Treatment industrial/municipal group brand names will include Fleck industrial valves, CodeLine vessels and Structural composite tanks. As a division of Pentair Water Treatment, the industrial/municipal group will offer the same levels of proven reliability and trouble-free performance already associated with the company's sister divisions in the commercial and residential pump markets, specifically Aurora Pump, Fairbanks Morse, Hydromatic, Layne/Verti-Line and Myers.

Cross Flow Membrane Market Strengthening
Sales of cross flow membrane equipment and membranes will rise from $5.2 billion in 2002 to $7 billion in 2006. This is the current forecast in the continuously updated online RO, UF, MF World Markets published by the McIlvaine Co. The large and growing markets in seawater desalination and municipal water purification are balanced with the very cyclical semiconductor and power markets.

Yearly growth rates will exceed seven percent with ranges of 6 to 7.8 percent in individual years. These forecasts change continually due to the large nature of certain desalination and municipal drinking water projects and due to the big swings in the power and semiconductor industries. The semiconductor market is presently depressed. 2001 membrane sales were down 35 percent from 2000. But sales in 2006 are presently anticipated to be up 40 percent over 2000 and nearly double the 2001 sales rate. Desalination will grow at an average of 11 percent during the period. Individual companies are achieving even better growth rates. With the departure of DuPont from the market and an aggressive research and development, manufacturing and sales effort, Dow is experiencing 15 percent annual growth in membrane sales.

There are three major membrane technologies segmented by efficiency. Reverse osmosis (RO) is the most efficient and is used for salt removal as well as the smallest particles. Desalination, boiler feedwater and water for injection (WFI) into humans are examples. Ultrafiltration (UF) (including nanofiltration) is used for removal of very fine submicron particles such as impurities in wine and the contaminants that cause colors in drinking water. Microfiltration (MF) removes the large but still sub-micron particles and is effective on pathogens in drinking water, as well as being utilized for processing of chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The markets for each technology differ geographically. Rankings by country for each technology as projected for 2006 are as follows:

RO	UF	MF
1. United States	United States	United States
2. Saudi Arabia	China	China
3. Japan	Japan	Japan
4. China	Germany	Germany
5. Spain	United Kingdom	United Kingdom
6. South Korea	France	France
7. Germany	India	Brazil
8. India	Italy	Canada
9. United Kingdom	Brazil	Italy
10. Italy	Canada	India
11. Other Middle East	South Korea	South Korea
12. Taiwan	Spain	Spain

Over the next two decades growth rates are projected to increase over the seven percent/year in the 2002 to 2006 period. The recovery of the semiconductor industry, the penetration of microfiltration to replace sand filters in drinking water plants, and the greater reliance on desalination for water supplies in coastal areas will be factors in accelerating growth. In fact, the increasing cost of potable water from surface sources and the falling cost of desalination promise such an impact as to change population distribution between arid coastal areas and internal areas with scarce or contaminated supplies.

More than 10,000 revenue forecasts are displayed and continually adjusted. Also displayed are forecasts of important basic factors such as megawatts of coal and combined cycle power plants, millions of gallons/day of municipal water treatment, sewage transport, primary treatment and secondary treatment. Additionally, it includes semiconductor revenue forecasts for each country and semiconductor equipment investment projections. Since forecasts are supplied for each product in each industry in each country, the report can be used to set sales quotas and receive valuable feedback from local sales people whose expertise is limited to a small niche.

Veridian Wins $1.3 Million Contract
Veridian Corp. was awarded on July 11, 2002 a $1.3 million time and materials contract by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation to conduct security risk assessments for 10 of the nation's largest dams and water treatment facilities. The Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates most of the large dams and reservoirs in 17 western states.

Veridian's Security Analysis and Risk Management department, based in Fairfax, Va., will conduct the work. "The Veridian team is pleased to be given some of the largest dams and hydropower generation facilities in the United States to assess," says Ed Jopeck, Veridian's director of security analysis and risk management. "The project began in response to the September 11 events and subsequent warnings that our nation's critical water infrastructure was vulnerable to increasing threats from terrorists. Veridian was brought into this project due to our recognized expertise in risk management and antiterrorism."

This new contract adds to other critical infrastructure risk assessments and risk management projects led by Veridian for other water infrastructures across the country, such as the risk assessment of the water supply system for a large U.S. city. The company also plays an active role in setting security standards for national water systems' infrastructures through work with the Environmental Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Veridian has a long history of providing risk assessment and management programs for federal and state governments. The analytical risk management process that Veridian employs includes an in-depth assessment of asset values, threats and vulnerabilities, as well as identifying optimal countermeasures. Veridian's Continuous Risk Management (CRM) methodology is a security analysis tool that is currently used by many organizations in the federal government that require sophisticated security programs to protect against terrorism and other threats. CRM was designed by Veridian personnel for U.S. government and industrial security professionals responsible for analyzing and managing the protection of personnel, operations, computer systems, information, facilities and equipment.

Using Membranes
Pall Corp., a filtration, separations and purification company, announced June 16, 2002, that the company's membrane systems filter more water at higher fluxes with less waste, significantly reducing a water suppliers total cost of ownership. Data on the company's Aria water treatment systems selected by Holliday Water Co. in Utah and the town of Crested Butte in Colorado reveal that these contracts were awarded to Pall based on evaluations that demonstrate up to a 25 percent lower cost of water treatment.

The microfiltration system at Holliday Water Company filters spring water under the influence of surface water at a new 2.5 million gallons per day facility. The filtration system removes waterborne parasites, Cryptosporidium, Giardia lamblia and bacteria providing water quality that exceeds U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stringent regulations for water.

Pilot test data for the town of Crested Butte also showed that the Pall microfilter outperformed contenders by generating 1/4 of the waste, using 1/3 the chemical and consuming 40 percent of the power compared to competition. Amortized annual costs to own and operate the 1.25 million gallons per day water treatment system favored Pall.

More than 100 Pall water systems are installed around the world for the treatment of municipal groundwater, surface water and municipal wastewater. These systems were selected based on studies that demonstrate a measurable and significant cost advantage for Pall membrane systems. Small footprint, high flow, high recovery, low power and chemical consumption make these systems a viable option for water producers.

This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2002 issue of Environmental Protection.