Water Weekly 2.0 Vol 22
A weekly round-up of all the latest news in the water industry.
Your go-to weekly newsletter on all things water.
A mid-month wrap-up of the latest exciting business news!
The latest companies partnering to take on the global challenge of water scarcity:
This week, Zymatic, Perstorp and Rise have announced they will join forces and collaborate to use enzyme-based treatment solutions for water reuse and circularity. The organizations are set to bring together industry-leading expertise and leverage ‘advanced biotechnological approaches to create sustainable water management practices.’
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden – Research institutes of Sweden’s research institute and innovation partner.
Perstorp Group – A major chemical manufacturer and worlds leader in several sectors of the speciality market.
Zymatic – A cleantech business known for its successful achievements using enzymes for treatment of organic pollutants.
“Water is a vital resource, and our collaboration signifies a commitment to finding sustainable solutions that can benefit industries and communities alike. By combining our strengths, we can provide effective tools that help manage this invaluable resource more sustainably."
Said COO of Zymatic Christian Ryen
Did you know, at least 50 percent of the planet’s population, 4 billion people, deal with water shortfalls at least one month of the year. Especially with population growth, climate change, and globalisation, it is crucial that organisations work together to share industry knowledge and expertise to push for a more sustainable future with accessible water for everyone.
Leveraging advancing AI technologies
Veolia launches Hubgrade Water Footprint; an innovative digital solution based on artificial intelligence to help customers achieve water neutrality goals by effectively monitoring and managing water consumption in real-time. The solution will also help customers reduce their water footprint, water-related energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
The new technology solution is set to provide data analytics, supervision, optimization and predictive systems for all water, waste, energy and other environmental resources.
“Traditional water audits only create a snapshot of in time water consumption at an industrial facility. Hubgrade Water Footprint goes beyond this steady-state representation of total cost of water and captures real-time emergence of water wastage events at a granular level to systematically identify and eliminate water inefficiency in a way that a traditional water audit cannot.”
Said Chief Digital Officer at Veolia – Bernie Anger
This year, the project is expected to expand to more than 15 global Veolia sites to drive new sustainability efforts. By using AI, the platform drives actionable insights that can be used for example to detect water wastage incidents in real-time, enabling effective water risk management and providing recommendations to optimize the impact of energy consumption associated with water circuits, thereby reducing the overall carbon emissions of the facility.
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Anglian Water Services water announces its biggest ever investment into water infrastructure at almost 1.5bn after some of the warmest summers on record.
The investment follows the ongoing global battle of climate change, and latest infrastructure plans will help ‘facilitate housing and economic growth by keeping taps running.’
The investment will oversee the next five years, ‘building on 30 years of investment in drought resilience’ and is part of a larger 9bn plan for the rest of the region.
Geoff Darch the head of supply and demand strategy at Anglican Water, said:
“The scale of the work we’re proposing hasn’t been seen since the infrastructure revolution 200 years ago, but with the same aim of facilitating housing and economic growth by keeping taps running, as extreme weather is set to become more commonplace.”
“It’s vital now that we secure the investment we need, as the climate continues to change more rapidly, and we prepare for more homes, jobs and growth as 720,000 new residents move to our region. None of which is possible without a sustainable water supply. Investing In resilience now means that we’re ready to capture and store water when its plentiful and save it for not-so-rainy days.”
To reinforce some more fantastic efforts from the industry in combating the worsening climate conditions, Sottish Water have recently released they have reached ￡1bn in investments towards tackling the global issue.
The announcement came within their Annual report 23/24, and Chief Executive of Scottish Water Alex Plant commented on the climate change impacts on the industry and vowed the company have been amongst focused efforts to meet targets and provide high-quality drinking water despite the latest concerning weather conditions.
He said:
“Our capital investment programme is one of the country’s biggest and is being delivered faster than ever before. It both protects the services our customers rely on day in and day out and helping communities to grow and adapt… As I look to the year ahead, I am convinced we are on the right course to drive performance, deliver significant levels of investment, and further strengthen customer focus.”
In addition, Diehl Metering has released its third annual Sustainability Report for 2023.
Diehl Metering joins many other organizations working towards a more sustainable and cleaner future! The company; specialized in smart metering systems engineering and engineering services highlights their ongoing effort in their latest report of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, with a conscious effort of measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It also included initiatives aimed at emissions reduction, energy efficiency, and encouraging a circular economy. These goals, certainly from a smart metering and cleantech perspective, provide hope for water management and energy control in the future.
The water team at Jackson Hogg are thrilled to have had another opportunity to chat with another industry specialist!
This weeks guest is Michael Kuhns ; VP of Sales of Acuva Technologies ; a company based in Canada currently centring their work around UV-LED technology. Since they were founded in 2014, Acuva have been focused on bettering drinking water and making it more accessible to wider society.
Michael, shares his his journey in the water industry and gives us an insight into the work at Acuva.
Tell us about you and your experience within the water industry?
"I’m originally from the USA and have lived & worked internationally in the water industry for the past 20+ years.? ?I had my first exposure to water while teaching in a remote village in West Africa - the nearest clean water source was a 2 km hike away.? Over the course of my career, I have been involved with UV disinfection for major water & wastewater projects in Asia, Australia/NZ, the Middle East & Africa, as well as in Europe & the UK.? My current position as VP of Sales for Acuva Technologies (based in Paris, France) has a strong focus on drinking water."
Can you provide an overview of Acuva ?
Acuva Technologies is a global leader in UVC-LED disinfection technology. We design, develop and manufacture advanced UVC-LED systems for point of use and point of entry water disinfection applications around the world.??Our customers range from water dispenser OEM's to integrators or distribution partners that install residential water treatment systems."??
What sets Acuva apart from other competitors?
"Acuva has multiple patents including technology that collimates UVC-LED energy into Intense Beams that deliver high performance at a low cost.? Our innovation is in reactors that take advantage of the best available UVC-LED's in the market.? Our designs are in stainless steel and not dependent on surface (reflective) properties.? We have also obtained all certifications for our product range, including but not limited to NSF 55 Class B, UK WRAS, French ACS, and Australia Watermark."
A huge focus for the company in the future is higher flow applications, e.g., residential point of entry and light industrial.? Our reactor technology is scalable and we can get into much higher flows than traditionally possible with UVC-LED."
How sustainable is the UV-LED Technology for the future?
"UVC-LED Technology is definitely sustainable for the future. There are obviously lots of other great disinfection technologies out there, however it is important to note that this industry is relatively slow moving, and it can sometimes take 10 years or more for certain disinfectant technologies to make a difference within the market. Sometimes technologies can be difficult to get fast market penetration.? What excites me about Acuva is that we have proven technology for existing markets but are also continuously finding new applications that have not previously been able to use UVC-LED disinfection."
What motivates you about working?within the water industry?
"I suppose for me, I’ve felt the impacts of water scarcity first-hand.? I remember it being 45 degrees in the middle of West Africa and not having readily available safe drinking water.? So from the core, I know what it's like to have water issues. I take great pride in participating in an industry that positively impacts humanity; It's very motivational to make a difference."
Thankyou for reading this weeks newsletter.
We will be back next week with another exciting feature who shares their take on the water world!