9 minute read
Smart Water Treatment - Pani Energy, CEO Devesh Bharadwaj
decisions. If you know the quality of your water, you can reuse more of it—reducing net intake. Monitoring also provides an early warning system for contaminant outbreaks, which improves compliance and reduces pollution downstream.
Overall, it helps water managers, both in industry and municipalities, to optimise [NA1] the entire system and reduce carbon emissions.
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This also applies to the planning and construction of new treatment works. Without good data you can’t design an efficient plant because engineers will always build bigger—and produce more carbon—to accommodate uncertainties. However, if you have real-time, accurate insights you can build a more efficient, adaptable facility that is suited to the actual demands of that specific site.
On the treatment side, SafeGuard™ H2O reduces the need for bulk toxic chemicals like ferric salts, organosulphide and ozone, which produce substantial emissions across their supply chain. The reagents produced by the SafeGuard™ H2O system are harmless to the environment and they can be produced using renewable energy. The SafeGuard™ H2O process can also recover valuable resources that would otherwise be disposed of wastefully.
Something else that we feel very strongly about is the issue of equity. The impacts of climate change are felt most acutely in small, underserved communities and part of the problem is that large, centralised [NA2] treatment systems are not scalable to the needs of small communities, especially in remote areas. The great thing about our monitoring and treatment systems is that they can cater to the needs of both very small and very large communities. When it comes to adapting to climate change, that flexibility is critical.
How can we accelerate water technology innovation? A barrier to innovation in water technology is industrywide inertia. People are still doing things the way they have been done for the past 50 years. Given the emergency of the climate crisis, the water industry can’t afford to keep making uniformed decisions today that will compromise our ability to reach net zero in the future. The more unsustainable infrastructure we build today, the harder it will be to clean up the mess tomorrow.
Innovations must be sustainable. It’s no good inventing a new ion exchange resin or reverse osmosis process, for instance, that still leaves behind toxic contaminants that require yet further treatment. Furthermore, innovations must be scalable to utilities of every shape and size. If we just keep solving for big cities the rest of the population will get left behind.
When it comes to accelerating innovation in water technology the buck stops with the stakeholders. Engineers are one of the key decision-makers who need to start putting sustainability at the heart of water treatment plant design and operation.
It’s not just the engineers that have a responsibility for driving change, water technology vendors must look beyond making a quick sale and then moving onto the next client. They need to tackle the lifetime costs of their technology and the client’s long-term needs.
The way forward? We need to act now and without innovation we won’t be able to rise to the climate challenge or remain profitable in a context of diminishing margins and ever-tighter regulations.
We need more data. With proper water monitoring, stakeholders can see exactly where their systems are performing and where they are failing, and they can innovate or adopt new technologies based upon that information.
We need more education. It is shocking how many young engineers have never been trained to look at sustainability in their designs and build a sustainable water treatment plant.
Furthermore, the way projects are planned, evaluated, budgeted for, and approved must consider the costs across the lifecycle.
Regulators also play a role. Whether it is the EPA in the U.S., the EEA in Europe or the AECEN in Asia; federal, state and local regulatory agencies need to make sustainable, safe, energy-efficient water treatment plants the standard, not the exception.
And last but not least, we need to hold the solution providers’ feet to the fire. Clients should demand that suppliers offer performance-based pricing that is backed by data.
Robert Haller
CWWA is the professional association for Canada’s municipal water sector and we are THE voice for the sector at the national and international level.
Climate change is water change. Do you agree? Absolutely! Altered weather systems leading to severe storms and unprecedented droughts while increased temperatures are dramatically affecting the quantity and quality of our source water supplies.
How do you think climate change will impact your organisation? Municipal utilities are at the front line, working for their communities to secure and preserve safe and reliable water services while preparing to mitigate the impacts of extreme storms. implement those plans. Smaller communities will need greater support to develop such plans. Governments must also do more to educate the public to understand the impacts of climate and the need to support critical investments.
Are you confident that we can achieve SDG 6 - “to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” - by 2030?
I believe we have the ability with both technology and finances to achieve anything, but it will take a far greater political will....which demands public support for the investments and the acceptance of change.
What does a ‘water positive’ future look like to you? Water is recognized as the most critical and most precious resource on the planet - we protect it and use it far more wisely and we make the investments needed to secure reliable water, wastewater and stormwater systems.
What are some of the barriers to the adoption of water technologies? Water and wastewater utilities have historically been underfunded and as we raise rates to just manage the basics, there is resistance to paying further fees for stormwater (seen as a tax on rain). Senior governments need to see the value of investments in preventative measures over the cost of disasters.
Do you think your members are adequately considering climate change adaptation in their business strategies? Yes. Climate change is at the forefront of the minds of most water professionals, but the smaller the community, the fewer the resources to address it.
What role should the government play in promoting climate adaptation tech? Climate adaptation must become a priority for senior governments to support the investments needed at the local level. There must be financial support to build the capacity of communities to address climate change and then the infrastructure funding to
Best practice guidelines: Helping industry navigate the climate challenge
The record-breaking heatwave that swept across Europe this July brought to the fore the stark realities of global climate change.
Asobering thought is that despite concerted efforts to decarbonise, scientists predict that we are still on course for significant global warming.
In many ways, the greatest impacts of climate change will be on the hydrological cycle - droughts, floods, and water quality issues are already worsening and this trend is set to continue.
To adapt to this uncertain future, society and industry must develop ways to build climate resilience, which is the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to hazardous events.
When it comes to the water-related impacts of climate change, the water industry has a huge role to play in building resilience, but so do other water-intensive sectors such as mining, agriculture, and energy.
Building, operating, and maintaining built assets in a way that is efficient, sustainable, and doesn’t compromise the quality of ever-dwindling water resources, will be crucial to the future of our planet.
From source to tap, water passes through a complex array of infrastructure and equipment, which puts it at risk of being lost or polluted.
To mitigate these risks, infrastructure must be fit-forpurpose and engineers need to make sure assets and equipment are designed, installed, operated, and maintained to the highest standards. The pressure of climate change demands it. efforts, the development and sharing of engineering expertise and best practice will be equally important.
EEMUA is one such organisation offering a source of best practice guidance and information for the engineering industry that helps improve the safety, environmental, and operating performance of industrial facilities in cost-effective ways.
EEMUA offers a range of best practice guidelines, forums and courses that help us adapt to an uncertain water future. Resources like the EEMUA Publication 231, which is delivered through live online, in-house and MIPC blended training courses, helps wastewater plant managers reduce the chances of leaks and hazardous spills.
Another best practice document, EEMUA Publication 159, offers a guide to the inspection, maintenance and repair of above ground flat bottomed storage tanks. Resources like these, and many more, help increase the operational efficiency of a plant, leading to a deduction in energy use, and thus emissions.
“Climate change brings with it extreme weather which can cause critical systems to fail,” says the organisation’s technical executive Reece Riley. “This can cause leakage, and contamination through the loss of hazardous substances, so it is vital that the infrastructure and equipment is up to the task and the people operating it are equipped with the best information.”
As part of its portfolio, EEMUA also offers training and competency courses that play a key industry role in developing and testing the knowledge, understanding, The key to developing the skills and knowledge required – and remaining at the leading edge – is a deep understanding of, and responsiveness to, the needs of the people working on the ground.
“EEMUA’s guiding principle has always been ‘by the industry, for the industry’, and, at a time when transformation that can stem the effects of climate change is being rapidly sought, this principle is more important than ever,” says Riley.
Online learning, an area where EEMUA has a rapidly growing offering, is a flexible and effective enabler of knowledge dissemination that appeals particularly to young engineers - the future changemakers. As the UN puts it, “Education empowers all people, but especially motivates the young to take action.”
These offerings foster the skills and expertise required to adapt to an uncertain future at a time where the decisions engineers make today, will create ripples of impact for decades to come.
and competency of engineers. These workers come from a range of backgrounds, and a key part of EEMUA’s work is encouraging collaboration and knowledge exchange across industries.
“EEMUA offers an opportunity for the water industry to collaborate with other sectors, share best practice and learn about how to build, operate, and maintain assets that are more resilient to the threats of climate change,” says Riley.
In its drive to equip engineers for the future, the non-profit organisation runs forums on topics such as carbon capture and hydrogen,and facilitates a range of seminars such as the Mechanical Integrity Seminar and the Inspection Seminar which provide a noncompetitive framework to share expertise in good practice for the benefit of members, industry and society as a whole.
The importance of engineering knowledge, collaboration and capacity-building cannot be understated. Engineers are responsible for making critical decisions that affect our future, and education that upskills current workers and inspires the next generation is therefore paramount. Click here for more information on EEMUA’s best practice guidelines, forums and courses.
