Smart Water Magazine Bimonthly 8

THE DISRUPTIV E WATER MAGAZINE

JUN

2021

08

PRIVATE CAPITAL:

A KEY DRIVER OF SUSTAINABLE RECOVERY Fady Jameel

Deputy President and Vice Chairman, International, of Abdul Latif Jameel

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FROM THE EDITOR

SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT TO FORGE A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ENVIRONMENT Before I write each of these letters, I have the good habit of reading again through all the content in the magazine. I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this issue. Mainly because of one reason: in spite of the turbulent times we have lived through and continue to live in, the narrative about raising the importance of water management, and the discussion about the window of opportunity we have to position the resource to leverage sustainable recovery is similar across the world.

Participants in this issue, from as diverse geographies as the Middle East, the United States, Europe, Australia or Africa, advocate for using resources to apply strategies and long-term actions that change our relationship with the environment and promote a more sustainable and digital future.

This is the philosophy of Abdul Latif Jameel, a family business founded 75 years ago that has become consolidated as a world leader in sustainable investments. Fady Jameel, Deputy President and Vice Chairman, International, of the company, featured on our front cover, PUBLISHER iAgua Conocimiento, S.L. C/ Príncipe de Vergara, 132 Planta 9 - 28002 Madrid (Lexington Coworking) info@iagua.es MANAGEMENT Alejandro Maceira Rozados David Escobar Gutiérrez EDITOR Alejandro Maceira Rozados

describes in an interesting interview how, after an extensive and successful trajectory in the field of renewable energies, they created Almar Water Solutions in 2016 to help address water quality and scarcity issues across the world, and, after five years, the company operates in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Without a doubt, a carefully thought move with a controlled risk, to harness the huge opportunities present in a water sector on the rise.

Public-private participation and the investment of companies such as Abdul Latif Jameel have been, are and will be increasingly more relevant in these new times to increase access to drinking water and sanitation all over the world: “Private capital can be a key driver in addressing global challenges facing humankind” rightly notes Fady Jameel in one of his final conclusions.

Along the same lines are the words of José Enrique Bofill, Regional Director MENA-Asia at Aqualia, an entity that proposes the integrated management of all areas related to water management

EDITORIAL STAFF Águeda García de Durango Caveda Laura Fernández Zarza Paula Sánchez Almendros Olivia Tempest Prados Cristina Novo Pérez

(design, construction, maintenance), including always an important investment component to bolster sustainability, efficiency and service quality.

As a key element for sustainability, the digital transformation occupies an important part of this magazine, with the articles and interviews of leading entities such as Datakorum, Hidroconta, Droople, Diehl, Miya, Water Europe and Melbourne Water.

In summary, 100 pages with a common discourse voiced from different corners of the world: sustainable investments with moderate risk and direct benefits for the environment and our quality of life. Enjoy them.

David Escobar - Partner SWM

D @davizescobar - E @DavidEscobariAgua

ART AND GRAPHIC DESIGN Pablo González-Cebrián Gabriel Plaza Gajardo

ADVERTISING Javier de los Reyes PHOTOGRAPHY Pablo González-Cebrián

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CONTENTS NUMBER 08 - JUN 2021 INTERVIEW

FEATURE

FEATURE

INTERVIEW

ABDUL LATIF JAMEEL: DRIVING CHANGE

IIMPROVING UTILITIES’ EFFICIENCY

A SOLUTION TO SEWER CORROSION

SOLAR DESALINATION TAKES OFF

Pg. 14 Fady Jameel talks about the keys to the success of his family’s business and their plans to become a global leader in water solutions.

Pg. 24 Miya Water explains the many benefits of a Non revenue Water Reduction Programme for the stakeholders of water companies.

Pg. 44 How to prevent corrosion in sewer systems? Brucite+ presents a safe and eco-friendly product to raise the pH of wastewater.

Pg. 64 The U.S. Department of Energy has launched a competition to accelerate the development of solar-thermal desalination systems.

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www.brucite.plus info@brucite.plus +7 (495) 789–65–30

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CONTENTS NUMBER 08 - JUN 2021

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FEATURE

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

DIGITALISATION FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT

WATER COMPANIES’ COMMUNICATIONS

IMPROVING CUSTOMERS’ ENGAGEMENT

ETHICS FOR THE INTERNET OF WATER

Pg. 70 To protect and preserve our water resources, Hidroconta calls for incorporating digital technology into management practices.

Pg. 11 This time we have asked Elena Aguilera from water technology company Xylem about her communications work in the water industry.

Pg. 74 Diehl Metering describes their new tool, the IZAR@HOME app, that enables customers to monitor and optimize their own consumption.

Pg. 84 Droople raises the question about ethics in new technologies: a set of principles allow risk management and a sustainable digital future.

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CONTENTS NUMBER 08 - JUN 2021

FEATURE

INFRASTRUCTURE

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

OF MYTHS AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

WASTEWATER TREATMENT IN SARDINIA

A FUND FOR THE COLORADO BASIN

EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Pg. 78 Companies often have reservations when approaching the digital transformation. Datakorum sheds some light into common myths.

Pg. 68 Expect major innovations as ACCIONA takes charge of facilities accounting for 85% of the wastewater treatment capacity in the island.

Pg. 40 Will Sarni tells us about the Colorado River Basin Fund, and how investing in emerging technology can help address water challenges.

Pg. 34 A dialogue with José Enrique Bofill about Aqualia’s unique business model that has led to the company’s success in the MENA-Asia region.

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SWM RANKING Smart Water Magazine (SWM) launches a Ranking to measure the influence of organizations and professionals in the water industry. mentioned that particular content can obtain a maximum of 1,000 points. This is done to prevent the distortion of the entire classification in case a specific content goes viral.

The SWM Ranking is a tool that allows the influence of organizations in the water sector to be measured and ordered according to transparent criteria.

The factors considered for the calculation are the page views the web, thethe number of SWM Likes andand thethe contents in Smart on the web, number of SWM Likes contents in Water Magazine Monthly.

Smart Water Magazine Bimonthly.

The ranking order is established by a unit of measurement created for this purpose: SWM Points. This metric is calculated through a mathematical algorithm that takes into account the content published during the 365 days prior to the calculation date and will be updated every two month, coinciding with the months, coinciding with the publication of each issue of SWM Bimonthly. The data of visits to the webweb are extracted fromfrom Google Analytics, while the the visits to the are extracted Google Analytics, while amount of SWM Likes are directly counted andand can can be seen the amount of SWM Likes are directly counted be in seen in the different contents of the web.

Classification categories SWM publishes content of all kinds: by companies, public administrations, international organizations, associations, foundations, etc. In addition, SWM bloggers publish their articles in a personal capacity on a wide variety of topics. For all these reasons, the Ranking has several classifications depending on the category of the entity. The most important ones are: • Companies • Blogs In addition, a general classification can be consulted in which all the participating entities are compared regardless of their type.

How are SWM points earned?

Each content published on the web by an entity or blogger gets 1 point for every 10 page views; also, for each SWM Like it gets 2 points, which become 5 in the event that the user who grants it is a verified user. On the other hand, if the content appears in SWM Bimonthly, it gets 250 points. This amount is fixed and corresponds to an estimation of the average audience generated by the monthly magazines. It should also be

SWM Likes and Verified Users Registered users of SWM can click on the blue heart of any content on the web that they like. The number of SWM Likes appears beside the blue heart. The number of likes of a content is used for the calculation, having a different value if the user is verified (5 points) or not (2 points). Verified users are easy to distinguish as a white "check" icon appears on their profile next to their name on a blue circle.

How are SWM points earned?

5 5

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SWM Points

SWM Like

Page views

1 1

Verified users

2 2

SWM Points

Water Magazine Bimonthly

10

SWM Point

Page views

Non-verified users

SWM Alliances A blog that is linked to an entity will contribute only 50% of its points to that entity

250 250 SWM Points

50%

*The ranking order is established by a unit of measurement created for this purpose: SWM Points. *A specific content piece can obtain a maximum of 1,000 SWM Points. *The maximum number of content pieces in SWM Monthly that will be considered for the calculation is 16.

TOP 10 - COMPANIES RANK

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

COMPANY

SWM POINTS

1.281 1.522 points 1.349 points 1.197 1.021 points 1.175 1.045 907 points 1.000 891 points 547 points 690 526 points 632 417 points 551 415 points 547 381 points 513

Schneider ACCIONA Electric Hidroconta ACCIONA Schneider Electric Idrica Idrica Hidroconta Almar Water Solutions Tedagua Veolia Inc. Xylem.

SUEZ Water Solutions Almar Bentley Systems SUEZ Xylem. Inc. Dropple Isle Utilities Veolia

TOP 5 - PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS Gov.of City Hong Atlanta KongD.W.M (WSD)

TOP 5 - BLOGS 272 points 275

Karl-UweMann Graham Schmitz

618 points 464

PUB Singapore's Gov. Hong Kong W.S.D. N. Water Agency 274 222 points

Graham Mann Madhukar Swayambhu

492 points 328

DEWASingapore's PUB Dubai N.W.A.

119 points 221

Madhukar John Mmbaga Swayambhu

322 points 244

US NASA Dubai Electricity and Water A.

101 points 130

John Mmbaga Karl-Uwe Schmitz

269 points 213

UK NASA US Ofwat

80 points 102 points

Robert Brears

232 points 202 - MAGAZINE

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SPEAKERS' CORNER

“I AM INSPIRED AND MOVED WHEN DIFFERENT SECTORS COME TOGETHER WITH A COMMON PURPOSE” Elena Aguilera, Marketing and Communications Manager at Xylem Inc. The team at Xylem, the global water technology leader, is dedicated to creating advanced technology and other solutions to solve the world’s water challenges. In this interview Elena Aguilera shares with us some aspects of her role as Marketing and Communications Manager for Iberia at Xylem, where she coordinates the internal and external communications relating to the company’s products and services.

Z Cristina Novo Pérez How do you think communication in the water sector has evolved in recent years?

I have been working in the water sector for more than a decade, and what has changed the most is the way of communicating, the target audience and the channels used.

We have moved towards digital channels, in a sector where the previous model was wholly off-line and in person.

Communication is linked to social change and the entire sector has evolved to a more adaptive model, with social value, and concerned about the environment.

Why do you think it is important to communicate about water?

Communicating about water is vital: it is a wonderful world that is part of us, essential for life, and finite. It is in our hands to raise awareness about new environmental challenges. We are seeing the effects of climate change, with droughts

and water scarcity in certain regions, and floods, disasters and emergencies; we have the chance to help, offer solutions, educate and thrive as a society.

The sector has a great opportunity to remind people about the value of water and how to make it available and safe for generations to come.

What are the most challenging aspects of communicating about the work of the water industry?

Xylem covers the entire water cycle, we manufacture and supply pumps, mixers and aeration systems, leak detection technologies, filtration systems and water treatment with oxygen, ozone and UV, and thus the communication with our clients is diverse and the needs are very different. There is no magic solution to communicate, nor a unique approach for everyone.

Each sector, industry or company has its own characteristics, strengths and challenges, so it is a challenge to work at the local

level with our partners and clients to understands their needs.

Tackling different challenges and working closely with our clients and partners to offer solutions adapted to each situation is a core objective of Xylem.

Could you highlight one of your company’s communication success stories?

Several come to mind, but these two were particularly rewarding and had a great social impact as well as an impact regarding innovation.

Our awareness campaigns jointly with the Manchester City Football Club: “The end of football” or “Be a water hero” were incredible and very enlightening, about our careless daily water use.

The launch of our Flygt Concertor intelligent pumping system was a milestone for Xylem: a system that adapts to the requirements in each facility managing the pumping station automatically. We have done many campaigns,

but when you have something that you know will change the future of pumping systems, it is a lot easier, and you enjoy it.

Who or what organization inspires you when it comes to ways of communicating?

I am inspired and moved when different sectors (water, football, NGOs, public companies, private ones, etc.) come together with a common purpose and collaborate to convey very important messages to the public, such as the value of water, its importance for life, hygiene, and above all, urgent challenges such as water scarcity and affordability, and creating a water secure world for the generations to come.

The water sector has mobilised to face the challenges of the pandemic in a powerful and inspiring way. Working together, we help communities and companies become more resilient and sustainable in the future, and we further our mission: solving water problems.

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PERSON OF THE MONTH

RAYMOND ERPELDING NEW PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN WATER ASSOCIATION.

Last May the European Water Association (EWA) appointed its new President for the period 2021-2023. One of the major professional associations in Europe covering the entire water sector, the EWA is an independent non-governmental and non-profit organisation representing about 55,000 water professionals, providing a forum to discuss technical and policy issues in Europe.

A member of the EWA Council since 2007, Raymond Erpelding is the Managing Director of S.I.A.C.H. (Syndicat Intercommunal pour l'Assainissement du bassin de la Chiers) in Pétange, Luxembourg

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and a member of the Management Board of ALUSEAU (Association Luxembourgeoise des Services d'Eau), an organisation which he led from 2007 to 2018.

Deeply involved with the work of the EWA, Mr Erpelding has been part of its Management Committee since 2015, and Vice President since 2019. He has been particularly involved with the activities of the European Policy Committee, a group that regularly meets with European Commission officials in charge of water management issues. Part of the role of the Committee is to provide comments and advice to European institutions.

BUSINESS

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INTERVIEW

FADY JAMEEL

DEPUTY PRESIDENT AND VICE CHAIRMAN, INTERNATIONAL, OF ABDUL LATIF JAMEEL

C

oming from a vast experience in the automotive sector, Abdul Latif Jameel used its expertise and operations infrastructure to diversify into new industries that contribute to the ‘infrastructure of life’. They aim to address water security needs worldwide with a program of desalination, water and waste water treatment and recycling and reuse initiatives. The Jameel Water & Food Systems lab (J-WAFS) was founded in 2014 by the family’s philanthropic arm Community Jameel and MIT to research breakthrough solutions in water and food security, and in 2016, Almar Water Solutions was established as a dedicated business unit to spearhead this initiative offering comprehensive infrastructure solutions that support sustainable economic development. SWM’s Olivia Tempest asked Fady Jameel, Deputy President and Vice Chairman, International, of this iconic business group about their trajectory and plans for the future as they further a rapid expansion in the global water sector.

Can you tell us about your career path and your role at Abdul Latif Jameel?

I’m Deputy President and Vice Chairman, International, of Abdul Latif Jameel, a private family-owned diversified business founded by my grandfather, the late Sheikh Abdul Latif Jameel, in 1945. This means I head up the international operations of Abdul Latif Jameel across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey region, Europe, Asia and the Americas. I’m also a member of the board. The business celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2020, and in parallel, we also celebrate three quarters of a century of family philanthropy. My grandfather’s

Z Olivia Tempest

“We have never been afraid of investing in opportunities, of taking calculated risks as part of a broader strategy” Started 75 years ago as a small trading business, Abdul Latif Jameel is today a global investor and diversified family-owned business group with a presence in some 30 countries, with a commitment to becoming a global leader in the water solutions sector through Almar Water Solutions.

philosophy of contributing to positive societal change has underpinned the family business since the beginning.

Historically, Abdul Latif Jameel’s core business was focused on the automotive sector, where we have enjoyed a strong relationship with Toyota Motor Corporation for nearly seven decades, beginning in the Middle East but subsequently spreading across North Africa, Europe and Asia Pacific.

In recent years, one of our key strategic focus has been on growing our global renewable and environmental services business, Abdul Latif Jameel Energy. This includes our flagship renewables company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, or FRV, a global specialist in utility-scale solar and wind energy,

and energy storage infrastructure and an independent power producer, which is particularly active in Latin America, Australia, the Middle East and Europe; and Almar Water Solutions.

Almar Water Solutions is a specialist provider of technical capabilities for water infrastructure development, including design, financing and operation. Its

Almar Water Solutions provides technical capabilities for water infrastructure development, including design, financing and operation - MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW

Using the latest technology, learning from best practices around the world and optimizing efficiency are essential for sustainability

capabilities range across desalination, water treatment, wastewater treatment and recycling and plant refurbishment across both industrial and municipal sectors. It is currently developing one of the World’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plants, Shuqaiq 3, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.

Before taking up my current role at Abdul Latif Jameel, I worked at Lexus’ North American headquarters in Torrance, California, and was involved in investment strategy, strategic direction, and reviewing technologies for the company’s growth and investment plans. Prior to that I studied political science at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.

Abdul Latif Jameel celebrated this year its 75th anniversary. What is the secret to the success of your company? And

The idea is to capture opportunities to add and grow value, whenever they arise, and to use those opportunities to drive you forward 16

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what plans do you have for the near future?

There is an old Arabic proverb – “If a wind blows; ride it...” – a favourite of my grandfathers’, which sums up the entrepreneurial ethos of Abdul Latif Jameel.

The idea is to capture opportunities to add and grow tangible value, whenever they arise, and to use those opportunities to drive you forward, even if the precise route or ultimate destination is not completely certain. It’s about a long-term perspective.

We have never been afraid of investing in opportunities, of taking calculated risks as part of a broader strategy. It was a risk when my grandfather opened his first gas station outside Jeddah in the 1940s, and a risk when he imported four early Toyota ‘BJ” vehicles a few years later. Those opportunities – those risks, if you like – laid the foundation for today’s global business. He had a vision, and he committed to it, and that spirit still underpins everything we do.

It’s why we launched a finance business in 1979, to make it easier for customers to purchase a Toyota; why we expanded into Turkey, China and across North Africa in the 1990s; and why we have spent the last two decades

investing in what we call ‘the infrastructure of life’ – mobility, real estate, healthcare, renewable energy, and of course, water.

At the same time, Abdul Latif Jameel has long recognized the importance of helping others and supporting the community, regularly providing funding for good causes and social initiatives.

FADY JAMEEL

Our numerous philanthropic activities were brought together in 2003 in a new entity, today known as Community Jameel. Among many other things, Community Jameel supports and co-founded a number of scientific research labs at leading global universities, including the Jameel Water and Food Systems lab (JWAFS), the Jameel Poverty Action lab

(J-PAL), the Jameel World Education lab (J-WEL) and the Jameel Clinic, all at MIT; and the Jameel Institute, at Imperial College London.

We don’t just jump into any market or sector that is expanding, though. The risk is too high in industries we have no knowledge or experience of. Expansion is thoughtful and considered. Generally, we

Abdul Latif Jameel works with partners to drive transformation, innovation and action in the renewable energy and water sectors - MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW

We’re establishing a platform in Chile for the Latin American market, and in other regions, such as Australia, Saudi Arabia and Europe

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like to get involved in related businesses that we can understand – and of course, see how we can add value and how that business adds value to a better world.

Throughout its long history, Abdul Latif Jameel’s key diversification strategies have been into sustainable solutions in water and renewable energy.

Why are these sectors a priority for Abdul Latif Jameel?

These sectors are not only priorities for Abdul Latif Jameel; they should be priorities for every single one of us. The relationship between water, energy and food is central to the sustainable development of our society. The growing global popu-

FADY JAMEEL lation, increasing urbanization, changing diets and economic growth, however, mean that demand for all three is rising fast. Agriculture, for example, is already the largest consumer of the world’s freshwater resources, while food production and supply accounts for over 25% of energy use globally.

The relationships between these three domains are critical not only for our society, but for our whole planet. Developing a sustainable, environmentally sensitive supply of water and energy for our communities, industries and agriculture is one of the biggest challenges we will ever face.

As we have seen over the past year or so, these issues can no longer be ignored.

Many experts believe that the environmental crises we have seen in recent years – such as wildfires, floods, droughts, storms, the COVID-19 pandemic – are evidence of the increasing and unsustainable pressure on the most precious resources of our planet.

Addressing these challenges and protecting our resources for future generations requires a holistic, integrated approach that addresses the root cause of these imbalances, not just the symptoms.

Namely, our relationship with water and energy and their central role in our society.

This is why Abdul Latif Jameel works with partners across the globe to drive transformation, innovation and action in the renewable energy and water sectors.

other plants providing water for several of Saudi Arabia’s industrials cities.

In 2016, we took our involvement in the water industry to the next level with the acquisition of Almar Water Solutions, which currently operates in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Almar Water Solutions is helping to address water scarcity and water quality challenges across the globe through its investments in water treatment, water reuse, and desalination projects for municipal and industrial sectors.

In 2018, Almar Water Solutions was awarded the contract to develop Kenya’s first large-scale desalination plant at Mombasa, the country’s second largest city, where a severe water crisis has been reduced supply over a number of years. Once complete, the site will deliver 100,000 cubic meters of drinking water daily to more than one million people.

The Mombasa contract was followed in January 2019 with the award of a contract in Saudi Arabia to develop Shuqaiq 3 IWP, one of the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plants. Situated near the Red Sea city of Al Shuqaiq, this US$ 600 million investment will fund the development of a plant covering the size of 34 soccer fields. When completed in Q4 2021, it will deliver 450,000 cubic meters of clean water each day to more than 1.8 million people, agriculture and industry.

Abdul Latif Jameel established Almar Water Solutions in 2016, to expand its portfolio of solutions for the water industry. What is Abdul Latif Jameel’s experience in the water sector?

We first got involved in the water industry over 20 years ago, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We bought a decommissioned desalination plant in the United States and reassembled it in Jeddah to deliver clean water for the Islamic Port. After that initial success, we began investing in

What differentiates Almar Water Solutions in the market?

One of the strengths that I believe differentiates Almar Water Solutions is its commitment to sustainability and innovation. Ensuring the availability of clean water for our communities and for businesses is, of course, hugely important.

But it must be done in a way that not only delivers for consumers, shareholders and partners, but which also delivers for the planet, by minimizing the carbon

footprint, optimizing efficiency and safeguarding the environment. This doesn’t mean we must forego profits and instead focus only on sustainability. We have shown – and Shuqaiq 3 will be the most powerful example to date – that it is still possible to achieve a comparable return by taking a sustainable approach and investing in innovation.

Historically, the water industry has perhaps not been as committed to this approach as it could have been, as evidenced by the poor energy efficiency of many existing water plants. But at Almar Water Solutions, this approach is at the heart of every investment we make.

At Shuqaiq 3, for example, we have invested in the very latest technology and systems to ensure that it will be one of the most energy efficient independent water plants (IWP) in the world when in operation.

We believe this is vitally important.

Using the very latest technology and processes, learning from best practices around the world and optimizing efficiency are essential for addressing sustainability issues and winning more projects around the globe.

Our ambition is not only the successful completion of the Shuqaiq 3 plant.

We plan to do other things in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, in Latin America, South-East Asia, as well as North and East Africa.

In 2020, Abdul Latif Jameel reinforced its investment in the Middle East and Africa’s water sector with the acquisition of desalination services company

Almar Water Solutions is helping to address water scarcity and water quality challenges across the globe through its investments

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INTERVIEW Ridgewood Egypt. What plans does the firm have in EMEA and Egypt, in particular, in terms of water?

We first entered the Egyptian market in 2019, when Almar Water entered into a joint venture with Hassan Allam Utilities to form AA Water Developments, to help revitalize and develop the country’s water infrastructure.

In 2020, this led to the acquisition of Ridgewood Group, Egypt, a major desalination services company. Ridgewood operates 58 desalination plants throughout the country, with a focus on industry and tourism – a critical sector for Egypt’s economy. This network of facilities has the capacity to provide 82,440 cubic meters of safe, clean drinking water every single day.

The acquisition continues Almar’s strategy to expand rapidly beyond its portfolio of new greenfield projects with desalination, water treatment plants and other existing brownfield water infrastructure assets which are already in operation, to drive efficiency and growth in access to sustainable water solutions.

We plan to continue to increase our activity in the water sector significantly over the coming years. As well as our platform in Egypt to address the country’s vast water issues, we’re establishing a platform in Chile for the Latin American market, and in other regions, such as Australia, Saudi Arabia and Europe, where we are looking to build relationships with suitable partners.

I think the partnership aspect is an important point to emphasize, because no one can do this alone. It requires a com-

We have shown that it is still possible to achieve a comparable return by taking a sustainable approach and investing in innovation 20

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The Abdul Latif Jameel Water & Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) has been seeking answers to the world’s water and food challenges

bination of expertise, understanding, support and investment if we are to make a lasting difference. The more we work with trusted partners, the more we can help to drive real progress in the water industry.

What is Abdul Latif Jameel’s business strategy concerning climate change mitigation and adaptation?

We have long recognized the importance of tackling climate challenge. The tragedy of the past year has reenergized our commitment to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world. We recognize that a problem exists and that its scale is considerable, but we also take ownership of the problem by embedding it in our long-term mission.

As well as our expanding presence in the water sector, many people will be aware of our commitment to green energy. Across the 18 or so countries where our energy and environmental services business, Abdul Latif Jameel Energy, is now active, we have major investments in solar power, wind power, water solutions and environmental services.

Through FRV, we are harnessing low carbon solutions such as wind and solar energy to generate clean energy across a growing global footprint. Its energy portfolio includes some 5 GW of power

across our multiple sites in Asia, India, Latin America, Middle East, Europe and Australia – offsetting a larger chunk of fossil fuels’ damaging effects year by year.

We’re also determined to overcome one of the age-old problems of renewable energy – ensuring round-the-clock power in conditions dependent on the elements. FRV has a dedicated team – FRV-X – focusing on emergent technologies and breakthrough business models.

One activity, is helping to advance the next generation of high-performance batteries, recognizing that power storage is critical to a dependable green energy future.

FRV has already begun operating its 15 MW utility-scale battery array at Holes Bay, UK. That project, in partnership with British developer Harmony Energy, links to the Southern Electric Power distribution network. A second project, at Contego, West Sussex, UK, is currently in development.

As anyone who understands our business knows, we’re also heavily invested in the global transportation market, and here too we’re favouring the greener route to success.

We’re the longstanding distributor in Saudi Arabia and other MENAT markets, China and Japan, of Toyota and

FADY JAMEEL Lexus cars. Toyota is widely acknowledged as a market leader in hybrid electric vehicles, with its landmark Prius model being one the world’s bestselling hybrids, and the Toyota Mirai fuel-cell vehicle pioneering the hydrogen vehicle segment. In addition, we were an early investor in US-based electric vehicle start-up RIVIAN, followed by major names such as Amazon, Ford Motor Co., and Cox Automotive.

We are also supporting leading-edge research and innovation to find new ways to strengthen global food and water systems. Since 2014, when Community Jameel and MIT co-founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Water & Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS), it has been seeking answers to the world’s water and food challenges, caused by climate change, population growth, urbanization and development.

The lab employs the latest technologies

and research programs to make a measurable international impact as humankind is forced to adapt to a fast-changing planet.

And adapt we must. We can see all around us the consequences of our behaviour if we do not change our way of living. We know that change must begin today, not be put off until tomorrow.

And we know that our ultimate goal must be a net-zero pollution planet.

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INTERVIEW

It’s important for us to set an example of how private capital can be a key driver in addressing global challenges facing humankind

How do you think the pandemic has changed the role of sustainability for organizations? And what is Abdul Latif Jameel’s vision for a sustainable future?

I believe the pandemic itself is a sign of our mismanagement of the natural environment, as I discussed in my recent Spotlight article. It has touched everything, every facet of our society.

The only good thing to come out of it is that it has forced governments – and our society as a whole – to recognize the urgent need to rebalance our relationship with nature and the planet and to build a more sustainable way of maintaining our way of life.

This is why, apart from helping to fight climate change, we’re also deeply committed to advancing knowledge and research into diseases and human health.

Our resolve is all the greater because coronavirus has disproven the myth that we are helpless in adapting to the world’s changing needs 22

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In 2019, Community Jameel partnered with Imperial College London to establish the Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics (the Jameel Institute). It’s a rapid response research centre for predicting and preventing global health crises.

The Jameel Institute complements the work of Community Jameel’s other global health collaboration, the Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health, (Jameel Clinic) at MIT. The Jameel Clinic focuses on how AI can prevent, detect and treat debilitating conditions such as cancer, sepsis, dementia other non-communicable disorders.

In 2020, we also launched Abdul Latif Jameel Health. Headed by CEO Akram Bouchenaki, Abdul Latif Jameel Health is dedicated to bringing better health to wider areas of the developing world; investing in projects, partners and products that will enhance the lives of greater numbers of people and help to improve access to healthcare for those who need it most. It has already initiated its first two partnerships, with health-tech innovators Evelo Biosciences and Cellarity.

The pandemic has shown that when danger is imminent, our society is indeed capable of rapid, consistent and coordinated action for the common good. Ad-

dressing climate change and improving global access to healthcare in the same way is just as possible as using natural resources – like water – for the benefit of all people.

Given the global scope of the Abdul Latif Jameel businesses, with our focus

FADY JAMEEL on investing in the infrastructure of life, I think it’s important for us to set a clear example of how private capital can be a key driver in addressing these global challenges facing humankind. We want to encourage others to do the same thing, not only within the water indus-

try, but in the sustainability of their own businesses.

Our resolve is all the greater because coronavirus has disproven the myth that we are helpless in adapting to the world’s changing needs. The collective global response to the pandemic has shown

that when governments, institutions, businesses and communities act together, we can drive meaningful, sustainable change.

The destination is clear. The route forward is clear. Now, it is up to all of us to start the journey.

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FEATURE

NON-REVENUE WATER REDUCTION AN ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH TO IMPROVE Non-Revenue Water is a major and complex problem, aggravated by increasing water scarcity and climate change. Implementing a NRW Reduction Programme results in numerous benefits for the stakeholders of water companies.

Z Nuno Fragoso. Business Development and Operations at Miya.

Water use has been increasing worldwide by about 1% per year since the 1980s, driven by a combination of population growth, socio-economic development and changing consumption patterns. Global water demand is expected to continue increasing at a similar rate until 2050, accounting for an increase of 20 to 30% above the current level of water use, mainly due to rising demand in the industrial and domestic sectors (UN World Water Development Report 2019).

On the supply side, not only is the gap between water availability and water needs increasing, but when you consider all urban water distribution systems, water losses can reach the staggering number of 346 million cubic meters per day. This is equivalent to 30% of water system input volumes across the world and would be

Even in regions like Europe there are significant opportunities in terms of NRW reduction and water management efficiency improvement 24

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MIYA WATER

PROGRAMMES

THE EFFICIENCY OF THE WATER UTILITY enough to provide water to an additional 2 billion people.

The total cost of such losses for utilities and therefore for the taxpayers and system users can be up to USD 39 billion per year (equivalent to EUR 32.7 billion).

The average amount of water losses differs from region to region but even in regions like Europe there are significant opportunities in terms of NRW reduction and water management efficiency improvement.

Non-Revenue Water is a problem of a colossal complexity and magnitude, aggravated by the increasing water scarcity and the impacts of climate change. If it’s not managed timely and properly by governments, public utilities and private operators, it will continue to erode the basis for social and economic sustainable growth, as well as to narrow our options to avoid the depletion of natural resources. All this goes in the opposite direction of the sustainable development goals.

Inevitably, the solution for such problem requires a holistic approach, as in the case of Non-Revenue Water Reduction Programmes, ensuring that NRW levels are reduced as per best practices and then kept under control in the long term.

This is much more than reducing water infrastructure physical and apparent losses. Depending on the scope of the programme, it can reengineer the company’s technical and commercial processes, introduce new IT Systems and refurbish old ones, introduce “smart” technology, provide the teams with new skills, introduce management tools focused on results, and generally foster overall utility productivity and efficiency. It can even promote institutional change.

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FEATURE There is an increased awareness of the need to address the problem of NRW and there are important drivers pushing for reduction programmes, mainly related to i) securing water availability, ii) managing water stress, iii) fighting climate change and iv) promoting utilities’ sustainability.

The main drivers are: • Fast growth of towns and cities.

• Negative impact of climate change and increasing water scarcity.

• Increasing demand for treated water and growing gap between demand and supply.

• Growing awareness that water systems must be efficiently operated, and maintained.

• Demand for a high-quality service • Increased availability of funding to improve water operations efficiency.

• Need to improve infrastructure resilience to climate change.

• Development of contractual models where the service provider assumes part of the risk.

• The fundamental need to contribute to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

Considering the above, for the stakeholders of the water companies, the benefits of implementing a NRW Reduction Programme are more than obvious: i) economic and financial benefits that result from the reduction of the volume of water treated and/or the reduction of costs related to O&M, ii) important environmental benefits through a reduced impact on the environment and less energy consumption, iii) important social and image improvements, iv) transfer of project risks to

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the service provider, v) availability of funding and vi) relatively short payback time.

As stated, these and other benefits result from the scope of work of efficiency-oriented contracts, where compensation is indexed to the certified achieved performance with assured pre-contractual economic benefits for the client. Contracts are designed to generate savings that can cover investment (CAPEX) and operational costs (OPEX) of the project and release future additional cashflow through the reduction of OPEX and CAPEX needs.

NRW reduction will allow to pay for the programme implementation and generate additional economic benefits for the utility, releasing financial availability to new investments that subsequently will maintain and reduce NRW levels until the optimum economic level of NRW is achieved.

From an organizational perspective, and by mapping the several dimensions that comprise the organizational model of a company such as a water utility, it becomes clearer why the introduction of a NRW Reduction Programme has the potential

MIYA WATER

to transform the organization, boosting its efficiency and overall performance.

Such programmes, developed within the framework of Performance Based Contracts, will impact all the dimensions in a company’s organizational model – Structure, IT Systems, Functions, Processes, People, Management Model – well beyond the initial concept related to the reduction of physical and commercial system losses.

A NRW Reduction Programme can include different components that will im-

pact on different dimensions of the utility organizational model: • Network modernisation • Network monitoring • Pressure and flows management • Active leakage control • Network repair • Meter management w/ revenue assurance • Processes optimisation • Customer management • Training and knowledge transfer • Integration of information systems

• Implementation of a Balanced Score Card • Monitoring of performance indicators • Business process digitization

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FEATURE

Many companies have IT systems that need to be updated and integrated and NRW reduction can be the opportunity for a system overhaul

• Economic-financial model revision • Change Management Programme.

To implement the above components, some of the dimensions that constitute the company organizational model have to be reviewed and modernised, recognising as well that the impacts will go well beyond obvious technical improvements.

To give a few examples of such impacts and in the case of “IT Systems”, it is fundamental to have, for example, Geographical Information Systems, a Billing System or Decision Support Systems that allow effective infrastructure maintenance, client management and internal company management. Many companies have old systems that need to be updated and integrated and a NRW Reduction Programme can be the opportunity for a system overhaul.

Also, the integration of management information into a single platform (Fi-

NRW reduction will allow to pay for programme implementation and generate additional economic benefits for the utility 28

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nancial, Operational, Quality of Service, Human Resources), allows operators to extract the maximum potential of available management information (GIS, CRM, ERP, Excel Operational), focusing the operator on critical management indicators converting data into value.

In the “Processes” dimension, the introduction of a NRW Reduction Programme creates the opportunity to review critical processes. The utility can reengineer processes such as network management, network maintenance, quality control, reporting, client management, etc, aiming to achieve contractual objectives and keep the same level of contracted performance after the contract ends.

This is the case, for example, of the commercial process, from reading the meters to final billing, ensuring an efficient process that will significantly reduce non-billable water. Together with robust commercial systems and motivated commercial teams, the improvements will be significant by reducing unauthorized consumption, measurement errors, reading errors and faults in the commercial cadastre.

As per the technical processes, the objective of reducing NRW will promote

the efficient use of the teams, available systems and technology, to manage system pressures, control leaks, manage the infrastructure and ensure speed in the execution of repair. Key performance indicators such as the number of leakage detections per day or the number of repairs will boost because of more efficient processes.

In the “Functional” dimension, it is not unusual to find out that water utilities need to go through a restructuring process. This is mainly the case of utilities operating in developing countries.

In such cases the functions, processes and procedures need to be reviewed to incorporate best sector and organizational practices. These are more complex approaches, but they are critical if we want to ensure that the benefits achieved during the project are sustainable in the long term.

Regarding the above, institutional change may be required at the level of its organizational structure, the responsibilities and tasks, and the procedures and processes. This institutional change is reliant on factors such as readiness to change, resources both human and financial, human change in leadership and management and skills base both technical and personal. Organizational leadership and vision are a must to address all these factors.

The “People” dimension is undoubtedly one of the key-levers to improve the utility's overall performance. Within the framework of a Performance Based Contract there will be a strong focus on improving the organization of the work and to enhance people skills. Remember that Performance Based Models are based on achieving specific NRW reduction objectives in specific moments of time and this will create a very positive dynamic in the team. People will find a correlation between their work and the improvement of the water distribution system and this will motivate them to go further in their efforts.

MIYA WATER

Even in difficult situations like the ones Miya faced recently in some projects, in regions hit simultaneously by natural disasters and the pandemic, the technical teams made a huge effort to maintain the system and to continue with activities such as leak detection and repairs. This happens because they recognize the effort done in the last years led to a much better management of the water system and improved the quality of life of the citizens.

As per the “Management Model” dimension, there is the opportunity to introduce or upgrade management infor-

mation tools and methodologies, such as a Balance Score Card specifically developed for the utility activity. This allows monitoring how the activities related to the infrastructure are ultimately contributing to the improvement of operational and financial indicators and results.

Systematic calculation of water balances and KPIs takes place to constantly evaluate the results achieved and benchmark them against the project baseline.

Miya led the largest Non-Revenue-Water reduction performance-based contracts in Manila (Philippines), Nassau (Bahamas), Kingston (Jamaica) and

Emfuleni (South Africa) among others, reducing operational and investment costs, improving revenues and saving water resources to supply safe water in large urban areas worldwide to more population with the existing infrastructure.

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WATER & NEWS - BUSINESS

NEW REPORT FINDS U.S. WATER AND WASTEWATER UTILITIES, CUSTOMERS CHALLENGED BY COVID ECONOMICS 50 Largest Cities Water and Wastewater Report shows modest progress in addressing service to disadvantaged communities in 2021 Although the COVID-19 pandemic shed new light on the importance of water and wastewater services, system resilience, funding and affordability remain challenges facing communities across the U.S., according to Black & Veatch’s new 2021 50 Largest Cities Water and Wastewater Rate Report. The new report highlights how the pandemic amplified several key issues facing the water industry including the disparities in funding across major U.S. metropolitan markets.

As the COVID-19 outbreak left millions of Americans out of work and unable to pay utility bills, rate conversations became a fixture in nearly every city council’s meeting agenda. Water and wastewater utilities began to develop customer assistance programs and educating consumers about them. However, current pricing and rate structures made it difficult to implement anything impactful.

The 2021 50 Largest Cities Water and Wastewater Rate Report goes beyond addressing just the socioeconomic impacts to uncover other top priorities for the industry. This includes addressing aging infrastructure, adhering to new regulatory and compliance requirements, and the increasing competition when sourcing funding through state and federal infrastructure investments, including the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. “The water utility industry continues to be a dynamic market with ongoing

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and emerging needs for new services,” said Deepa Poduval, vice president and leader of Black & Veatch Management Consulting’s strategic advisory practice.

“Our new survey confirms that we must address these critical water and wastewater utility needs”.

Other key data points the survey presents include: • Between 2001 and 2020, the typical bill for sewer service (7,500 gallons) grew from less than $25 per month to nearly $65, and water tripled on average from just over $15 per month to more than $45.

• This year’s survey adds new affordability metrics in addition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s traditional benchmarks to address the demographic diversity within surveyed cities.

• For the 50 largest cities surveyed, 52 percent of households were classified

as moderate to high on the Household Burden and Poverty Prevalence Indicator Affordability Matrix.

• About 20% of low-income households require at least eight hours at minimum wage to pay their monthly water and sewer bills.

• The 2020 survey showed that the combined monthly household cost of sewer and water was comparable to internet or energy costs and about half the cost of the average monthly cell phone bill.

• Data shows that operational costs associated with labour, pension obligations, contract services, materials and supplies are the key factors driving utilities to increase rates.

• Regulatory and compliance requirements (e.g., the new Lead and Copper Rule) are impacting the need for significant capital funding to develop new water supply sources.

ACCIONA TO BUILD AND OPERATE THE LOS CABOS DESALINATION PLANT IN MEXICO The project, which will provide drinking water to 464,000 people, has a budget of €134.5 million and will be completed in 24 months ACCIONA will build and operate a desalination plant in the municipality of Los Cabos, in Baja California (Mexico). The project has an overall budget of €134.5 million. The works have a completion period of 24 months and the facility will have a capacity of 250 litres per second, equivalent to 7,884,000 m3 per year.

The contract includes the design, preparation of the executive project, financing, construction and operational testing of the plant, as well as its operation, conservation and maintenance for a period of 25

years, through a public-private partnership scheme.

The project will be developed by a consortium of ACCIONA's Water division and La Peninsular Compañía Constructora. It aims to solve the drinking water shortage problem in the municipality of Los Cabos. The investment will benefit 464,000 inhabitants.

ACCIONA, which is a world leader in the construction of desalination plants using reverse osmosis technology, has been operating in Mexico since 1978 and is ex-

ecuting several projects in the country. Recently, in consortium with Grupo México, ACCIONA was awarded the construction of section 5 of the Mayan Train rail project, between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, by Mexico's National Tourism Development Fund. The project is valued at MX$17.8 billion (€713 million).

Some of the most emblematic projects that ACCIONA has carried out in the country include the firm’s work on the Atotonilco wastewater treatment plant, which serves 12.6 million people in the Valley of Mexico.

WATER & NEWS - BUSINESS

SAUDI ARABIA MARKS FIVE YEARS SINCE THE LAUNCH OF ITS NEW VISION FOR WATER Vision 2030 was a strategic framework aimed at reducing the Kingdom’s reliance on income from oil sales by diversifying the economy

As Saudi Arabia celebrated Ramadan and Eid over last April and May, the Kingdom also marked five years to the month since the launch of the Vision 2030 program, aimed at rewriting the country’s economy and management in a post-oil world.

The brainchild of Mohammed Bin Salman, later to become crown prince, Vision 2030 was a strategic framework aimed at reducing the Kingdom’s reliance on income from oil sales by diversifying the economy, boosting the role of the private sector, and developing public infrastructure. The highest-profile part of the program was the IPO and listing of state oil company Saudi Aramco. GWI reviewed the progress of the new practices that have changed the landscape in one of the world’s largest water markets.

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The use of private finance to fund major desalination projects was dropped in 2010 after the rising price of oil pushed state-owned bodies to invest in infrastructure directly. Plans to expand the private finance model to new areas of infrastructure such as smaller treatment plants, water transmission systems, and water storage have also been developed, albeit more slowly.

Also, in 2016, the authorities announced that the huge desalination portfolio owned by state desal company the Saline Water Conversion Corporation would be privatised through an asset sale process. This would be followed by the privatisation of SWCC through an IPO on the Saudi bourse.

One of the trickiest issues facing the restructuring process was the fact that

income from water tariffs represented just 30% of the cost of operating the water network. However, combined water and wastewater tariffs since 2016 have remained at a modest (by world standards) average level of $0.13/m3.

With an average per capita water consumption of 265 l/c/d in 2016, Saudi Arabia had one of the highest levels of domestic water usage in the world. Statistics from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture indicated that in 2018, around 275 l/c/d of water was supplied to municipal users.

Also, at the time of the launch of the Vision 2030 program, the National Water Company was a utility that had been lauded for performance improvements, but whose remit covered only the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, and Mecca/Taif. In the years since, the NWC has had its remit expanded, taking over responsibility for potable water distribution and wastewater collection and treatment for the whole country after absorbing the responsibilities previously held by the water directorates run directly by the Ministry. Nevertheless, expansion of service coverage will be one of the key challenges for the private managers.

Finally, the implementation of the new water goals, particularly relating to water tariffs, caused initial friction that led to the departure of a number of high-profile players in the sector. Following public pushback on the initial attempts to introduce higher water tariffs, Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah Al-Hussayen and National Water Company CEO Loay Al-Musallam were moved on.

OPINION

FIONA SUTTON PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, SRK CONSULTING

TAKE THE FIRST STEPS TOWARD WATER STEWARDSHIP South Africa is far from meeting the United Nations’ Sustain- Step by step able Development Goals (SDGs) on water, and there is still There are a number of steps in working towards the AWS Stanmuch that the private sector can do in support of these vital dard, the first being for site owners to gather and understand all imperatives. For those companies with the will to make a differ- relevant water-related data. This vital stage, while time-consuming, ensures that future decisions are well-rooted in a foundation of acence, the tools are readily available.

The planet’s water consumption is soon expected to exceed the curate information. It will include data on the site itself, such as available supply if current water practices continue. According to water balance, water quality, water flows and storage volumes, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Uni- water-related costs and revenues. It will also include information on do), global freshwater demand will reach 6,900 km3 per year the water sources from which the site draws, the locations to which by 2030; this means that it will be 40% greater than the global it returns its discharges, and the catchments upon which it relies.

A plan can then be prepared, clarifying the vision, goals and sustainable fresh water supply of 4,200 km3 per year.

Avoiding this scenario will require the active participation of all targets of sustainable water management within the organisawater users in practically applying the principles of water steward- tion. This will highlight the people responsible, the process for ship. In essence, this involves using water in a way that is socially and reporting, and the ways that the plan will be measured and monitored – to ensure that the steps taken culturally equitable, environmentally by the company are sustained and sustainable, and economically benare continually progressing. This is eficial. This can best be achieved The Alliance for Water Stewardship where certification against the AWS through a stakeholder-inclusive pro(AWS) framework is credible, Standard plays an important role, as cess that includes both site-based and it provides a systematic framework catchment-based actions. beneficial and globally applicable, to track progress towards water separticularly to major water users curity – and to correct the course of Commitment action where necessary.

A start has certainly been made in the business community, with many companies highlighting water issues in their policies. However, Engagement more remains to be achieved in taking the vital steps toward imple- Key to the process is close engagement with other stakeholders in the mentation of more sustainable practices. Although the prospect of catchment, allowing companies to communicate and disclose the integrating water stewardship into corporate policies and practices progress in their water stewardship journey. It is important to engage can appear daunting, the groundwork has been done in terms of in an open and transparent manner – to understand the priorities of developing global best practice tools. It is now really about corpo- other players, to share plans and to collaborate on solutions.

Applying the AWS Standard helps address essentially three rate will and commitment.

Among the leading tools in this regard is the International types of risk, all of which have financial implications: physical, Water Stewardship Standard from the Alliance for Water Stew- regulatory and reputational. The standard also allows companies ardship (AWS). The AWS is a member of ISEAL – the global to be certified, providing official recognition of their systems and membership organisation for ambitious, collaborative and trans- efforts in water stewardship. At the same time, companies should parent sustainability systems – so its water stewardship frame- not consider the AWS Standard as simply a pathway to certifiwork is credible, beneficial and globally applicable, particularly cation. Rather, it is an effective way of achieving on-the-ground results towards water security for the site and its stakeholders. to major water users.

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INTERVIEW

JOSÉ ENRIQUE

BOFILL REGIONAL DIRECTOR MENA-ASIA AT AQUALIA

O

ne of the tools that has shown its effectiveness when it comes to addressing water challenges in the North of Africa and the Middle East is public-private collaboration. A paradigmatic case of the success of this formula is Aqualia, which since 2011 operates in countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, in collaboration with local authorities. Its glocal vision (global and local) is partly responsible for it.

To learn in detail about the current situation of the companies that work in the region, we speak with José Enrique Bofill, Regional Director MENA-Asia at Aqualia, who also tells us about the projects the company is engaged in, in areas such as water supply, desalination and water reuse.

First of all, can you please tell us about your career path up to your current position?

I discovered the world of water in 1993 when, through the School of Civil Engineering, I did an internship for engineering students where I collaborated for a few months in the commissioning of a new wastewater treatment plant operated by CAESB, Brasilia's Water Company, in Brazil. I learned a lot and met professionals who were very committed to values such as water conservation and environmental protection.

Later on, when I finished studying civil engineering in Madrid I started working at Aqualia, and since then I have dedicated by professional career to

Z Águeda García de Durango

“We provide our innovation and transformation capacity to make integrated water management more efficient” The countries in MENA and Asia face high water stress and high population growth.

A context that requires a commitment to improve water access in the region. the water industry. I have been involved in different areas: technical, project development and business development; I have also collaborated on occasion with the area of research and innovation, all of this always keeping our clients in mind.

Nowadays I do a little bit of all those things at the same time.

Until 2008 I worked mostly in the Spanish market, where I was fortunate to participate in many of the large water supply, sanitation, desalination and reuse projects undertaken in Spain in those years, when water sector infrastructure was being upgraded at a fast pace.

It was at that time when I took the position of Director for the Middle East, when we didn't have any contracts yet in that part of the world. We have grown since then, thanks to our clients' trust.

Now we are present in seven countries in

the MENA region, and we hope to have a presence soon in some Asian countries, through a carefully thought and selective approach.

What are the main challenges faced by the MENA and Asian regions where Aqualia operates in terms of water provision?

The Middle East and North of Africa are part of a high water stress belt that stretches from the Atlantic coast of Afri-

It is more necessary than ever to have a political commitment to improve efficiency through the entry of specialised operators

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INTERVIEW

We have experience addressing water scarcity issues with client-oriented technological solutions, always supporting sustainability

ca, eastward through the Mediterranean and the Arabian peninsula until India.

In these countries there are two strong drivers: high water stress and high population growth due to economic and cultural reasons, which strain access to the water supply and push the limits of resource sustainability. In this context, it is more necessary than ever to have a political commitment to improve efficiency through the entry of specialised operators, and a focus on new technologies that ensure the development of the region.

Desalination is one of the most used options to address problems of water scarcity. Which projects would you highlight in this regard?

Current desalination and reuse technology, often together with the generation

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of renewable energy, has turned these processes into sustainable and reliable alternatives. In this regard, Aqualia has undertaken successful public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the area of desalination, such as the Mostaganem and de Cap D’Jinet reverse osmosis plants in Algeria (two of the largest in the African continent).

Also in northern Africa, our company completed in 2019 the El Alamein desalination plant, producing 150,000 m3/day, which we currently operate, and which contributes significantly to the economic development of Egypt's Mediterranean coast, an area with high tourism potential. Moreover, a year earlier our company also completed the construction of a desalination plant in the Tunisian island of Djerba, which supplies water to more than 200,000 people.

Looking to the Gulf, we have a strong presence in Saudi Arabia in terms of desalination. Through a local subsidiary we operate the desalination plant of Kaust University and the desalination plant of Jeddah's International Airport. We also have a concession contract for the latter through local company Qatarat.

In the country's south-west, our company has recently added to its

international portfolio a contract to operate and maintain the drinking water distribution system in the Jizan industrial area.

We have ample experience addressing water scarcity issues with client-oriented technological solutions, always intending to support environmental, social and economic sustainability in the countries where we work.

JOSÉ ENRIQUE BOFILL Concerning wastewater treatment, what difficulties do you see in the region, and what initiatives is Aqualia involved in in this area?

We have started looking at wastewater as a resource instead of a waste. We already have efficient technology to obtain recycled water of enough quality for many of the most demanded uses, while at the same time we obtain clean energy as a by-prod-

uct. Our R&D department is one of the most advanced in the world in this field.

Aqualia has led a large public-private partnership project that involves the design, construction, financing and management for 20 years of the wastewater treatment plan in New Cairo, located in the Egyptian capital and acknowledged by the United Nations as an exemplary PPP project.

Furthermore, Aqualia is now implementing a contract to design, build and operate the Abu Rawash wastewater treatment plant in Cairo. Once it is finished, the plant will treat 1.6 million m3 of water per day and provide services to 6 million people, making it the largest in Africa and one of the largest capacity plants in the world.

Also in the area of sanitation, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi we are in charge of the operation and maintenance of the sanitation and treatment network in the capital Abu Dhabi and the eastern part of the Emirate, including the city of Al Ain and areas of influence, with a population served of more than 1,300,000 people in total.

In Qatar, Aqualia manages the Al Dhakhira wastewater treatment plant, providing services to a population of more than 200,000 people. In Saudi Arabia, our company was in charge, up until the end of 2018, of the exploitation and maintenance of the Hadda and Arana wastewater treatment plants in the city of Mecca.

Service management is another area where different international companies have been involved in the past few years. What do these companies contribute to improve services?

The sector has evolved in the past few years and at Aqualia, for example, we realised a while back that environmental balance and social well-being are closely linked.

We provide our innovation and transformation capacity, to make integrated water management more efficient, thus

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INTERVIEW

In the countries in the MENA region there are promising steps to allow the collaboration of the private sector in water management

advancing towards economic and environmental sustainability.

Operating companies must propose solutions to advance wastewater reuse and optimise the energy efficiency of the water cycle. This objective is a must in our current context, and large water sector companies are working on it.

Likewise, we provide financing, linked to the development of economically sustainable projects, which contributes to reducing the funding needs of public authorities.

In this regard, which projects is Aqualia involved in?

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JOSÉ ENRIQUE BOFILL

Aqualia develops long term projects, which usually require investment, where we can also deploy our technical and human capacity In the countries in the MENA region there are promising steps to allow the collaboration of the private sector in water management. Up to now, private companies were able to collaborate as service providers, but not as water cycle operators with a responsibility shared with public authorities. This will bring huge progress in terms of technical and economic efficiency, leading to substantial improvements to the quality and sustainability of water services. Aqualia has fostered these initiatives in different countries in the region for more than 10 years.

As I mentioned earlier, in 2011 Aqualia became the first foreign company to be awarded a sanitation and wastewater treatment contract in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). Since then, we manage the operation and maintenance of the sanitation and wastewater treatment network in the eastern part of the Emirate, including the city of Al Ain and remote areas, with a population served of more than 650,000 people. Also in Abu Dhabi, Aqualia operates since 2018 the sanitation system of the capital Abu Dhabi and the adjacent islands of Al Reem, Al Maryah and Al Saadiyat.

With this contract, the company provides sanitation coverage to the capital's population and manages 1,320 kilometres of sanitation network, as well as 54 wastewater pumping stations which convey up to 280,000 m3 per day in total.

Another example of outstanding service management is a successful project involving the operation for 20 years of the hydraulic infrastructure in the Sohar port, one of the main commercial access points in Oman, where Aqualia is doing a

remarkable job through a mixed company, with an excellent performance.

In general lines, Aqualia landed in the region in 2011. Since then, it has been securing new contracts. What would you say are the keys to your success?

Aqualia has a glocal approach (global and local at the same time), working in 17 countries all over the world, but adapting to the local characteristics of each territory.

Our business model is practically unique in the market. We work in all areas of the water sector, designing, building, operating, managing and financing projects.

Whereas most of the companies in the water sector do not want to invest, Aqualia develops long term projects, which usually require investment, where we can also deploy our technical and human capacity.

Our model consists of generating trust in our clients: they trust that Aqualia will be at their side for a long time, searching for solutions to their problems and walking along with them towards the objective of greater efficiency, sustainability and quality of service.

Aqualia always works with local partners with the highest professional and ethical standards. This is another of our distinctive features that have led us to our current position. For example, we have recently completed an important purchase of assets from the prestigious Saudi group Ali Reza; this enables us to work with them in markets and sectors we could not access before.

Likewise, we can purchase other strategic assets, in a very selective way, in order to grow, always in a sustainable manner and according to our business model.

In this regard, which elements do you think public authorities value in the companies that are interested in bidding for projects in the region?

In our experience, the authorities of countries in the MENA region value specially companies' previous experience with large projects, financing capacity, economic competitiveness and trust.

The latter is particularly important. We want to arrive to a territory and continue working there permanently if possible, being part of the society and population we provide services to.

Public-private participation contracts are one of the most frequently implemented tools in the region. What do you think are the keys to the success of this formula?

Public-private collaboration is an essential tool for the development of infrastructure and public services which, because of reasons related to specialisation, budget, or internal organisation, authorities cannot take on.

In addition, PPPs have other advantages, such as the transfer of technology from the private sector to a public entity, or appropriate risk sharing between the company and the authority, so that each one of them is the most suitable actor to manage those risks.

What challenges do you think the region will face in the future in a context of climate change and growing water scarcity?

Water stress in the region is increasing as climate change intensifies and population grows. Nevertheless, countries are taking action to mitigate risks and improve economic diversification.

In this context, leading sector companies have the responsibility to provide options to increase the efficiency of water use, and support authorities to find sources of finance for projects that strengthen sustainability in the long term.

Countries in the MENA region value companies' experience with large projects, financing capacity, economic competitiveness and trust

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INTERVIEW

WILL SARNI FOUNDER AND CEO, COLORADO RIVER BASIN FUND

“We are essentially establishing a business ecosystem to solve water challenges at speed” Launched in March of this year, the Colorado River Basin Fund is a private equity fund which seeks to identify the technologies addressing water scarcity and quality issues in the basin, and help them advance to commercialization and scale.

One of the most water-stressed regions of the world, the Colorado basin has been suffering a severe drought for the past two decades and faces a hotter, drier future driven by climate-change. The region is also of unparalleled economic importance and water is over-allocated, unable to meet the growing demand.

The founders of the Colorado River Basin Fund want to invest in companies that will help address the water challenges in the basin. To do it, they will focus primarily on satellite and digital technologies, to help farmers, industries and homes use water more efficiently.

In this interview, Will Sarni, Founder and CEO of the fund, talks about their strategy and how they intend to address water scarcity and quality challenges in the Colorado basin by investing in

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emerging technological solutions, as a testbed that will lead to application in the global water sector.

Can you tell us briefly about your career path and your current involvement with the Colorado River Basin Fund?

I started my career as a hydrogeologist working on water supply and contaminant hydrology projects for companies throughout the US. This changed when I was introduced to the topic of sustainability and the role water stewardship, climate change, and renewable energy play in it. I got hooked on the value of sustainability to the private sector and society, and as a result founded DOMANI, a sustainability strategy consulting firm.

This led to working for Deloitte Consulting in their sustainability practice. I would go on to launch Water Foundry in 2017.

Through my work with Water Foundry, I’ve worked with U.S. and non-U.S. multinationals on corporate water strategy, with water technology start-ups and global solution providers, development banks, foundations and non-governmental organizations. I have also

Z Cristina Novo Pérez made angel investments in innovative water technology start-ups.

This led me to the realization that my next step was to raise capital for a focused fund to address water scarcity, water quality and equitable access within a specific watershed. Enter the Colorado River Basin Fund, which leverages my experience working with innovative water technology start-ups and growth stage companies, global water technology hubs and accelerators, global water technology providers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multi-nationals who are looking for innovative water technologies.

What is the rationale behind the creation of the Colorado River Basin Fund?

Water is a local issue and, as a result, focusing on a specific watershed provides the opportunity to mobilize entrepreneurs, investors and other stakeholders around a specific location. The Colorado River Basin Fund looks to bring in entrepreneurs and investors from across the US and beyond to use the watershed as a testbed to scale solutions for broader applications. We are essentially establishing a business ecosystem to solve water challenges at speed.

Why do you focus on the Colorado basin?

The American West, including the cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Denver, falling under the reaches of the greater Colorado River Basin (CRB), is now among the world's water stressed regions. It’s facing pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges from increased water scarcity.

WILL SARNI In addition to its environmental role, the economic importance of the CRB cannot be overstated: the Colorado River supports $1.4 trillion in annual economic activity and 16 million jobs in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming which is equivalent to about 1/12 of the total gross domestic product in the U.S. It is estimated that if 10 percent of the river's water were unavailable (a decline quite possible under projected climate change scenarios of 10 to 30 percent flow reductions by 2050) there would be a loss of $143 billion in economic activity and 1.6 million jobs, in just one year.

The CRB supplies more than 1 in 10 Americans with some, if not all, of their water for municipal use, including drinking water. The Basin provides irrigation to more than 5.5 million acres of land and is essential as a physical, economic and cultural resource to at least 22 federally recognized tribes. In addition, dams across the Colorado River Basin support 4,200 megawatts of electrical generating capacity, providing power to millions of people and some of the U.S.'s largest cities. It has become clear, however, that under current and projected conditions, the Colorado River is no longer able to meet the demands of its many users. Challenges are emerging that will require the acceptance of a new reality among stakeholders in the CRB. As water infrastructure ages, demand grows, and the various stressors from climate change continue, we believe that the public sector and private industry will increasingly embrace technology and innovative business models to ensure adequate water quality and supplies throughout the basin.

Focusing on a watershed provides the opportunity to mobilize entrepreneurs, investors and other stakeholders around a specific location - MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW

Can you tell us about your intended investment strategy?

We believe digital water technology has the greatest potential for growth based upon water sector research and recent acquisitions. We are beginning deal flow engagement in the areas of remote sensing, IoT, real time quality monitoring, water quality testing and drone and satellite imagery sensing. A complete list of the technologies we’re exploring from an investment perspective can be found in our website.

It’s our belief that these specific areas are more advantageous for the schedule we hope to see for investment exits (approximately three years). We have identified at least three specific investments and are currently in the process of negotiating letters of investment intent with the founders. We believe our commitments will be dependent upon a capital raise of at least $1 million before deployment as stated in the PPM. We seek to invest in companies that are post-pilot with nascent revenue that we believe have the ability to quickly scale in partnership with our investment, access to our network and guidance. We seek minority stakes but will seek to only part-

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ner with founder teams we believe understand our subject matter expertise and relationships to multi-nationals and other potential acquisition partners are just as important as our investment capital.

What is the role of technology and innovation in water resource management in a region where competition for water is so high?

Innovation in technology, business models, public policy, partnerships (business

ecosystems) and funding are needed in watersheds where there is increased demand for water, inequity of access, poor water quality, and climate change is impacting water supplies in terms of volume and occurrence (season and types of precipitation). The Colorado River Basin Fund is focused on innovative water technologies and engaging with investors to support the scaling of these solutions.

While innovative technologies led by entrepreneurs and funded by investors

It has become clear that under current and projected conditions, the Colorado River is no longer able to meet the demands of its users

WILL SARNI alone can’t solve water challenges within the watershed, they are an essential part of the landscape of stakeholders who can scale solutions at speed.

Can you mention some emerging technologies to address water scarcity and water quality issues? Are any of those already in the market?

We believe digital water technology has the greatest potential for growth based upon water sector research and recent acquisitions

The website references 20 different technologies we believe can play a role in addressing water challenges in the Colorado River Basin. Specifically, we are interested in satellite data acquisition and analytics, AI solutions for industrial, utility and public sector applications, real time water quality and quantity monitoring, smart precision agriculture and smart home technologies such as water quality monitoring at the tap.

Is the seven-state Colorado River system viable into the future? How do you see water resource use in the Colorado Basin 20 years from now?

The Colorado River system can, and must, be viable in the future. However, public policy has to change rapidly to adjust to the realities of increasing demand

for water, last century water law, underfunded and aging infrastructure and the impacts of climate change. We need to learn from innovative public policies and technology deployments that can support economic development, business growth, social well-being and ecosystem health.

We believe, a more sustainable and resilient Colorado River Basin is within our reach.

The CRB Fund is focused on innovative water technologies and engaging with investors to support the scaling of these solutions

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43

FEATURE

A SOLUTION TO THE CORROSION AND PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE RELEASE Brucite+ presents MagTreat®, a suspension of magnesium hydroxide made from brucite ore for use in wastewater treatment systems, as well as other applications. A safe and eco-friendly product, it raises the pH of wastewater protecting the sewage system from corrosion.

The problem of the corrosion of sewage systems is especially severe in some areas.

As usual, this is a result of a number of physical and chemical factors.

The first factor has a hydrodynamic nature: as a rule, it is water streams that flow at a high speed or fall from a high height that sometimes reaches up to 60 meters. It has been optimised by the proper configuration of the sewage system and flows.

The second factor is usually a complex biochemical process. When the initial effluent has an acidic reaction and carries sulphur-containing compounds, for example, sulphates, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is released from water into the gas phase with the appearance of a strong unpleasant smell. The released gas is adsorbed on the concrete walls of the sewer and is gradually oxidized by thiobacteria

If there is no release of hydrogen sulphide into the gas phase, then there is no biochemical corrosion of the sewage system

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BRUCITE+

OF SEWAGE SYSTEMS OF HYDROGEN SULPHIDE

to sulphuric acid (H2SO4), which begins to corrode the concrete, as evidenced by a drop in its pH. If this process is uncontrolled, then the result is the destruction of the sewer. The speed of this process depends on the concentration of hydrogen sulphide, the grade of concrete and the presence/absence of a protective layer.

Schematically, this process can be represented as follows: One of the most effective solutions to this problem is to adjust the pH of wastewater from acidic to basic. As a result, the equilibrium of the reaction below shifts to the left, contributing to the formation of aqueous S2- and not gaseous H2S. S2- + 2H+ = H+ + HS- = H2S↑ Aqueous phase Gas phase Below you can find a phase diagram showing the concentration of all substances depending on pH:

into the gas phase, then there is no biochemical corrosion of the sewage system.

The MagTreat®-S reagent by Brucite+ produced on the basis of natural magnesium hydroxide is the most effective and at the same time safe alkali, giving many more hydroxide ions than caustic soda (NaOH) for example.

As can be seen at the pH of 8.5, the release of gaseous H2S drops almost to zero.

If there is no release of hydrogen sulphide

The reagent also provides a very high buffering capacity of wastewater, which prevents the loss of alkalinity with time

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FEATURE

The MagTreat®-S reagent by Brucite+ produced from natural magnesium hydroxide is the most effective and at the same time safe alkali

Carbon Footprint Ltd. has provided a life cycle assessment of MagTreat®-S which has been acknowledged as a CO2e accessed product 46

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resulting in a pH decrease (acidification) after the dosing of the reagent into the system.

So how does it work? Typically, the reagent is introduced into the sewage system where the wastewaters are collected and starts its way to the municipal wastewater treatment plant. In this case,

wastewater does not emit H2S along its entire path and comes with an already optimum pH of 8-8.5 for biological treatment.

Magnesium hydroxide is classified as sparingly soluble in water. Inside wastewater with an acidic reaction MagTreat® begins to dissolve gradually releasing magnesium cations and hydroxide anions that neutralize the acids. Due to its limited solubility, MagTreat® is consumed gradually, providing the system with a “buffer effect”. Divalent Mg2+ cations are involved in the processes of coagulation, compaction of sewage sludge, and are also micronutrients for activated sludge bacteria.

Due to the formation of insoluble or poorly soluble salts with various anions, MagTreat® is used to precipitate phosphates, magnesium-ammonium phosphates, fluorides, and regulates the content of sulphides, resulting in the reduction of odour in the wastewater treatment plant. Hydroxide anions promote the precipitation of heavy metals in the form of insoluble hydroxides.

Magnesium hydroxide forms insoluble magnesium-ammonium phosphate with phosphate and ammonium ions, decreasing the N and P load in wastewater.

Moreover, MagTreat®-S is a safe and eco-friendly product. Recently Carbon Footprint Ltd. has provided a life cycle assessment of MagTreat®-S which has been acknowledged as a CO2e accessed product. The assessment was dedicated to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with 1 kg of the product. This analysis focused on the embodied raw material emissions, the transport of these materials, the manufacture, processing and limited distribution of the product. Following the assessment, it was concluded that the carbon footprint of MagTreat®-S is fairly low.

The total cradle to gate product footprint lifecycle emissions for a kg of MagTreat®-S is 488 gCO2e on the basis of

BRUCITE+

DAP Antwerpen port. It is important to note that transport accounts for the majority of the total emissions for the product.

According to the assessment, the emissions caused by extraction of the brucite ore (a raw material for MagTreat®-S) are close to zero, accounting for 9 gCO2e per 1 kg, which indicates that the ore has a very low carbon footprint and it is close to be a carbon neutral raw material.

The advantages of MagTreat® include: • The most profitable alkali compared with others on the market.

• Suspension with the highest percentage of solids on the market — 65 %.

• Non-toxic, safe for the environment and for handling.

• Non-corrosive.

• Predictably increases pH and alkalinity (buffering effect).

• Reduces COD. • Reduces odour, fats, oils and grease (FOG), prevents corrosion of water treatment systems.

• Improves dewatering of sludge, reduces its hazard class.

• Precipitates heavy metals and phosphates.

• Use the unique properties of natural magnesium hydroxide to meet your environmental challenges.

The emissions caused by extraction of the brucite ore (a raw material for MagTreat®-S) are close to zero, accounting for 9 g CO2e per 1 kg - MAGAZINE

47

OPINION

SALONI WALIMBE CONTENT WRITER AT GLOBAL MARKET INSIGHTS

RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEMS WIN ATTENTION ACROSS THE UNITED STATES The dire climate change scenario at present could cause over half tive gaining momentum in recent years is the use of rain barrel of the global population to be living in areas with high water harvesting systems. stress by the year 2030. Considering this situation, water conserRainwater barrels have a distinct edge over other RWH soluvation has become the need of the hour. While many techniques tions, primarily due to their low initial cost. These barrels provide exist to aid this conservation, one of the most prominent meth- significant benefits to owners, in terms of both water as well as ods emerging in recent years is rainwater harvesting. financial savings.

The demand for clean, usable water is witnessing a dramatic In the U.S., many cities are taking heed of this, and encouragrise with each passing day, pushing governments and organiza- ing the adoption of rainwater barrel harvesting programs, to fations to undertake various efforts to meet this demand. These cilitate practical and economical methods of water conservation. include connecting and altering natural courses of rivers, build- According to the City of Medford, MA, rainwater barrels used ing reservoirs and dams, and others. Although these efforts do through its program can help owners save approximately $200 in help address short-term water needs, they also assert a substantial yearly water bills. A single rain barrel can also save around 1,300 long-term effect on future water conditions. gallons of water in peak summer months, making them especialRainwater harvesting (RWH) has been in practice for thousands ly useful for watering stressed gardens and trees using repurposed of years but has truly come into its own rainwater during dry spells. over the past few decades and is gaining In April 2021, Wausau, in WisconCorporate entities are focusing traction on a global scale. According to sin, introduced a rain barrel system estimates from Global Market Insights, initiative, wherein homeowners were on the commercial applications Inc. the global RWH system market size urged to connect the rain spout of their of rain water collection is expected to exceed a valuation of $7.9 roofs to a rain barrel, to collect rainfall billion by 2027. Both residential and and create a natural water supply cycle. solutions, integrating them commercial applications of the technolThis helped in the use of the water for within their facilities ogy are being realized worldwide. plants and other applications, rather Many corporate entities are seen fothan letting it run down the drains. cusing on the commercial applications of rain water collection The city of Melbourne in Florida, meanwhile, is offering ressolutions, by integrating these systems within their facilities. A idential water customers within city limits a rebate of $50 for notable example of this is Microsoft, which has added an on-site participating in its rain barrel program, wherein customers will rainwater collection system and waste treatment facility to its Sil- be expected to install a new rain barrel of 40 gallons or larger. icon Valley campus commencing operations in California later Rain barrel harvesting systems can aid in limiting stormwater this year. These systems will work together to recycle and reuse runoff, which is a major pressure point for various community non-potable water as well as rainwater, which will, in turn, lead storm drains, and also curb the flow of untreated pollutants to potable water savings of almost 4.3 million gallons each year. into waterways. Although it is not a new concept and has been integrated within the water management framework of many Rain barrel systems will gain traction developing nations already, the rainwater harvesting system inas a key strategy for water conservation dustry is yet to realize its full potential. As a valuable part of Numerous storm weather management initiatives have come many modern water management strategies, RWH solutions to light in recent years to combat the impact of urban runoff, will likely play a major role in ensuring water security over the with RWH systems serving as the foundation. One such initia- years ahead.

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WATER TREATMENT

INTERVIEW

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DHESIGEN

DHESIGEN NAIDOO

NAIDOO

CEO OF WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION SOUTH AFRICA

Z Olivia Tempest

“South Africa is to move towards a more diversified water resource mix” South Africa’s Water Research Commission – the country’s dedicated national Water and Sanitation Innovation, Research and Development Agency – aims to be a water knowledge hub active across the innovation value chain, through research and development for South Africa, Africa and the world.

The water Research Commission (WRC) was founded in 1971 to generate and promote water research in South Africa, already recognising water would be one of the most limiting factors in the country in the 21st century. As water quality and availability issues become more acute, the WRC contributes to the development of the capacity of the water sector. Dhesigen Naidoo, a thought leader and part of the global pioneering group conceptualising and implementing the New Sanitation Economy, has been leading the WRC for 10 years. A former senior civil servant with the South Af-

The COVID-19 pandemic has re-emphasised the need to improve water supply governance and ensure universal access to basic services

rican national government, he is the President of the global NGO Human Right 2 Water and a founding member of the Water Policy Group. He is also a Councillor on South Africa’s National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) and an inaugural member of South Africa’s Presidential Climate Change Commission. In this interview we hear the views of this leader, scientist and activist for positive social change on the present and future of water research and practice in South Africa.

How has the coronavirus pandemic affected South Africa’s water sector? And how can water security be improved?

It is without a doubt that the current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the water sector, however, manifestation of this is at its early stages. It is well known that access to safe and reliable water, hygiene and sanitation services is central to curbing the spread of COVID-19. The South African government's plans to organise for the provision of emergency

water supplies at the onset of the pandemic and lockdown period, through the distribution of storage tanks, water tankers and sanitisers to unserviced communities showed a remarkable foresight.

However, this is not to say that communities that already have access to these services or the municipalities providing this service are immune to the COVID-19 pandemic. Household and industrial water users are also at risk, especially if they can no longer pay their bills due to a lack/reduced income or job losses or cuts in the case of employees. In this case the government has to make a concession for both the user and the municipality which might be faced with a cost recovery challenge.

In a way, the COVID-19 pandemic has re-emphasised the need to improve water supply governance and ensure universal access to basic services. However, the ambition to provide universal and reliable access to water and related services also brings with it the need to seriously engage the water security

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INTERVIEW challenge and fast track the National Water and Sanitation Masterplan interventions in order to ensure a more water secure future for the country. According to this plan, South Africa is to move towards a more diversified water resource mix, where the contribution of other water sources, such as groundwater, water reuse and desalination will be increased.

Other challenges that the water sector will have to deal with, both during and post-COVID-19 is the potential contamination of the environment and ultimately water resources, by the inappropriate disposal of used personal protective equipment such face masks and the excessive use of disinfectants. In this regard, the Water Research Commission has initiated a study to examine the extent of this potential problem and associated risks for the ecosystem.

The WRC has been researching the implementation of the circular economy in sanitation. Could you tell us a bit more about this project?

This is an area where South Africa plays a global leadership role, stimulated by and partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Reinvent the Toilet Campaign, now in its 10th year. Core to it is ‘new sanitation’. These are innovative sanitation solutions that are generally non-sewered, with major savings on money, water and energy, as regular sewage systems are not required. South Africa, through the WRC and the SABS, pioneered the establishment of an ISO standard for non-sewered sanitation

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and then adopted a national standard in the form of SANS 30 500. The circular economy acceleration comes at the back end with decentralised waste treatment, and the beneficiation of the waste. The potential products are amazing.

The first is energy production through both biogas as well as extrac-

tion of liquid fuel using biological vectors. We are already familiar with use of slurries as fertilizer products as well as urine products for brick production.

In addition, there are high value chemicals, protein and lipids. All have been proven at laboratory scale and many are used in demonstration projects and pi-

DHESIGEN NAIDOO lots. Imagine a scenario, as an example, of one of these new toilet blocks in a school that saves water, provides dignified and safe sanitation service while producing energy to meet some of the school’s power needs, while it contributes to accelerating a school and community food garden with almost zero

residual waste. This in turn can be replicated in most settings and at small to large scales.

What other R&D is the WRC currently working on?

The WRC has established a number of R&D programmes aimed at increasing

water security in South Africa, some of which are: • Identifying and protecting Water Source Areas in South Africa. This is critical for a water scarce country like ours, where rainfall is high and surface water is abundant only in the eastern part of the country. We need to take care of the goose that lays our golden eggs.

• Enabling the multiple uses of water.

We have worked with our funders to empower communities to use local sources of water to address their socio-economic needs that were hamstrung by water shortages.

• Finding and improving other alternative water sources. South Africa only focuses on surface water while ignoring and degrading other water sources.

The WRC is promoting the use of all kinds of water (e.g., groundwater, seawater, springs and cisterns water, fog harvesting, rainwater harvesting, etc) to improve water security of all vulnerable communities.

• Developing world class and efficient water treatment technology (such as membranes). This will provide the assurance of high-quality drinking water in South Africa, especial in these times when our water resources are polluted by various elements or pollutants. We should be on top of our tech game regarding water treatment.

• Enhancing nature-based solutions as our ecological water infrastructure that can provide a sustainable water supply.

• The water energy food nexus (WEF) which has been proven to be one of

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INTERVIEW the best approaches to adopt in water scarce countries like South Africa. WEF advances the ideal or principle which says “every drop matters”. It enables the establishment of a closed loop system where the same water can be used several times for different purposes, while also cementing the interdependence between water, energy and food systems (and practices).

How is the WRC supporting the water sector concerning climate change adaptation and mitigation?

The WRC climate change adaptation and mitigation activities are undertaken through collaborative research on priority water-related climate issues conducted with partnerships forged along the innovation value-chain, to enhance water research and development with the focus on increasing the resilience of the water sector.

The ultimate goal is to ensure the empowerment of people through improved adaptive capacity, and to develop a knowledge base for climate adaptation and decision support tools for

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mitigation, while providing guidance and a framework for a coordinated sectoral response. Climate change impacts on water resources and development continue to threaten the sector. Increased occurrence of extreme climatic events comes with negative implications for infrastructure, health, production and economic growth, amongst others. Key issues of concern include disasters (floods, droughts, landslides, heatwaves, wildfires, amongst others),

water quality and health, coastal zone management, water supply, groundwater recharge and the energy–water nexus.

The WRC’s support for the climate change response is done in a coordinated effort to address the consequences of a changing climate through Climate Change Lighthouse, a flagship programme. This serves as a primary vehicle to drive research and knowledge generation on climate change

The Water Research Commission is promoting the use of all kinds of water to improve the water security of all vulnerable communities

DHESIGEN NAIDOO adaptation, response, characterization of change and risks/vulnerabilities and also to contribute to human capital development to improve sectoral adaptive capacity and future response.

This programme made a significant impact, addressing a variety of issues on water and climate. These include amongst others characterizing sectoral impacts of climate change, planning for future scenarios, characterization of future disasters (drought, heat, floods), impacts on large mega dams and estuaries, adaptation, greenhouse gas dynamics and environmental footprints, and also societal impacts (displacements, vulnerability and gender amongst others). The focal areas covered in terms of research included predictive modelling/projections for the future, atmosphere-water interactions and the role of the ocean on inland climate, impacts of climate change on aquatic ecology/ agriculture, water supply and local government/catchment level response.

All relevant stakeholders are actively involved in terms of participating in the activities of the climate change

programme. They also form part of an advisory panel and constitute a community of practice. More often research outcomes are communicated to stakeholders who are directly impacted by the research outputs to facilitate decision support and uptake. Operational stakeholder relations were established (DWS, DEA, DAFF on advisory and role-playing capacities). Climate change and drought atlases were published reflecting on the past and also projecting the water futures. These are amongst others tools used in terms of land use planning, spatial development planning, alternative and future land use options.

The role of South Africa in SADC and NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development), especially regarding water resource and water supply and sanitation issues, poses new challenges and requires new initiatives. What projects is the WRC working on in this respect?

An important driver for the WRC is to develop solutions and models based on

science and innovation to be used and scaled up across the continent. Important very successful examples include the social franchising model as well as Multi-Use Systems. Having big African partners like the African Development Bank is an important facilitator to achieve this. In the SADC region, great strides have been made with new sanitation technologies in the Sanitation Research for Africa programme which has included 11 countries. The WRC has active partnerships across the continent with the latest being the African Water Association, which has as its members all major water and sanitation utilities across the continent.

The principle “every drop matters” enables the establishment of a closed loop system where the same water is used several times

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OPINION

JOSEPH E. GOODWILL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

THE LITTLE THINGS The collective consciousness of the United States water in- than just scaling down technology that works well in large dustry holds several historic crises as motivating moments of urban systems, new approaches are required specifically for failure. Prominent examples of these negative events include small systems that are appropriate in the carrying capacity the lead crises of Flint and Washington, DC as well as the context of these communities. Potential alternative oxidaMilwaukee cryptosporidiosis outbreak and the Toledo harm- tion technologies that may be especially attractive to small ful algal bloom. These events are painful yet helpful remind- systems are being developed such as chlorine-based AOPs, ers of the reliance of public health on potable water supply. ferrate, and electrochemical advanced oxidation processes However, in rural areas, similar health-based violations are (eAOPs). eAOPs utilize specialized electrodes that oxidize much more frequent, less well known, and not at the fore- or reduce contaminants without the need for other chemical front of our minds. inputs. Similarly, ferrate can be used in a combination with Data demonstrate that the incidence of health-based water sulfite to generate several radicals from shelf stable chemicals. quality violations in rural areas is significantly higher than These technologies promise a “plug and play” approach to adin urban areas. One of the primary causes is the inherent vanced treatment without significant increases in operational difficulty rural systems face adapting to more stringent reg- complexity. ulations. For example, promulgation of the Stage II DisinSmall systems also require attention from the water indusfection Byproduct Rule (DBP) in 2013 led to a dramatic try beyond treatment. Water system staff need ongoing supincrease in rural system violation port to leverage monitoring data rate. Small, rural systems may and maintain existing infrastrucNew approaches are required lack the carrying capacity to ture - two challenge areas exacerreach full compliance due to the bated by climate change. Governspecifically for small systems financial strain from a declining ment and other resources exist for that are appropriate in the population and economic base. small systems; however, they are A similar situation may now be often limited and seemingly incarrying capacity context occurring with emerging contamaccessible. State funding declined of these communities inants such as 1,4 dioxane (14D) by a third during the enactment and perfluorinated compounds. of the Stage 1 and 2 DBP rules.

New York State was recently the first state to produce an Cloud-based software solutions with virtual support and data enforceable 14D limit in drinking water. One of the few analytics-machine learning offer hopeful alternatives in this proven approaches for 14D treatment is to use an advanced area. oxidation process (AOP). This approach is effective; howevThese new tools in development may help close the ruer, it typically requires ozone in combination with UV-light ral water gap, but increased commitment and attention is or hydrogen peroxide. Adaptation of AOPs by small, rural still required. Legendary NCAA Basketball Coach John R. systems is low, likely attributable to the inherently complex Wooden said that “It’s the little details that are vital. Little auxiliary systems required for hydroxyl radical formation. things make big things happen”. While water system crises in This presents a unique challenge to rural systems in New large urban areas rightfully capture attention, increased atYork State that will soon be subjected to well-intended 14D tention on the problems of small systems is needed. Ensuring regulation without appropriate tools for meeting compli- a safe drinking water supply regardless of geography or other ance. socioeconomic considerations is certainly a big goal, worthy A one-size-fits all approach to water treatment technology of earnest pursuit. In order to achieve it focus on the little ignores the unique challenges in small, rural systems. Rather things - small rural water systems - is essential.

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OPINION

GERARD VAN DEN BERG COORDINATOR OF ULTIMATE AND PROJECT MANAGER AT KWR WATER RESEARCH INSTITUTE

TOWARDS WATER SMART INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOTIC SYSTEMS Circular economy, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foungy, combined water-energy management, water enabled heat dation, aims to design waste and pollution management with transfer, storage and recovery of heat), nutrient and material new value chains, by keeping products and materials in re-use recovery/reuse (nutrient mining, extraction/reuse of high-addand regenerating natural systems. It is widely recognised that ed value exploitable compounds), and assessing the impact water due to its natural origin and involvement in several prowith life cycle and risk based tools, within key industrial sectors cesses, plays a central role in achieving these goals. Transforma(agro-food processing industry, beverage industry, heavy chemtion of the traditional linear production-consumption-disposal ical/petrochemical industry and biotech industry). chains to circular water systems is key to their success.

• Assembling and applying digital support tools to improve the Industry accounts for circa 40% of all water abstractions in design, control and operation of industrial symbiotic schemes, Europe, making it one of the largest water users next to agriculsuch as: an ontology model, a stress testing tool building on ture and households. Circular concepts are already implementhybrid modelling and simulation to experiment with alternaed in industry, but the European Commission (EC) is now tive socio-economic/environmental scenarios, an interactive giving specific attention to ‘Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis gamified 3D visualisation tool to support the (co-)design of cir(WSIS)’ in which economic value and increased sustainability cular systems across industries, and immersive, eXtended Reis created by introducing circular ality (XR) built narratives to learn symbiotic arrangements between about complex issues. industry and water service pro• Developing and demonstrating A Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis viders. This approach will further novel exploitation/valorisation approach will further enhance the enhance the opportunities for reschemes (value chains) for these covery and reuse of water embedresources, through a range of opportunities for recovery and reuse ded resources and stimulate new business models and symbiotic of water embedded resources circular business arrangements arrangements, linking them to (public-private partnerships, new ongoing investments and plans service providers, specialised techfor industries and water utilities. nology suppliers, etc.).

• Designing, promoting and accelerating business transformation ULTIMATE is an ongoing EU funded research and innovato WSIS, through active stakeholder engagement and innovation project supporting the transition to WSIS by systematition co-creation, by drawing on transdisciplinary knowledge cally addressing technical, digital, socio-economic, governance and capacities from Art, Technology and Digital Humanities, and business systems interdependencies, by: for business-to-business, citizen and Living Lab engagement.

• Show-casing successful high profile WSIS paradigms where • Reducing existing barriers for recovery, reuse and commercial water and industrial sectors collaborate to deliver innovative exploitation of valuable water-related resources (incl. requireresource-efficient, circular solutions, with special emphasis on ments and standards for reuse) through WSIS novel govercross synergies, transferability and applicability of the WSIS nance approaches and best practice guidelines. concept.

The setup of ULTIMATE is such that it supports uptake in • Developing, optimising and demonstrating more than 25 and transfer of WSIS knowledge and experiences to other innovel technologies for water reclamation and reuse (recovery, dustrial environments, different regional and cultural settings, refining and reuse of wastewater from industries and munic- as well as the upscaling of current case studies. As such, ULipalities), exploitation of energy and heat (extraction of ener- TIMATE actively contributes to the green and digital ‘twin’ transition promoted by the EC in the EU and beyond.

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INTERVIEW

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ROBERT BARTROP

ROBERT BARTROP CRO OF SOURCE GLOBAL, PBC

“Scientists have been able to develop entirely new resources of drinking water, independent of geography or infrastructure” Using their Hydropanel sustainable water technology that uses the sun’s energy to extract water from the air, SOURCE’s renewable drinking water system provides clean, safe water, made off-grid, almost anywhere in the world.

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Cristina Novo Pérez

The availability of safe drinking water is a concern in many areas of the developed and developing world. In late 2020, Zero Mass Water was rebranded as SOURCE Global, PBC, a Public Benefit Corporation, a designation that underlines the company’s mission: to make a long term, positive impact on society and the environment by providing clean, safe drinking water solutions onsite. Their unique technology can extract water vapour from the air in a wide range of climates using sunlight, producing high-quality drinking water. In this interview, Robert Bartrop, Chief Revenue Officer of SOURCE Global, reflects on the issues around water provision in underserved communities in the U.S., and the role of technology and innovation to deliver new sources of drinking water.

Can you tell us briefly about your career path and your current role in SOURCE? I have a history of working in disruptive technology, renewable energy, and sustainable infrastructure, which ultimately led me to my current role as CRO at SOURCE Global, PBC. At SOURCE

we look to partner with people, companies and institutions who need a source of clean, resilient, sustainable drinking water. I’ve been with SOURCE for more than four years, and it’s fantastic to be part of a motivated team that is confronting a number so the world’s biggest issues – water, climate change and the abundant use of single use plastics.

How would you describe the current state of water infrastructure in the United States?

Water infrastructure in the United States is complicated and inconsistent. While many major cities like New York and San Francisco have good reason to proud of their drinking water, there are also tens of millions of homes that are do not have access to clean drinking water at the household level. One reason for this is that the design of our water infrastructure is heavily centralised and reliant on Roman-era solutions that do not effectively supply regional towns, farms and tribal areas. Our wells, pumps, pipes and treatment plants are aging and, increasingly, breaking, an issue that disproportionately impacts rural and underserved

communities. Millions of Americans rely on domestic wells that are contaminated with naturally occurring arsenic, iron and lead, as well as man-made contaminants like nitrates from farming. We are overdrawing our groundwater resources, while climate change, drought and increasing floods are making the situation worse. We urgently need to support public water systems in embracing innovation and building a more resilient, decentralised water delivery system.

The Biden Administration recently announced a $111 billion proposal for water systems. Do you think the plan is ambitious enough?

The plan outlined by the Biden administration highlights the size and importance of the problem at hand. The core elements of the plan – replacing the country’s lead pipes and service lines – will take decades and require large amounts of funding. We need to reframe how we are thinking about solutions to our nation’s water problem – finding and funding ways that take the concerns and limitations of infrastructure out of the equation.

Specifically, we would like to see a greater emphasis on extending water solutions for households and communities that are not currently being served, increasing the utilization of non-traditional sources of water and confronting the reality of our reliance on single-use plastics and water delivery for every-day drinking purposes.

How will the American Jobs Plan affect the water working force?

At SOURCE we look to partner with people, companies and institutions who need a source of clean, resilient, sustainable drinking water

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INTERVIEW After an incredibly difficult 2020, it’s great to see that the Biden administration is creating new jobs in the water industry to help execute its plan of eliminating lead pipes and relaying service lines. However, we hope the Biden administration will go a step further, making sure that the jobs created are rooted in innovative technologies and train workers in solutions that will eliminate outdated practices and allow the industry to move faster.

During his speech, President Biden said: “Too often, investments have failed to meet the needs of marginalized communities.” This is often the case of rural communities. What solutions can be implemented to improve drinking water systems in these types of communities?

Rural communities have always been underserved, and climate-induced droughts and flooding are exacerbating the problem. We are heavily engaged in these communities – from farms in Central Valley, CA, to the mountain towns of Appalachia, to the colonias of South Texas and most places in between.

A good example is Allensworth, CA, has been suffering from poor water quality for over 100 years, with arsenic levels measuring 60% higher than state-defined safety levels for drinking water.

This crisis forced Allensworth residents to travel to the next county to buy water in single-use plastic bottles or five-gallon jugs, an expensive solution with many environmental ramifications.

This is not a standalone issue as 40% of our nation’s 50,000 community water systems have had similar quality viola-

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ROBERT BARTROP tions, according to the EPA. And, according to a recent study commissioned

by SOURCE, just a third of the American public feels confident about the quality of water coming out of their tap.

Creating and implementing new, innovative solutions in rural communities, in partnership with local and regional water systems, will be crucial to make meaningful change. Recently, we worked with leaders of Allensworth to outfit its community center with Hydropanels that will produce the equivalent of 43,800 bottles of water over its lifetime, with no plastic waste.

What role can innovation and digitalization play in water infrastructure renewal?

Just as solar and wind have given us clean, renewable energy alternatives to fossil fuels, technology can give us renewable answers for water.

Using the principles of renewables, scientists have been able to develop entirely new resources of drinking water, independent of geography or infrastructure and produced and delivered where people live. At SOURCE, that means using our Hydropanels to pull clean drinking water out of the air and convert it to clean drinking water – operating offgrid, requiring no electricity, and removing single-use plastic bottles often relied on in water-scarce or containment areas out of the equation. Solutions like this is what our industry needs to see more of and we need to work together to put them in place.

What differentiates SOURCE from other water companies?

SOURCE is a unique technology for several reasons. First, we produce clean water using sunlight and air – no external power or water required. Alternative water solutions are typically based around treating and/or transporting water from existing surface and ground sources, which are not accessible to everyone.

Second, we produce that water where

We would like to see a greater emphasis on extending water solutions for households and communities that are not currently being served you need it – meaning we don’t rely on trucking, piping or walking. Third, our water is made pure and mineralized with calcium and magnesium for taste, which make it a viable and sustainable alternative to bottled water at a small fraction of the cost. Nothing is more fundamental than access to safe drinking water, and we are on a mission to make drinking water an unlimited resource with technology that can produce it sustainably, reliably and in humid or very dry climates.

How does the Hydropanel water technology work? Can you describe some case studies where it is used?

SOURCE Hydropanels use the power of the sun to extract clean, pollutant-free drinking water from the air. The core technology is a function of thermodynamics, materials science, and controls technology, including multiple patented inventions. We then design solutions to meet water needs – whether it be a rooftop system for a household, a larger array providing drinking water for a real estate development, or a larger system providing drinking water for an entire community.

We are regularly reminded that school students are amongst the most vulnerable people in the community when drinking water is threatened. SOURCE

has been used around the world as a resilient, sustainable and impactful solution for schools – including Texas, Arizona, drought-affected schools in Australia, hurricane-impacted schools in Belize, contaminated schools in Vanuatu and historically underserved schools in South Africa.

Could you comment on SOURCE’s work beyond the United States?

SOURCE currently operates in more than 50 countries around the world.

Most recently, the team broke ground in Saudi Arabia as the official bottled water of The Red Sea Project, which will be the most sustainable tourism destination on earth. The Red Sea will initially be provided to the 600 employees and operators who are architecting, constructing, and bringing the site to life. When the eco-luxury resorts open, SOURCE will be served to guests as the first sustainable bottled water inside and out.

According to a study commissioned by SOURCE, just a third of Americans feel confident about the quality of water coming out of their tap

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WATER & NEWS - WATER TREATMENT

THAMES WATER FINED £4 MILLION AFTER CATASTROPHIC SEWAGE BLUNDER IN 2016 79 million litres of sludge covered a park and flowed into the Hogsmill River, a favourite recreation spot and chalk stream

Thames Water has been fined £4 million after untreated sewage escaped from sewers below London into a park and a river. A court heard dozens of high-priority alarms would have told staff about the incident, but were either missed or ignored, leading to pollution of a popular park, woodland and the Hogsmill River, in New Malden.

The sewage treatment works at Surbiton couldn’t handle the amount of sewage produced by Storm Imogen in the winter of 2016. The court was told approximately 79 million litres of sludge escaped across an area of about 6,500 square metres. It took 30 people a day for almost a month to clean-up sludge that was ankle-deep in places.

Thames Water’s equipment at Hogsmill struggled under the pressure of forecast extreme weather one night 5 years

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ago. Instead of the sewage being treated, pumps failed, allowing raw effluent to back up along the sewer network, bursting out of a manhole to cover an area the size of 3 football pitches.

One of Thames Water’s own engineers described finding an “avalanche of foul waste” spread over Green Lane recreation ground. The sewage travelled with such force across the park and into the river, leaving thick sludge, toilet paper and wet wipes covering the riverbank, grass, shrubs and a wooded area. Enough toilet paper to fill 2,500 refuse bags was recovered from the scene.

An investigation by the Environment Agency found things began to go wrong at the treatment plant just after midnight on 8 February 2016. The Park was closed for a month during the clean-up, although some of the toilet paper swept

along by the sewage was still visible in the woods months later.

A power failure triggered alarms after pumps used in the treatment of sewage stopped working. The malfunction should have been answered remotely by Thames Water staff, and an engineer sent immediately to the treatment works, which is unmanned at night. As untreated sewage built up below ground, almost 50 warning alarms were set off over the next 5 hours.

Every one was left unchecked. With many of the pumps out of action, effluent rushed through the sewer network and out above ground, flooding the recreation area.

It took Thames Water 15 hours to report the incident to the Environment Agency, a legal requirement, and another 12 hours before the company had any sizeable presence at the scene.

Sitting at Aylesbury Crown Court on 26 May, Judge Francis Sheridan fined Thames Water £4 million, ordering them to pay the Environment Agency’s costs of £84,669.

Thames Water pleaded guilty to depositing sewage waste at the recreation ground in February 2016. The court also took into consideration breach of a permit regarding that incident, and discharging into the Hogsmill River in January and October 2018, and an incident in September 2019, when sewage sludge was released from Hogsmill sewage treatment works in error.

This latest conviction brings the total amount of fines given to Thames Water since 2017 to £28.4 million for 10 cases of water pollution.

TECNOCONVERTING ENGINEERING PRESENTS THE TECNO-GRABBER® WASTE COLLECTION SYSTEM Tecno-Grabber® has been tested at the sewer overflow in Sabadell, helping to keep the natural environment clean and free of waste

TecnoConverting Engineering has developed the new Tecno-Grabber® waste collection system, made of heavy-duty plastic material. Each Tecno-Grabber® unit can hold more than 100 kg of weight, and they can be used several times.

TecnoConverting Engineering performs all the hydraulic calculations necessary to size the baffle, made entirely of stainless steel, along with the hydraulic and resistance calculations to ensure the correct diameter and length of the TecnoGrabber® waste collection system.

The first pilot test was carried out at the wastewater sewer overflow in the city of Sabadell (province of Barcelona, Spain), seeking to minimize the impact of waste discharges into the environment. A TecnoGrabber system with

3 outlets was installed; after testing it for one year, the following results were achieved: (i) each TecnoGrabber unit captured/collected more than 100 kg of waste, after 3-4 periods of rainfall; (ii) The net system was replaced 9 times during the year and (iii) more than 2.7 tonnes of waste were collected over the one-year period, preventing that waste from being released into the river.

It is important to note that this test was carried out in just one single location; if the system had been implemented at 10 different sites, more than 20.7 tonnes of waste could have been prevented from ending up in the river.

In conclusion, the Tecno-Grabber® system is affordable, reliable and easy to install and helps to keep the natural environment clean and free of waste.

THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACQUISITION OF THE MUHARRAQ WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT IN BAHRAIN Muharraq was the first water treatment plant that Almar Water Solutions acquired and added to its portfolio of assets and projects Last May 9 marked the second anniversary of Almar Water Solutions' acquisition of the stake of the Muharraq wastewater treatment plant. This acquisition was a significant milestone for Almar in its portfolio of wastewater treatment and reuse assets and marked its entry into Bahrain.

Muharraq STP is a 29-year PPP concession for the build, ownership and operation (BOO) of a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant with a nominal capacity of 100,000 cubic meters per day and a 16.5 km long deep gravity sewer in the Muharraq basin (Bahrain).

Located in an extremely arid environment, Bahrain is considered to be one of the countries with the lowest per capita freshwater availability in the world, with around 70 m3/year, an average rainfall of 80 m3/year and high evapotranspiration rates, averaging around 1,850 mm/year. Bahrain has achieved a highly commendable level of water supply services over the years.

Bahrain's non-conventional water resources consist mainly of desalination and treated municipal wastewater.

The concession for the Muharraq sewage treatment plant was signed in 2011 with the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, and went into commercial operation in December 2014.

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INTERVIEW

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AVI SHULTZ

AVI SHULTZ

INTERVIEW WITH AVI SHULTZ, CONCENTRATING SOLARTHERMAL POWER PROGRAM MANAGER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES OFFICE

“Solar-thermal desalination systems are a potential low-cost option to produce clean water” The Solar Desalination Prize is a four-stage competition designed to accelerate the development of low-cost desalination systems that use solar-thermal power to produce clean water from salt water.

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Cristina Novo Pérez

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Solar Desalination Prize competition as part of the Water Security Grand Challenge, an initiative to advance transformational technology and innovation to meet the global need for safe, secure, and affordable water, seeking new ideas for desalination systems that can be used in diverse settings. Participants submit innovative concepts, with a pathway to its commercialization. Each stage of the competition will have increasing prize amounts, totalling millions of dollars. By the end, the teams will have designed a solar-thermal desalination system, obtained the necessary permits, built it, and demonstrated the operation.

The Solar Desalination Prize is a key part of our overall strategy to develop solar-driven technologies to decarbonize thermal processes

Furthermore, such demonstrations can lay the foundation for more applications of solar thermal technologies. We spoke with Avi Shultz, program manager of the Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Program at the DOE, to learn about the details of the program and what it is trying to accomplish.

Can you tell us briefly about your career path and your current involvement with the Solar Desalination Prize?

I’m a chemist by education and training and have always been strongly motivated by the vast potential that scientific innovation has to dramatically improve people’s lives and help develop solutions to society’s biggest challenges. My doctoral and post-doctoral research was focused on developing new classes of supra-molecular catalysts that could improve the efficiency of several key industrial chemical processes. I joined the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through a science and technology policy fellowship that aims to bring technical experts

into the federal government. I quickly became very interested in the potential that solar-thermal energy systems have to deliver dispatchable, carbon-free energy because of the ease of incorporating thermal energy storage into these systems.

Since becoming the program manager for concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) in the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), I’ve overseen the development of funding programs to help develop CSP for electricity generation as well as solar-thermal process heating technologies. The Solar Desalination Prize is a key part of our overall strategy to develop solar-driven technologies to decarbonize thermal processes.

What does the Department of Energy expect to accomplish with this competition?

DOE designed this competition to accelerate the commercial development of thermal desalination systems powered by low-cost solar-thermal energy. These systems will expand the availability of fresh water by producing clean water from saline water for municipal, agricultural, and industrial use, with minimal electricity and conventional energy resources. By the end of Round 1 of the competition, in April 2024, the finalists will have designed a solar-thermal desalination system, obtained the necessary permitting and approval documents, built their system, and demonstrated its operation.

What kind of participants has the Solar Desalination Prize competition attracted so far?

The competitors make up cross-functional teams, and they’re researchers and entrepreneurs from universities, industry, and the DOE national labs. The eight Round 1 semi-finalists represent six

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INTERVIEW U.S. states and have proposed a variety of innovative desalination methods to extract clean water from non-traditional water sources. You can read more about their projects in the Solar Desalination Prize website.

Is there a cost target per cubic meter of produced water that participants should aim for?

Because competitors are proposing their own innovative designs for certain target markets - municipal water systems, agricultural uses, industrial uses, or purification of produced waters - we ask them to perform their own calculations for levelized cost of water, thermal energy consumption, capital costs, operational costs, recovery ratio, annualized solar-to-desalination thermal efficiency, and impact on the environment. Generally, we aim to develop systems that can deliver water at a cost of $0.50 per cubic meter for typical municipal water systems, or $1.50 per cubic meter for small-scale inland applications that require zero-liquid discharge. But each competing team is developing their own specific performance metrics to be competitive with current state-of-the-art technologies for the target market that they’re focused on.

What are the major barriers developers of these technologies face to get from the concept stage to the commercial stage?

Real water sources, from naturally occurring salt water, as well as human-made wastewater from industry and agriculture, typically have a complex mixture of

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DOE designed this competition to accelerate the development of thermal desalination systems powered by low-cost solar-thermal energy

AVI SHULTZ contaminants that are difficult for many early-stage academic researchers and start-up companies to obtain and use for testing. Additionally, finding a test site that can support access to realistic water and manage the discharge streams at a scale relevant to pilot-scale demonstrations can also be difficult. The phased design of this prize allows competitors to gradually develop their concept, get connected to potential test facilities, and assemble a full team consisting of innovators, component suppliers, testing sites, and other key partners.

What do you think is the interest and appetite for potential uptake of solar desalination technologies by the global desalination sector?

Water stress is increasingly a challenge in many countries due to growing populations, disruptions to existing freshwater sources, and usage by industrial applications. Additionally, many countries are actively developing strategies to maintain and enhance their freshwater availability without increasing carbon emissions. Many sunny countries are actively engaged in solar desalination research. For example, the United States is a member of SolarPACES, the International Energy Agency’s Technology Collaboration Program dedicated to fostering global collaboration on solar-thermal technologies. SolarPACES has 20 member countries that collaborate and share information about solar-thermal desalination as part of its overall efforts on solar industrial process heat.

To what extent do you think solar-thermal powered desalination can change the future of the desalination industry?

Thermal desalination technologies are much more tolerant of high salt concentrations because there is a much weaker relationship between salt concentration and energy required. Solar-thermal-powered systems can potentially enable thermal desalination for applications where desalination is too difficult or costly, like inland applications, where disposing of brine produced through reverse osmosis - the conventional process - is challenging and where zero-liquid discharge may be needed.

More broadly, water purification technologies support human health, economic growth, and agricultural productivity. With climate change threatening fresh water supplies across the United States and the world, solar-thermal desalination systems are a potential low-cost option to produce clean water.

They can be used at various scales - from

Teams develop their own performance metrics to be competitive with current stateof-the-art technologies for their target market small, modular systems easily deployed in remote areas to large, industrial-scale systems that provide communities with reliable water supplies.

Do you think the solar-thermal technologies being tested could be used for other applications – other than desalination – in the future?

Yes, the Solar Desalination Prize program is part of our broader goal to enable cost-effective utilization of solar-thermal energy to provide heat for industrial applications, like food processing, chemical production, and mineral processing. Concentrating solar-thermal energy has been used mostly to generate high-temperature heat for electricity generation (CSP), but many industrial applications do not require high temperatures, so they use lower-cost components than typical CSP plants do. The main advantage of directly producing heat from the sun is that solar-thermal heat - typically in the form of a hot fluid in an insulated tank - can be easily stored, so it can be used even when the sun is not shining. More than 33 gigawatt-hours of thermal energy storage has been commercially deployed as a part of CSP plants.

Real water sources typically have a complex mixture of contaminants that are difficult for many to obtain and use for testing

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WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

SARDINIA’S WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES

Earlier this year Acciona was awarded the operation and maintenance over the next five years of 300 wastewater treatment plants and 600 pumping stations in the island of Sardinia, in Italy. The facilities account for 85% of the wastewater treatment capacity in the island, and can treat 120.45 hm3 per year. The plants are located in the provinces of Cagliari, Iglesias, Nuoro, Olbia, Oristano and Sassari.

The company plans to deploy major innovations in order to foster the circular economy and the sustainability of operations.

To this end, the sludge produced will be used for agricultural purposes. In addition, electric vehicles will be used in order to reduce greenhouse emissions. These vehicles will be used for

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company operations, and will also be made available to staff under a carsharing model.

A Geocall system will be implemented to optimise the work, for example the generation and completion of work orders, or tracking inventories and managing reports of system breakdowns.

Furthermore, to clean sediment underwater in areas which are difficult to access and keep the bottom of treatment tanks clean, a robot will be deployed which has been designed for such purpose. This novel approach will reduce risks since the robot will be remotely operated, while ensuring the quality of water treatment processes.

DIGITAL

FEATURE

DIGITALISATION IN THE WORLD OF

WATER: OBJECTIVES AND SOLUTIONS

Water scarcity is a well-known global issue. Environmental factors such as climate change, with long periods of drought and extreme weather events, and global population growth, compound the problem. What is more, irrigation techniques, industrial practices, and domestic consumption lead to an excessive demand, usually well above the capacity of resources to regenerate. Therefore, in many regions of our planet, water availability is not always guaranteed.

The objective is clear and the problems are well defined. Focusing on the topic of this article – water consumption management – achieving more efficient use by improving the way the resource is managed is paramount. The different water supply systems or networks offer an opportunity for modernisation; it is important to invest in monitoring, as well as in improving infrastructure to drastically reduce losses, while fostering water saving and responsible use. This is the objective of Hidroconta, reaching maximum cost-effectiveness of the resource by optimising water consumption, seeking maximum sustainability.

Advances in technology and communications are fundamental to achieve this goal, giving rise to a new scenario with new possibilities and with systems that

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are reliable and adapted to management requirements. We leave behind early years when systems that are now obsolete did not meet expectations, and where first experiences were not as anticipated. Once the initial problems have been solved, there is no excuse not to incorporate technology to water resource management.

When we talk about smart water management, remote management is key: technology and innovation will help modernise resource handling and make up a flexible and adaptable solution for more efficient management of both infrastructure and the final resource. Without including these technological ad-

vances, it will be difficult to achieve the set targets.

Remote management, in essence, refers to a set of electronic devices, remote terminal units (RTU) and data loggers, connected using different telecommunications technologies and infrastructure, that enable controlling facilities – in this case are hydraulic facilities – remotely, through connections with equipment such as meters, valves, sensors or digital

Deméter system and its ecosystem, developed by Hidroconta

HIDROCONTA

The digitalisation of the water sector is a reality. Water resource management in any setting, whether agricultural, urban or industrial, must adapt to changes and consumption patterns. Modernisation and incorporating technology into management practices, both in terms of measuring and monitoring, are essential to protect and preserve resources.

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José Galiano Real. Sales Manager at Hidroconta

contacts. Remote management comprises telemetry and remote control, which, even though they may be similar systems, are not the same. The difference lies in that telemetry or remote reading only entails receiving data from the network, which are interpreted and translated into information that can be analysed, together with warnings about any anomalies in the facilities and the application of expert rules. Remote control would be

Remote management comprises telemetry and remote control, which, even though they may be similar systems, are not the same an add-on, when it is possible to send information to the facility in order to run instructions, commands and working parameters.

Hidroconta has developed a wide range of solutions to enable remote device reading, such as Remotas Deméter, the Iris telemetry module, as well as water meters with built-in communications technology.

Remote management uses different types of computing devices, management software, web platforms as well as mobile applications. All the information is received by a server and processed. These programs interpret the in-

Remote management uses different types of computing devices, management software, web platforms as well as mobile applications

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FEATURE formation, generate tables and graphs, and enable analysis and afterwards implementing measures; this will be done manually, programmed, or automated, since the different devices are connected according to established settings. The communication will depend on each system: it may be constant or cyclic according to the needs of each facility.

Hidroconta offers clients tools that are adapted to the different management needs, thus creating WEB platforms for integrated network management and end user APPs. The manufacturers of this technology usually have application programming interfaces (APIs). They are a set of definitions and protocols used to develop and integrate application software. The API allows products and services to communicate with others with no need to know how they are implemented.

This simplifies the development of applications and results in time and money savings. It means that thanks to those rules, the devices and management software by different developers can communicate between themselves, enabling their integration.

Once the remote management and the system involved have been defined, it is important to comment on the different types of communications used to establish the connections between equipment or devices in the field and the management programs. Low-power wide-area network technologies (LPWAN) are currently the most modern solutions, with a bright future, and they are outdoing the known technologies GSM, GPRS and

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Hidroconta offers tools adapted to management needs, creating WEB platforms for integrated network management and end user APPs

Deméter Web Platform for remote control and reading

HIDROCONTA LTE for use in these systems. The advantages of this type of communications are that they are directed to offer global coverage, optimising data transfer, having low-cost hardware, and, most interestingly, reducing the energy consumption of sensors and devices. These are IoT or Internet of Things communications, and among the main LPWAN operators and technology manufacturers, we may highlight Sigfox, NB-IoT (Narrowband) and LoRaWAN. For those that still have doubts and wonder why it is a good investment to integrate this type of technology, we should note the advantages it offers and that, depending on the setting – agricultural, urban or industrial – the management possibilities allow us to obtain the maximum benefit of using the system.

As I mentioned earlier, the objective of this transformation process is to receive the information generated at a facility so it can be later analysed or acted upon, so that you can: • Obtain information at scheduled times.

• Measure and analyse data for later decision making.

• Receive notifications and warnings about processes or issues in the facilities.

• Ensure more effective operations in the facilities.

• Attain higher productivity, and as a result, improved cost-effectiveness.

This is achieved acting at the operational level with the system, through the software or working platform, to enable:

Hidroconta and Deméter APPs for remote control and reading

• Better maintenance and condition of the facilities, since the network is permanently monitored: you have information about any issues and you can anticipate and take action when they deteriorate. Data processing allows network managers to build more accurate and efficient models, and offers the possibility of studying consumers' behaviour.

• Higher efficiency and optimisation of the resource, given the volumes of water pumped can be lowered, the performance of the network is optimised and leaks and non revenue water are reduced.

• Savings in operational management, reducing travelling and action costs and improving downtime. Addressing any breakdowns is done more efficiently by optimising material and human resources.

• Providing consumption information to the user through user-friendly applications. Users can permanently monitor water use; thus, more efficient and responsible water use is encouraged.

• Direct energy savings: a more efficient facility will allow reducing energy use by the equipment. There will also be indirect savings through optimum management of resources, by avoiding travelling and improving the maintenance of facilities and equipment.

To briefly conclude, we may highlight that all the benefits of digitalisation in the water sector aim to protect and preserve the resource, to achieve important cost reductions for both utilities and consumers and to improve the services provided to consumers.

The objective of this transformation process is to receive the information generated at a facility so it can be analysed or acted upon

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INTERVIEW

MARKUS DREXLER HEAD OF CORPORATE PORTFOLIO SOFTWARE & RELATED SERVICES AT DIEHL METERING

“One of the major applications of IZAR@ HOME is to improve customers’ engagement and satisfaction” The new digital solution by Diehl Metering, IZAR@HOME, enables utilities to offer a new service to their customers. Through the app, customers can see their consumption, their meter and billing information, and receive messages and alerts from their utility.

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Cristina Novo Pérez

Diehl Metering expands its offer to utilities with a new solution called IZAR@ HOME. This smartphone app gives consumers direct access to a wealth of information about their water and energy consumption. Thanks to a fixed network solution, utilities already collect data about the water distribution network on a daily routine (or even hourly). With smart meters installed at houses, information about the consumption as well as house network anomalies is generated and analysed. By sharing this information with their customers, utilities offer them a new service and get the chance to increase their satisfaction and engagement.

We would like to know more about the IZAR@HOME consumer app.

What are its applications in the water sector?

Consumers have increasingly high expectations of utilities. They expect instant responses, sustainability and tailored services because that’s what they’re used to.

Meeting these expectations is essential if utilities want to drive customer engagement and satisfaction. But being more customer-centric doesn’t necessarily mean devoting more time to consumers. It can also be about giving consumers more responsibility, about empowering them to find their own answers, drive their own cost savings, and make their own contribution to sustainability. That’s why I would say that one of the major applications of IZAR@HOME is to improve customers’ engagement and satisfaction.

The second one, which is particularly important for me, is to give consumers the opportunity to drive their water consumption in a sustainable way.

Please tell us about the main features of IZAR@HOME.

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DIEHL METERING

A utility in Denmark now uses the IZAR@HOME app to provide consumers information about thermal energy and their water meters Can you tell us about some projects where IZAR@HOME is in use or will be soon implemented?

As the IZAR@HOME is a new solution, we have launched different pilot projects in European countries last year and we realised our first live project with a utility in Denmark, BRONDERSLEV FORSYNING. They now use the IZAR@HOME app to provide consumers information about thermal energy and their water meters, and as well it is possible to monitor the heat efficiency of the household towards the utility target.

First, on the splash screen the consumer can find core information at a glance: benchmark indicators, a monthly data overview, consumption and bill amount of the last month, and the latest system notifications, for example new alarms. In a single view, users will know how much water they really consumed in a month, if their use is in line with the average for consumers (a peer group defined with the utility), and if there is a problem in their water network. These are all the main features of IZAR@HOME, that is to say, information about water consumption, billing and being alerted if there is a problem.

If consumers want to know more about their consumption, their bill or their meter, then with one click they can access

their household’s statistics with different time granularities, the consumption data history, the overall bill amounts and the bill components, or the latest values and alarms for their meter.

There’s also an interesting dashboard called My Forecast. In this last one, consumers get information about the expected consumption and bill value by the end of a year. They will see a yearly and monthly consumption forecast for the running year, yearly estimated charges and an indicator of the evolution which compares consumption to the previous year as a percentage. Finally, yet importantly, there is also a Help Center.

It is designed as an online service application with answers to the most important questions.

The IZAR@HOME consumer app will give customers more transparency about their water consumption. What are the benefits it offers for water utilities? And the benefits for customers?

First, for water utilities, it is all about customer engagement and smoother communication. IZAR@HOME helps strengthen customer relations and improve customer communication. The benefits are numerous: fewer calls, fewer complaints. Because consumers have a wealth of data at their fingertips, they won’t need to contact utilities as much.

The knock-on effect is less administration and more time for other tasks. Direct contact is made easy: utilities can use the app to send out information to consumers in nearly real time. Urgent push messages, such as frost alerts or leak alarms, will reach consumers immediately, meaning they can react rapidly to prevent potential damage to their homes. And utilities can also communicate about crisis management and ongoing activities.

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Then, for customers, IZAR@HOME is a wonderful tool that empowers them to save natural resources. Simple graphs help them understand the data and adapt their behaviour to make a real contribution to water savings.

To what extent can the app be customized to suit the needs of utilities?

IZAR@HOME supports a user interface called the IZAR@HOME console, so that utilities can customize the IZAR@ HOME App and get in touch with their consumers directly. First, the utility can send direct messages to the App of their consumers with the notification function (e.g., about maintenance, to provide tips, to announce promotions etc.). Second, the utility is able to set up its own questions and answers for the most interesting topics that will be displayed to their consumers in the App’s Help Center. Third, the utility can customize additional parameters of the App, e.g., defining when notifications shall be sent to consumers, how the utility can be reached in case of questions etc. Fourth, the IZAR@HOME supports a functionality for consumer benchmarking that allows additional cus-

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tomizing by the utility. Indeed, they can define standard categories for benchmarking based on monthly consumptions, e.g., for a monthly water consumption in a household, the categories could look like: A (highest efficiency): <10 m³, B: 10-20 m³, C: 20-30 m³, D: 30-40 m³, E: 40-50 m³, F: >=50 m³. This means that a new App user will benchmark against these standard categories. However, the utility can also define certain questions that are asked to an App user during first login to the App (e.g., size of household, age of building, number of persons in the household). If a user provides this data and consents in line with the General Data Regulation that the data can be used to build energy efficiency groups, the IZAR@ HOME Backend provides a data analytics function to create customized peer groups and benchmarking categories.

What issues related to water cycle management does it address?

IZAR@HOME only concerns issues behind the meter in the house. We focus on end-customers’ issues, meaning what is going on in the house, between the meter and taps.

DIEHL METERING How does it differ from other products in the market?

We do not have direct competitors offering this sort of products. I am not saying that a smartphone app that allows households to consult multiple metrics about consumption does not exist, I am sure that digital companies already provide this sort of solution. Diehl Metering is

offering its customers to share with the end-customers a wealth of information they already have. With a smart meter installed at the house, information about consumption as well as house network anomalies can be generated and sent automatically, within the hour, to the utility server through a fixed network installation. The question is: why not sharing

this information with your customers?

IZAR@HOME is a simple answer to this question.

What did the launch of this product mean for the water sector?

In the era of digital communication, consumers expect instant responses because digital interaction is part of their daily lives. In the last decade, smartphones became essential and many of us do not even imagine life without this device. Recent events have forced us to accelerate digitalization process, especially when it comes to customer service issues. In my opinion, this solution is part of the process of digitalization.

Moreover, offering a tool that enables customers to monitor and optimize their own consumption is good news for sustainability. As consumers, we are all aware of water scarcity and that we must make every effort to respect the planet and to save its precious resources. This solution is a simple way for consumers to understand their water consumption and an opportunity to adapt their behaviour to make a real contribution to saving water.

What are the business expectations for this type of product in the water sector?

Diehl Metering has always worked with its customers as partners. With IZAR@ HOME we choose to offer our customers a new solution to improve their customers’ engagement. And it’s the same for us, we expect to grow our customers’ satisfaction.

Customer-centric can be about giving consumers responsibility, empowering them to find their own answers and drive their own cost savings

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FEATURE

THE 7 MYTHS OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE The digital transformation of water infrastructure has reached the sweet spot of growth: that point where change acceleration starts a vertical trend. Most tenders are including NB-IoT connectivity and new models of water management are appearing.

This point occurs when not just big companies are able to access technology, but also when sector stakeholders (manufacturers, service providers, contractors…) have seen that the market has agreed on a standard, and the investment will bring efficiencies and returns in the short term.

Myth 1. The digital transformation of infrastructure requires the replacement of all existing instruments with new devices that integrate IoT communications.

Instrumentation does not need to be updated to adapt to IoT technology. There is also no need for further investment to replace the existing devices. To connect our infrastructure, we simply have to add a gateway to bring the data generated by the existing instruments to the management platforms in a secure, fast and interoperable way.

Large infrastructure deals with a legacy of many years of investment in both their OPEX and CAPEX, with payback periods

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that are looked at closely. Infrastructure must be adapted to the new connectivity requirements. Digital transformation is achieved by adding a new technological layer enabling data to be transmitted in a standardised way. Furthermore, this task must be achieved regardless of whether the existing asset communication protocols are five, ten or twenty years old.

Myth 2. My current instrumentation partners and manufacturers will have to provide me new products ready to be connected through NB-IoT with my middleware and cloud platforms.

Experts in sensors and metering technology are not necessarily also experts in electronics, telecommunications, cloud platforms and all the aspects that are necessary for the digital transformation of existing assets in infrastructures.

In the pre-digital era there were two fundamental areas in any industry: operations (logistics and manufacturing of goods) and commercialisation (marketing and sales).

In the new digital age, a new axis has formed that changes and connects these two worlds. The measuring technology that is used today connects the site where the measurement is taken with the customer via the internet.

The connection between technology and end users helps us to anticipate customer needs, make quick and well-informed decisions and optimise every service.

Nowadays, it seems natural for us to outsource processes within the production chain. Thus, suppliers help to optimise quality, time and costs whereas in the commercial sector marketing agencies, call centres or distribution networks come into play.

In the digital transformation of infrastructures, we are dealing with a similar scenario.

Both in resource management (water or energy) and among instrumentation manufacturers, the knowledge required to pave the path towards digitisation is limited. Thus, companies continue to rely on external partners to further develop the digitisation of infrastructure and tools. Datakorum enables interoperability within the new digital IoT-ecosystem.

DATAKORUM

With a large experience in digital transformation, we have listed the most common reservations companies have when they try to understand how the new digital ecosystem will work, and how to navigate it.

If we want to successfully implement all these concepts, we have to keep in view the technological as well as the telecommunications processes necessary to generate secure, reliable, stable and sustainable communication. We must build a strong foundation by digitising our infrastructure, if we do not want to be constrained in the future.

Myth 3. Digital transformation starts when I’m able to implement intelligence decision making in my organisation.

The digitisation of infrastructure begins with the collection of data at the physical location on site. Infrastructure 4.0 has tried to put the cart before the horse.

In BTC it was the users who proactively generated all these interactions, which were then converted into data with the help of digital technologies. Within the

"IoT" concept, things have to be "smart", meaning that things have to be able to generate data as if they were a user.

Things themselves are not capable of generating information in an understandable and structured way, let alone transmitting it in such a way that it can be intelligently analysed for decision-making. Within Industry 4.0, there are already numerous concepts such as mathematical models, digital twins or even "edge computing".

Myth 4. The digital transformation of infrastructures will be agnostic regardless of the communications system.

Anything goes.

It is NOT true that any communications system transmitting data is valid, quite the opposite. It is crucial to choose the specifications we need to meet to ensure stable and secure communication. Within a controlled environment such as a factory or building, WiFi, LoRa or even in-house systems may be used.

It is completely different when we deal with a mains flow meter that may be located in a pit more than five metres underground in a remote location.

Many communications protocols are vulnerable and while they may be suitable for communications between users or within a local area network (LAN), they are not suitable for the basic services of a city or industrial infrastructure.

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NB-IoT and LTE-M technologies are part of the 3GPP standard for 5G networks. They have been chosen as the most robust and reliable technology for infrastructure deployment and will certainly be the standard in IoT infrastructure communication. Already now, a number of countries have already deployed these networks for massive IoT (mIoT) deployments.

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Communications systems for basic infrastructures can neither be proprietary nor free or open access as they are not secure and they do not offer 24/7 service levels at all times and in every location.

Telecommunications providers are the experts and they are best suited to guarantee the status and security of communications. This responsibility cannot be transferred to others; the economies of scale allow sustainable costs and a continuous updating of technology in order to meet future needs.

Myth 5. The digital transformation of infrastructures will be hardware agnostic.

The chain always breaks at the weakest link. Devices that perform the digitisa-

tion of your data poorly or insecurely can lead to vulnerabilities in the entire infrastructure value chain.

Cybersecurity is one of the most critical issues within the digital transformation of infrastructures. This chain starts with the hardware, passing through the firmware, software, the telecommunications network, middleware, and the final platform. Each link has to pass the highest levels of security in the creation, encryption, authentication and transmission of data.

Cybersecurity of a country's strategic assets must be a priority for the entire ecosystem. The incident of the cyber-attack on the Colonial pipeline in the United States has cost billions and, above all, has shown that Industry 4.0 cyber security is crucial.

DATAKORUM Myth 6. Digital transformation requires a management system that is able to carry out data analyses and make the right decisions based on them.

The data management system in the cloud is the first phase of digitisation, but the data path must be bidirectional.

Furthermore, we have to take into account that decisions will be made on the platform and partly distributed among all devices (Edge Computing).

The most important thing within digital development is interactivity, which means that bidirectional relationships are learning to become smarter and smarter.

The same applies to things. Communication systems require that hardware, firmware, software, middleware as well as the final platform have the ability to handle the data bidirectionally.

For things to be able to make decisions, they have to be made intelligent, they have to be trained. Thus, they need to be able not only to send and receive data, but also to execute actions.

This brings us back to the distinction between Internet 2.0 and 4.0. Things need a brain, a communications system as well as the ability to carry out commands. It is about managing the flow of data throughout the chain, back and forth through hardware, firmware, software, middleware and the cloud.. There is no edge computing without a solution for data flow and interoperability with all existing tools in the infrastructure.

We have learned from Internet 2.0 that the best analysis is the one that is done with improvement. At best we have data visualisation dashboards and daily reports that end up not being analysed - or if they are, the fact of not making decisions in time created costs. Industry 4.0 is a gift, because closing or opening a valve or water pump is now an automatic process, without any need for manual intervention.

Myth 7. The digital transformation of infrastructures will be gradual and the process will take years. We don’t need to be the first… take you time.

NB-IoT and LTE-M technologies been chosen as the most robust and reliable technology for infrastructure deployment

Nothing could be further from the truth, because the digital transformation has already begun and will take place in the next 5 years. Within the digital transformation, the pace is not set by the companies in the sector, i.e., the utilities or equipment manufacturers, because they resist change and the unknown. Instead, the pace is usually set by technology outsiders without any legacy systems and processes.

The impact of digitisation is similar across all industries and has a graph indicating exponential growth in the form of a Hockey Stick. If we look at the development on a graph, we see a period in which virtually nothing changes, but suddenly the curve rises inexorably vertically.

Look at the growth of Amazon, SalesForce or Shopify over the last ten years.

We see exactly the same development in Industry 4.0: The effects are not yet visible, but those who do not act now will regret it later. In the water sector, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore have already given top priority to the digital transformation of their infrastructures. There is still time to react – but we should take our chance now.

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OPINION

CHRYSI LASPIDOU UNIVERSITY OF THESSALY, GREECE. VP RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY, WATER EUROPE

DIGITAL WATER FOR A WATER SMART SOCIETY To achieve a Water Smart Society, we focus on the pathways levels of performance and efficiency may spark entrepreneurs towards better use, valorisation, and stewardship of our water to launch new business models. At the same time, as with any sources by society and businesses while developing resilient, disruption, digital transformation brings a host of challenges systemic and sustainable solutions for our key global water such as data privacy, cyber-security, and bias, creating further challenges. A Water Smart Society is a society in which the true opportunity for new business. value of water is recognised and realised, and all available waIn the water sector, digital is transforming every part of the ter sources are managed in such a way that water scarcity and water cycle as we know it, from acquisition, storage, and dispollution are avoided, close loops and symbiosis are created tribution, through use, treatment, and reuse. Across each phase to foster a circular economy and optimal resource efficiency, of the lifecycle of water, digital technologies can be applied at while the water system is resilient against the impact of adverse different levels of maturity. The basic steps of digitalization inevents. volve adding sensors to capture data, monitor trends, conduct As the Vice-President of Research and Technology at Water anomaly detection and raise alarms. More sophisticated levels Europe (WE), I embrace the WE vision of a European and of digital maturity involve transforming the data collected into global water sector that will be significantly transformed with intelligence and value by utilizing data science and artificial inrespect to the current state of play. telligence to predict outcomes and New concepts, such as Multiple augment operations with automaWaters (to secure the right water tion.

A systemic approach to digital for the right purpose to the right As mainstreamed in the Water system applications at various users), Digital Water and Hybrid Europe Vision, a systemic approach Grey-Green Infrastructure will to digital system applications at scales is necessary to manage water drive the transition, through new various scales (industrial, urban, and create value of the big data water-smart economics and decirural, regional, international and sion-making under the umbrella river basin) is necessary to manage of renovated governance models. water and create value of the big These new governance structures, along with economic mech- data. This concept is at the basis of a smart, dynamic resilient anisms and more intense water stewardship programmes can and adaptable real-time water governing system, implemented direct the water market towards the smart allocation of water. through the WE Water Oriented Living Labs (WoLLs). They Yet for research & innovation to be implemented, invest- are defined as real-life, water oriented and demo-type and platments are not enough; bold choices and readiness to change form-type environments with a cross-sector nexus approach, are required, including the development and update of poli- which have the involvement of multi-stakeholders and can procies and standards. Luckily, advances in digital technologies are vide a field lab to develop, test, and validate innovations. This leading transformations at all sectors of the economy, includ- involves the interactions within the quadruple helix (academia, ing the water ecosystems, creating an emerging cyber-physical industries, authorities and the natural environment) and will society with dramatically higher levels of manageability for the result in a new systemic optimum with new business models water sector. Digital water technologies can increase the avail- and innovative policies based on the true value of water. But ability and use of “multiple waters” to complement freshwater emerging tools and stakeholder expectations from the emergent sources, as well as facilitate a deeper dialogue between organisa- digital water approach can really sustain the economic developtions and citizens with a co-design inclusive approach. The new ment, business growth and well-being of our societies.

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OPINION

BLAIR SMITH MELBOURNE WATER INNOVATION LEAD, COMMERCIAL & TECHNOLOGY – IT

WATER WORKS: CONNECTING START-UP SOLUTIONS WITH WATER CHALLENGES A competitive international field of talented start-ups have Innovative ways to promote positive behaviour change and edupitched their innovative ideas to solve genuine water challeng- cation around water were sought for this brief. es and generate new commercial outcomes as part of a unique Our third call out centred on exploring best practice around campaign run by Melbourne Water and City West Water. our ability to model and forecast various scenarios for both deTwo Victorian metropolitan water authorities are partnering with mand management and asset performance. Here we were intercorporate innovation consultancy and start-up accelerator, Collec- ested in identifying and modelling new sources of data which tive Campus, to develop Water Works - a corporate start-up part- both increase the precision of our forecasting and inform new nership designed to drive innovation in the water sector. modelling applications.

Water Works invited small and emerging businesses from From a shortlist of 50, 14 organisations were asked to present across the globe to pitch their ideas around solving genuine to a combined group of judges, subject matter experts and execwater challenges and generating new commercial outcomes. A utives from across Melbourne Water and City West Water. Their flood of applications ensued from across the globe in response to concepts, potential for impact and feasibility of ideas were all the three industry challenges presented: (i) continuous monitor- assessed as part of the process. ing and detection of irregularities at private and rough terrain, The standard of execution and innovation was uniformly high (ii) driving customer water efficienin all of the short-listed start-ups. cy behaviour change, and (iii) accuMelbourne Water and City West Leveraging new stakeholders rate water forecasting using new or Water have identified six organisanovel approaches. tions with whom they will conduct from across the world and The role of emerging technology further discussion and exploration harnessing their perspectives and innovation is considered parof technology solutions. amount in the provision of safe, The Water Works program demonhas a positive impact on reliable and affordable services for strated that thinking differently and addressing local challenges modern water corporations. These leveraging new stakeholders from themes link to what Water Works across the world and harnessing their see as pivotal in managing and protecting our precious water perspectives has a positive impact on addressing local challenges supply and resources. in our sector. Executive sponsorship and participation in this proWater Works first challenge was to ask for ideas to most ef- gram further reinforces our willingness to break from traditional ficiently manage and monitor vegetation and maintenance in approaches and explore new ways of engaging the marketplace. our catchment areas. The remit included keeping track of plant Given the interconnected nature of Victorian water authorihealth and detection of unwanted species which in turn would ties, Water Works is generating a lot of interest from other water inform maintenance activities and remediation programs. The businesses and industry groups across the state. This is encouragmanagement and protection of our natural assets is essential to ing and certainly opens the door to opportunities to trial innovaour approach to Integrated Water Management, better public tive new solutions across our industry. amenity and the sustained liveability of Melbourne.

As we enter into further discussions and the next phase of exWe’re also continually exploring ways to engage with the com- ploration, we’re excited to continue the conversation with these munity to further water literacy and encourage wise water usage. modern, nimble organisations with the potential to transform Population growth, increasing urbanisation and climate change our industry. are all placing greater demand on our precious water resources.

Watch this space.

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FEATURE

7 COMMANDMENTS OF DIGITAL ETHICS Without ethics as a backbone, a company takes risks developing digital products and services users and employees cannot trust. Droople, a Swiss cleantech, demonstrates how to apply 7 key ethical principles in real life for building the Internet of Water.

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Dr. Catherine Charbonnier. XpertIA Founder and Bastien Rojanawisut, Head of Software at Droople

Ethics in new technologies: What is at stake?

Digital and energy innovation are pillars that drive efficiency and sustainability in the water sector. Ethics is no longer an option for digital innovation.

Trust is considered a critical success factor, deeply anchored in responsibility and transparency. The best way for companies to build trust is rock-solid ethics.

Ethics are rules in society that govern the greater good of the community.

Without ethics as a backbone, you take the risk of developing digital products and services your users and employees cannot trust. So how to build an innovative company with strong ethical foundations?

Although ethical charters tend to proliferate with their own set of rules, 7 key principles stand out. To better illustrate those principles, we are going to focus on Droople, a Swiss cleantech building the Internet of Water. Droople’s mission is to achieve a better use of water worldwide, by providing people and businesses smart insights that are generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms.

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Droople Water Intelligence Platform: Why ethics matters?

Droople offers turnkey water monitoring solutions designed for a wide range of water assets such as water treatment systems, appliances and sanitary ware, to offer dashboards, asset analytics, forecasting, audits and much more. The fullstack IoT solution includes intelligent connected devices collecting data such as flow, temperature, pressure, hardness, pH, chlorine and others. They connect via fully encrypted, high-resolution, ultra-low power wireless communication to the Droople cloud platform, hosting AI-based algorithms and providing a 24/7 dashboard access to actionable real-time insights.

At first sight it might be difficult to see why ethics would matter for Droople, a SaaS company with data related to water, gender-neutral by nature. But in fact, respecting those 7 ethical principles positively impacts customer and employee loyalty.

TRANSPARENCY: Collect less and learn more The best way to create a culture of transparency is to collect only what is necessary and make it fully available. All data that Droople collects is translated into clear dashboards providing real-time monitoring, shedding light on water consumption, as well as flow rate, usage and temperature indicators. Transparency goes beyond raw data visualization: smart aggregations associated with the computation of new metrics, such as

comparisons of water bottles to a water fountain, bring new perspectives to customers and help change behaviors, fix issues, or measure impact.

PRIVACY: Guarantee privacy by design Ensure privacy by design, first with clear definitions of data types (generated data vs. personal data) and with security anywhere (alias, password protection, encryption). The company needs the ability to fully extract data or erase them on demand at the data provider’s request. Droople lets customers adapt the amount of information they want to pro-

DROOPLE vide. For example, device identification and localization are optional.

SAFETY & SECURITY: Ensure no harm Any company is responsible for offering services and products that are safe to use. Certifications are necessary when guaranteeing safety, across multiple geographies and regulations. Droople’s products comply with a broad range of internationally recognized certifications including the CE mark and drinking water directives. In addition, their sensor electrical equipment is low voltage to further reduce risks and ensure a high level of protection.

EXPLAINABILITY: Be able to explain why and how Effective design and readily accessible information promote explainability.

Droople’s source code is not publicly available, but team experts commit to answering any customer enquiry regarding AI algorithms and sensor data whether processed on the edge (e.g., for pattern detection) or cloud (e.g., for abnormality detection, conversion tables, etc).

FAIRNESS: Supporting a fair water footprint Fairness is about giving equal chances to all when accessing natural resources in the right way. For example, inadequate equipment maintenance may negatively impact the ecology, the economy, or human health. Droople supports the fair use of water by providing analytics and forecasting capabilities enabling predictive maintenance of water assets. This results in a timely replacement of equipment or consumable items, and therefore a proper management for water equipment lifespan.

INCLUSIVITY: Diversity = Strength The more diverse the company culture, the bigger its positive impact.

The most affluent teams are comprised of multiple perspectives, profiles (age, gender, culture), and complementary skills. Close collaboration and partnerships between developers and customers also feed to this thriving ecosystem.

Diversity enables teams to solve problems from multiple angles, allowing a broad range of options to investigate

and provide solutions suited to various communities.

RESPONSIBILITY: Provide a positive impact One should be accountable and there is always room to identify opportunities to make this world thrive. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) provide a global blueprint for acting responsibly. Droople helps transform how we manage water and contributes directly to SDGs 6, 9, 11 and 17 related to water and sanitation accessibility, sustainable cities, industry-wide innovation, and international collaboration.

“Glass Box” versus “Black Box” Ultimately, by designing their innovative solutions to support the SDGs, Droople takes the opportunity to establish a sustainable congruence between the services delivered and customers’ needs. In a nutshell, good ethical practice makes for professional practice, allowing for advanced risk management and co-creating a sustainable digital future.

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WATER & NEWS - DIGITAL

VOITH HYDRO AND HYDROGRID SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE PILOT PHASE OF COOPERATION By using the software HYDROGRID Insight, hydropower companies position themselves to increase profits, with up to 18% added revenues

Voith Hydro has taken the next step in delivering the benefits of digitalization to its customers by entering a pilot phase of cooperation with Austrian HYDROGRID. The Vienna-based company was founded in 2016 and offers a fully automated “Software as a Service” (SaaS) solution for optimal real-time operation and dispatch of hydropower plants.

The software, HYDROGRID Insight, uses meteorological data and self-learning algorithms to predict hydropower inflows and optimize water management while ensuring operational restrictions are obeyed. Additionally, the software automatically positions hydropower plants in the power markets in an optimal way to increase profitability. By using the software, hydropower operators in Norway, Sweden, Finland, UK and Turkey already benefit from up to

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18% additional revenues and 20 hours less operational effort per week.

In combination with Voith’s HyCon Automation and cutting-edge digital “Intelligent Hydropower” solutions, these effects can be further enhanced through an optimal integration of products along the entire value chain.

Up to now, existing solutions were focusing mainly on long-term maintenance cost reductions and a safe plant operation. Together with the information on short-term impacts on power generation delivered by HYDROGRID both companies will maximize insights for operators supporting them in their daily business. This special two-dimensional approach of taking into account the assets’ health status and, at the same time, the operational conditions and constraints is unique in the industry.

Over the last six months, the parties have already successfully validated the strong demand for a joint offering of digital products in selected European markets.

“With this new digital product offering, Voith is once again showing market leadership by proactively addressing the needs of hydro producers as the industry is going through rapid changes – we are excited to see how our processes and bottom line can be enhanced with the help of AI”, reports Simone Canteri, CEO of Italian energy producer Primiero Energia.

As a next step, Voith and HYDROGRID are looking to expand the joint market roll-out in further selected countries and to offer clients optimally integrated, cutting-edge digital solutions.

“Joining our efforts with Voith Hydro offers us market access on a global level and is thereby supporting our vision to achieve smart plant operation for operators worldwide even faster.

So far, we already saw a very successful roll-out of our product in Europe, and we look forward to taking the next steps towards intelligent hydropower around the globe”, reports Janice Goodenough, CEO of HYDROGRID. “Our partnership really puts operators and optimized energy production into the focus as it aims to combine all relevant data for them. I am convinced that having HYDROGRID’s market specialists and software expertise matched with our domain know-how will be very fruitful”, says Uwe Wehnhardt, CEO of Voith Hydro.

“MONUMENTAL”: £20 MILLION IT UPGRADE FUTURE-PROOFS LONDON WATER SUPPLY The project involved replacing a system that was over 25 years old with minimal operational disruption, a great example of teamwork

The complex computer systems which control London’s drinking water supplies have been upgraded while keeping the taps running in a “monumental” £20 million project by Thames Water. Moving from the 25-year-old RTAP system to the new ClearSCADA platform saw the replacement of multiple legacy and obsolete systems, while keeping customers in supply across the capital.

One of the largest of its type in Europe, the technology monitors output from the five big treatment works in London – Hampton, Coppermills, Walton, Ashford and Kempton – as well as more than 200 service reservoirs, pumping stations and boreholes, many of which are unmanned and need to be operated remotely.

Carly Bradburn, Thames Water’s head of digital operations, said: “The com-

puter system oversees the production, treatment and delivery of up to 2.2 billion litres of drinking water every day.

Replacing it has been a very complex and challenging project.” And he concluded: “This has been a monumental achievement. What once seemed impossible has been done.”

The new system, supplied by Schneider Electric, was migrated over several months last year and this year, running alongside the old process to resolve any problems. Mark Grimshaw, Thames Water’s head of London water production, said: “Investing in resilient systems and assets is one of our key priorities. There can’t be many more important projects than updating the technology that ensures a reliable water supply for one of the world’s major cities.”

ECOLAB LAUNCHES A DIGITAL SOLUTION FOR COMPANIES FACING WATER SCARCITY With the Water Flow Intelligence digital service, companies can identify where they can improve water management across operations Ecolab Inc., the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services, launched Water Flow Intelligence, a digital service that provides industry with real-time visibility of water usage at the enterprise, site and asset levels.

The launch of this new service comes at a time when rising industrial water use continues to contribute to the world’s growing water stress and scarcity challenges. To help address these, Water Flow Intelligence enables companies to identify opportunities that help improve water management across their operations, deliver on sustainability goals and reduce operational costs by combining smart water meters and sensors with advanced water flow measurement and monitoring, asset performance insights and machine learning.

The service is powered by ECOLAB3D™, a secure, cloud-based digital platform that translates data from multiple sources into actionable insights.

ECOLAB3D uses advanced algorithms and predictive analytics to power better business outcomes, enhancing the value and impact Ecolab delivers to businesses.

“Water Flow Intelligence uses cutting-edge digital technologies to enable real-time insights and response”, said Pedro Sancha, senior VP and general manager of Ecolab’s Industrial Digital business. “By gaining visibility to water use across their organizations, companies can optimize their operations and make real progress on their water-related sustainability goals, from the enterprise level to individual facilities.”

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WATER & NEWS - DIGITAL

COULD AI HELP RECOVER ENERGY AND FRESH WATER FROM MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER? Two projects are looking into ways AI can be used to recover nutrients from municipal wastewater and remove water contaminants As city populations boom and the need grows for sustainable energy and water, scientists and engineers with the University of Chicago and partners are looking towards artificial intelligence to build new systems to deal with wastewater. Two new projects will test out ways to make “intelligent” water systems to recover nutrients and clean water.

“Water is an indispensable resource of our society, as it is required for sustaining life and economic prosperity,” said Junhong Chen, the Crown Family Professor in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and lead water strategist at Argonne National Laboratory. “Our future economy and national security greatly depend on the availability of clean water.”

The U.S. Department of Energy announced that UChicago, along with Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University and other partners, will receive funding to develop an artificial intelligence-assisted system for recovery of energy, nutrients and freshwater from municipal wastewater.

The ultimate goal of the project, which will be funded at $2 million over three years, is to transform the existing U.S. treatment system for municipal wastewater into an intelligent water resource recovery system that will dramatically reduce energy consumption and become energy positive at a national scale.

The approach will combine artificial intelligence and machine learning for online learning of system dynamics,

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mathematical modelling for optimizing energy and nutrient recovery, and life-cycle analysis and modelling with respect to both the science and economics to guide system design. It will also involve development of novel materials for efficient solar steam generation and wireless sensors for real-time water quality monitoring. The intelligent system concept for municipal wastewater recovery should also be applicable to other wastewaters, including industrial and agricultural.

Another project seeks to use AI in molecular engineering to detect and remove water contaminants. The current approaches for detecting water-contaminating chemicals such as polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are expensive, time-consuming, and require bulky equipment and skilled personnel.

A project headed by University of Chicago and Argonne scientists will develop a platform using molecular simulation, organic synthesis, and artificial intelligence to rapidly explore the large molecular space of potential PFAS probes and efficiently identify, design, and fabricate new chemical probes for sensing and removing contaminants from water.

The work, which partners with Current, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, will also advance data science, characterization at the Argonne Advanced Photon Source, and high-performance simulation. The scientists hope it could potentially transfer to the screening and removal of other water contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, to advance global public health.

CLIMATE CHANGE

INTERVIEW

SIMON ROBERTS ECONOMIC REGULATION TEAM LEADER (ACTING) AT CITY WEST WATER

“Australia has the foundation needed to deliver a paradigm shift in water management” The annual awards of the Australian Water Association, held in early May in Adelaide, promote outstanding work by individuals and organisations in the water industry and recognise excellence and innovation across the water sector.

Z

Cristina Novo Pérez

City West Water’s Simon Roberts won the National Young Professional Award at the Australian Water Association’s National Water Awards for his commitment to driving transformational change in the water sector. Simon received this year’s award in recognition of his commitment to delivering transformational change in the water sector through leading major Integrated Water Management (IWM) projects, such as the Werribee Recycled Water Expansion. In addition to acting in the role of Economic Regulation Team Leader for City West Water, Simon represents CWW on the Western Growth IWM project, which addresses urgent water and development challenges. He has also been instrumental in driving the Our Future Cities program which brings diverse students together to develop in-

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terdisciplinary solutions to real-world water and development challenges. In this interview he provides some insight on the value of collaborative approaches to water resources planning and management.

What does it mean for you to receive the National Young Professional Award from the Australian Water Association?

There are so many dedicated, passionate and brilliant people working in the water sector it’s a great privilege to be recognised with such an award. The award really motivates me to continue to try and drive sustainable water management as a professional and as a member of the broader community. I hope to use this platform to continue to raise the profile of water as fundamental to life, but also a key ingredient to creating the cities and communities that we want to live in.

Water management has the potential to offer so much more than affordable and essential water services. By putting water at the heart of our planning decisions we can create healthy waterways and vibrant, cool and green communities. In this way, water can shape the way

our cities look and feel, it can enhance environmental outcomes and provide greater value to the community.

Why is it important to use an integrated water management approach to water resources planning for sustainable and resilient cities?

IWM is about thinking about the whole water cycle and finding opportunities to deliver multiple benefits. As we face pressures on affordability, liveability and climate change, it is important to maximise the community outcomes we deliver as we plan the cities of the future.

Community expectations need to guide where and how we invest. IWM is a process that allows this to happen. It brings together all stakeholders involved in the planning and management of

IIWM brings together stakeholders involved in the water cycle management, to ensure liveability, resilience and sustainability

SIMON ROBERTS

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INTERVIEW the entire water cycle, to ensure that we deliver on the liveability, resilience and sustainability outcomes that the community is seeking.

What is your source of inspiration to develop innovative water management practices?

I was inspired to work in water by my university lecturer Professor Tim Fletcher. Tim is highly regarded as an expert in stormwater management and he opened my eyes to the truly fundamental nature of water.

I don’t think the community thinks about water management beyond what comes out of the tap and goes down the loo. I know I didn’t. Tim changed this by passionately explaining how the way we manage water touches on so many elements of our environment and society.

Just like Tim, I am inspired to borrow from and mimic nature to better manage water in our cities. This is a way to use my skills to leave a positive legacy and still motivates me to this day.

Can you tell us about an integrated water management project you are particularly proud of, and what lessons can be drawn from it?

At City West Water I helped deliver the Werribee Recycled Water Expansion – including securing $2,000,000 in Victorian Government funding.

This project replaces water that is currently extracted from the Werribee River with recycled water for supply to several public and private users, promoting urban cooling and greening, and bolstering tourism in Melbourne’s west. New supply sources like this can help protect our rivers by restoring environmental flows or providing opportunity for local Traditional Owner groups to seek access to river water for cultural flows.

This project encapsulates the challenges and opportunities of integrated water management. It’s a great example of how multiple stakeholders can work together to deliver better win-win outcomes.

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I don’t think the community thinks about water management beyond what comes out of the tap and goes down the loo. I know I didn’t

To what extent does collaboration across the water sector and beyond play an important role in shaping sustainable, liveable cities?

One of the strengths of the water sector is the willingness to share and support each other. No-one is trying to out-compete each other, which means we can focus on taking what works in one area of Australia and applying it in another. Every town and city is different, but through the individual efforts of water corporations to create sustainable, liveable cities and the sharing of the lessons learned, we all benefit.

What do you see as the main challenges ahead for a sustainable water future, in Australia and beyond?

Translating strategic intent into action is a major challenge. Australia has the foundation needed to deliver a paradigm shift in water management. This will allow us to tackle the wicked challenges of meeting water security needs, improving liveability, managing rapid growth, maintaining affordability, and tackling climate change.

Australia is well positioned to adopt innovative solutions that elevate the benefit we derive from water planning and management. I’m very optimistic that we can do this by partnering with our community, listening to their needs, putting all options on the table and empowering them to have a say in the path forward.

OPINION

ROBERT GLENNON REGENTS PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF LAW

EVAPORATED WATER “This is a case about evaporated water.” Thus began U.S. Su- in the River over the last 500 years was only 14 MAF. Legal preme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion for the Court rights exceed wet water! in Texas v. New Mexico, decided on December 14, 2020. Wait Other scientists more recently measured evaporation losses a minute! The Supreme Court is a very busy Court with com- off the Colorado River’s two huge reservoirs, Lakes Mead and plicated, serious legal problems to resolve, yet they heard one Powell. With a combined surface area of more than 500 square about something that no longer exists? miles, the lakes lose approximately 1.6 MAF a year to evapThe Pecos River starts in New Mexico and flows into Texas. oration. As water levels in the lakes have declined during the In 2014, as a tropical storm threatened to flood the Texas drought of the last two decades, a proposal surfaced to reduce portion of the Basin, the State of Texas asked New Mexico to evaporation losses by draining Lake Powell and moving the wastore Pecos River water in a reservoir in New Mexico. A few ter into Lake Mead. months later, New Mexico released the water, but reduced The failure to understand the powerful role of evaporation the quantity by 6.8 billion gallons of water to offset water has impeded efforts to promote water harvesting, that is, capthat had evaporated. Texas challenged that offset in the Su- turing runoff from roofs and other impermeable surfaces. Utah preme Court. Texas lost. Texas spent seven years fighting over and Colorado have limited water harvesting on the theory that evaporated water, even though the Court found that the law the runoff would end up in rivers where prior appropriators “easily resolves this case” in New have senior rights to it. But studies Mexico’s favor. have shown that water harvesting As a metaphor about fights becaptures water that would have A struggle over evaporated water tween states over water, a struggle evaporated. conveys how desperate states over evaporated water conveys how Evaporation can have serious desperate states have become as consequences for water supplies. have become as climate change climate change diminishes flows in Consider a disturbing trend on the diminishes flows in western rivers western rivers. Texas v. New MexGreat Lakes, the largest freshwater ico teaches another lesson, if the system in the world. Ice cover has states needed one, that litigation is declined by 71 percent over the last an expensive, time-consuming, and uncertain route for resolv- 50 years. The loss of ice cover exposes more surface water to ing water disputes. evaporation loss. In the fall and winter, evaporation rates often The process of evaporation provides most of the Earth’s fresh exceed ½ inch per day. Doesn’t sound like much. But every ½ water. The sun’s heat changes liquid ocean water into a gas, inch equals 820 billion gallons of water. The Great Lakes States which turns back into a liquid when it flows over land and need to factor these losses into their water plans. precipitates out as rain or snow. Even though evaporation is Most recently, engineers have proposed installing solar panels fundamental to water supplies, it has rarely played a role in above California’s 4,000 miles of canals. Covering the canals water policy. would reduce evaporation and save enough water to irrigate The most notable failure to calculate evaporation losses con- 50,000 acres of farmland. Other recent projects have floated cerns the Colorado River. The seven Colorado River Basin solar panels on wastewater treatment ponds.

States and the Republic of Mexico have rights to 16.5 milIn a warming, water-stressed world, federal and state water lion acre feet of water (MAF) a year (an acre foot is roughly agencies need to identify places where evaporation compromisenough water to flood a football field to a depth of a foot). In es water supplies and develop methods to mitigate or adapt to the 1970s, tree-ring scientists determined that the actual flow the inevitable process of evaporation.

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SATELLITES SHOW HOW EARTH’S WATER CYCLE IS RAMPING UP AS CLIMATE WARMS NASA scientists have studied 17 years of gravity observations of our planet to understand how the global water cycle is changing

The rate at which plants and the land surface release moisture into the air has increased on a global scale between 2003 and 2019. These processes are collectively known as evapotranspiration, and a new NASA study has calculated its increase by using observations from gravity satellites.

By gauging the mass change of water between the oceans and the continents, the researchers determined that evapotranspiration’s rate of increase is up to two times higher than previous estimates. This is important because evapotranspiration represents a critical branch of the global water cycle – a cycle that creates the conditions for life on land.

While it is known that a warming climate should increase the rate of evapotranspiration, accurate global measurements have, until now, been elusive.

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“Our study found that evapotranspiration has increased by about 10% since 2003, which is more than previously estimated, and is mostly due to warming temperatures”, said Madeleine Pascolini-Campbell, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, who led the study.

“We hope that this information about the water cycle will help to better inform the development and validation of climate models.”

But how does the rate of evapotranspiration affect the global water cycle?

As moisture from the oceans circulates through the atmosphere, a portion falls as precipitation over the continents.

Some of this water goes into rivers as runoff, and some seeps into soils. The remaining water evaporates from the land and transpires from plants back into the air.

Finding that evapotranspiration is increasing at a faster rate than previously known has implications for understanding how climate change could impact Earth in the future. As the world warms, evapotranspiration will accelerate, speeding up the drying of land and vegetation. Weather patterns can also be affected: increased evaporation from land can create droughts in some regions. This is a symptom of a warming world that can have major consequences for ecosystems and human societies as stress on surface and groundwater supplies increases.

“Images of melting glaciers and shrinking ice sheets are a palpable way for us to understand the impacts of global warming”, said Pascolini-Campbell. “But dramatic changes are also happening to other key components of our planet’s water cycle that aren’t so visible, such as when water evaporates from the land before it can enter the rivers as runoff.”

To get a global estimate of how evapotranspiration is changing, researchers found a new way to leverage data collected by the pair of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites that operated from 2002 to 2017, and the successor pair, GRACE Follow-On, that launched in 2018.

The study, titled: “A 10% increase in global land evapotranspiration from 2003 to 2019,” was published May 26 in Nature. In addition to JPL, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland, contributed to this research.

NEW RESEARCH FINDS CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS ONE-THIRD OF GLOBAL FOOD PRODUCTION If greenhouse gases continue growing, large regions are at risk of being pushed into climate conditions in which no food is grown today Climate change is known to negatively affect agriculture and livestock, but there has been little scientific knowledge on which regions of the planet would be touched or what the biggest risks may be. New research led by Aalto University assesses just how global food production will be affected if greenhouse gas emissions are left uncut. The study was published in the prestigious journal One Earth on Friday 14 May. “Our research shows that rapid, outof-control growth of greenhouse gas emissions may, by the end of the century, lead to more than a third of current global food production falling into conditions in which no food is produced today - that is, out of safe climatic space”, explains Matti Kummu, professor of global water and food issues at Aalto University.

According to the study, this scenario is likely to occur if carbon dioxide emissions continue growing at current rates.

In the study, the researchers define the concept of safe climatic space as those areas where 95% of crop production currently takes place, thanks to a combination of three climate factors, rainfall, temperature and aridity.

“The good news is that only a fraction of food production would face as-of-yet unseen conditions if we collectively reduce emissions, so that warming would be limited to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius”, says Kummu.

“Food production as we know it developed under a fairly stable climate, during a period of slow warming that followed the last ice age. The continuous growth

of greenhouse gas emissions may create new conditions, and food crop and livestock production just won't have enough time to adapt”, says Doctoral Candidate Matias Heino, the other main author of the publication.

Two future scenarios for climate change were used in the study: one in which carbon dioxide emissions are cut radically, limiting global warming to 1.52 degrees Celsius, and another in which emissions continue growing unhalted.

The researchers assessed how climate change would affect 27 of the most important food crops and seven different livestock, accounting for societies' varying capacities to adapt to changes. The results show that threats affect countries and continents in different ways; in 52 of the 177 countries studied, the entire food production would remain in the

safe climatic space in the future. These include Finland and most other European countries.

“If we let emissions grow, the increase in desert areas is especially troubling because in these conditions barely anything can grow without irrigation. By the end of this century, we could see more than 4 million square kilometres of new desert around the globe”, Kummu says.

While the study is the first to take a holistic look at the climatic conditions where food is grown today and how climate change will affect these areas in coming decades, its take-home message is by no means unique: the world needs urgent action.

“We need to mitigate climate change and, at the same time, boost the resilience of our food systems and societies”, says Heino.

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MEDIA LIBRARY BY: OLIVIA TEMPEST SOMETHING TO READ...

MOVING TO HIGHER GROUND Adapting to climate change as a design challenge In his new book released earlier this year, American oceanographer John Englander is straightforward about the inevitability of climate change and sea level rise. In Moving to Higher Ground: Rising Sea Level and the Path Forward, Englander agues that excess heat will stay with us for centuries: adaptation is the way forward and we need to plan and design for it.

SOMETHING TO WATCH...

SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN A story about doing the impossible This 2011 romantic comedy-drama film is based on a novel by Paul Torday and was directed

by Lasse Hallström. A British fisheries expert working for the public service is recruited to help realize a sheikh's vision of recreating the environmental conditions to enable salmon to live and swim upstream in a wadi – an ephemeral stream – in the Yemen desert.

SOMETHING TO ENJOY...

IT WILL RAIN Raining vampires and werewolves The single by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars, released in September of 2011 is part of the soundtrack of the film Breaking Dawn – Part 1, of the well-known vampire-themed romance film saga The Twilight. The song is a ballad about the agony and torment of a heartbreak and its various stages. The rain is a metaphor for the absence of a loved one.

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