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Wins for Suez, KBL sustainability efforts, and the Silver Tsunami explained...
To quick things off, we celebrate GRUNDFOS for their platinum medal rating from EcoVadis for its sustainability efforts placing the pump maker in the top 1% of companies rated worldwide.
EcoVadis is one of the world’s largest providers of business sustainability ratings, assessing more than 130,000 companies’ actions and practices on their corporate and social responsibility. Grundfos was evaluated across four key areas: Environment, Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement.
Since the last assessment (Gold medal rating), Grundfos has implemented additional measures and policies to strengthen social and environmental responsibility across the value chain. At the same time, the company has made significant progress towards both water and climate ambitions, reflecting the company's ongoing commitment to sustainability and continuous improvement.
“We are very proud of the Platinum rating, which I would like to dedicate to our hard working and dedicated colleagues worldwide. It encourages us to keep pushing ourselves to enhance our ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices that include progressing towards net zero by 2050, fostering a fair, inclusive, and safe working environment, enforcing strong ethical business standards, and ensuring sustainable procurement across our entire value chain.”
said Louise Koch, senior director, group head of Sustainability, Grundfos.
Grundfos’s sustainability highlights include an SBTi validated 2050 net-zero target. Since 2020, Grundfos has also reduced its CO2 emissions by 11.7% (2023). Through a new Power Purchase Agreement, the company is set to meet its target of a 50% reduction on operational carbon emissions in 2025 - five years ahead of the company’s original 2030-goal.
Suez has announced three new project wins in Singapore, China and the Philippines focused on digital solutions, seawater desalination and water reuse.
The company was recently awarded a new contract by PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, to deploy and maintain a Smart Water Grid Analytics Platform for its water supply network. Based on Suez’s Aquadvanced Water Networks platform, this advanced system will contribute to reinforcing PUB's operational efficiency and resilience.
The Smart Water Grid Analytics Platform can detect and localise water quality and pressure issues in the network. It can generate accurate simulation and propose necessary remedial actions for more effective decision making. PUB will gain improved visibility of the network conditions, with enhanced analytics capabilities to simulate and anticipate.
The project marks another successful collaboration between SUEZ and JEMCO, following their joint venture on a major water reclamation facility in Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila. Designed for efficiency by implementing Suez’s advanced SeaDAF filter technology, the compact plant is expected to be completed within 24 months from the start of construction.
The new wastewater treatment plant will be able to produce approximately 3.6 million cubic metres of alternative water per year – equivalent to the volume of around 1,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Additionally, 85% of the crystallised salt products coming from the high-salinity wastewater can be recycled for the production of sodium sulfate through the treatment process.
Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL) has received the GreenPro Ecolabel certification for its DBxe end suction pumps; lowest lifecycle cost (LLC) series horizontal axially split case pumps; cast iron foundry castings; and alloy cast steel foundry castings.
GreenPro is a Type-1 Ecolabel accredited by the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) through the GENICES system, ensuring adherence to rigorous global sustainability standards. Products bearing the GreenPro Ecolabel have a lower environmental impact, contributing to reduced energy consumption and waste during construction, operation and maintenance.
Sanjay Kirloskar, chairman and managing director of KBL, said:
"We are honoured to be recognised by such a prestigious organisation for our efforts in promoting green practices and reducing our environmental footprint. This recognition reflects our proactive stance towards fostering a culture of responsibility and accountability across our organisation."
SUEZ’s Smart Metering and AQUADVANCED® Water Networks Revolutionize Water Management in Le Mans Métropole.
Le Mans Métropole has successfully implemented SUEZ’s smart metering and AQUADVANCED® Water Networks, a real-time hydraulic management system, to optimize its hydraulic network and improve user satisfaction. This initiative has resulted in significant water savings, more accurate billing, improved customer satisfaction, and increased operational efficiencies.
The Challenge
Le Mans Métropole aimed to extend smart metering across their region and access a hydraulic monitoring tool through hydraulic sectorization. The initial deployment of Automated Meter Reading (AMR) was carried out by Siderm, the authority responsible for drinking water until 2018. When the authority was transferred to Le Mans Métropole, the decision was made to standardize the fleet of meters and deploy remote reading on a massive scale.
The Solution
Le Mans Métropole chose to continue the deployment of remote meter reading with SUEZ. This decision was made to ensure the same quality of service to all residents, providing them with precise information on their water consumption, and alerts in case of leaks or over-consumption. To further optimize its hydraulic network, the authority also implemented the AQUADVANCED® Water Networks real-time hydraulic management system.
The Result
The implementation of smart metering and the AQUADVANCED® hypervision solution has led to significant water savings, more accurate billing, improved customer satisfaction, and increased operational efficiencies. In the Mulsanne commune alone, there has been a reduction in the daily night-time flow by 30m3/h, equivalent to a saving of 250,000 m3 per year and €125,000 saved.
The introduction of these solutions has not only improved network efficiency and service quality but also prompted the operations department to transform its organization and working methods. This transformation has led to the creation of a unit dedicated to leak detection, which analyzes data from remote reading and AQUADVANCED® daily.
The water industry is facing an exodus of engineers, with 70% of professionals considering a move to other sectors in the next two years.
The ‘Water Industry Labour Report’ found that seven out of ten engineers were considering working in an alternative sector, with renewables, nuclear, and oil & gas the main destinations of choice for professionals. This comes at a time when the water industry is already facing a major talent shortage, with 26% of respondents listing ‘hiring & skills’ as the single largest issue facing their company.
The study of over 3,900 engineers from across the water industry also revealed that employers face an acute shortage of experienced engineers which should sound alarm bells for firms already struggling to recruit ahead of AMP8. These findings are even more concerning due to the industry’s retirement cliff, with research by Stonehaven revealing that over one-fifth of the engineering workforce is set to retire by 2030.
Elsewhere, research also revealed that 42% of engineers did not feel that they had access to relevant training that would enable them to innovate at work, with organisational structures and working cultures listed as the main factors hindering this.
For more than half a century, reverse osmosis has been recognised as the ultimate water treatment process. The latest generation of membranes reject not only dissolved ions but also many organic species including many pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals. Although the process is used worldwide, it is often selected in only specific applications due to its traditionally high operating costs.
But that is about to change. A fully automatic hybrid batch RO system with a patented pressure exchange system not only reduces energy consumption but also allows a much higher water recovery. And the potential applications are endless.
Cutting excessive industrial water consumption
Industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, energy production, and mining are among the largest consumers of water. Reducing industrial water consumption through wastewater reuse and recycling is crucial to reducing water stress and ensure availability for future generations.
Initial trials for lithium extraction demonstrated the technology could concentrate lithium solutions by a factor of 5, about double that achievable using conventional RO systems, and with lower energy and water consumption.
Agriculture alone accounts for about 70% of global freshwater use, primarily for irrigation. Investment in vertical farming could help reduce the vast amount of water required to put food on our plates.
A recent pilot trial undertaken at a food manufacturer in Kent allowed wastewater from the growing process as well as from cleaning processes, to be collected, treated, and then reused. The site spans just five acres but has the equivalent of 1,000 acres of growing space in a controlled environment. The pilot plant achieved the same quality as conventional RO but at roughly 50% of the energy cost; a major advantage in this cost-sensitive industry.
Protecting water systems
In the municipal water industry, tight phosphorus discharges from sewage treatment works, together with increasing concerns about emerging pollutants prompted a water company in South West England to trial the technology at one of their wastewater treatment works.
The pilot plant showed over 98% of total phosphorus and 88% of total nitrogen removed from the final effluent, with an average energy consumption around 1.2 kWh/m3 compared with significantly higher energy consumption for conventional RO at the same scale. The volume of waste brine produced was 8% of the feed compared with about 30% for conventional RO systems.
Tackling ‘forever chemicals’
Reverse osmosis can remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), aka ‘forever chemicals’, alongside other pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and contaminants. Considering current wastewater treatment processes are not designed to remove PFAS, they escape into water systems, and are causing a growing concern. PFAS in the environment poses serious health risks include cancer, fertility issues, and defects in unborn children.
Desalination potential
In one recent customer field trial for a brackish water application, the hybrid batch RO system achieved a 95% recovery rate and a concentrated brine with a 20x concentration factor all with a specific energy consumption of only 0.5 kWh/m3.
Patented and Proven Technology
Without doubt, the water industry will increasingly turn to RO whether it be for tertiary municipal sewage treatment, removal of trace contaminants from drinking water, or recycling of wastewater to reduce industrial water consumption.
RO is proven technology and has been used in critical industrial applications for decades. The development of the hybrid batch system has opened the door to cost-effective and sustainable RO, which will provide a huge opportunity for improved sustainability for water treatment applications.
The new SAM50, patented by Salinity Solutions, had their first Hybrid Batch RO (HyBatchTM) patent granted in the US, joining the EU and China which were granted in December last year, and were awarded Manufacturing StartUp of the Year in the StartUp Awards (Midlands) and the 2023 Water Industry Award for Energy in Water.
LG Electronics is establishing a global R&D triangle connecting North America, Europe and Asia to develop next-generation heat pumps specifically designed for cold climate zones.
The company aims to develop regionally specialized core technologies optimized for Northern Europe’s cold climate through the establishment of the European Consortium for Advanced Heat Pump Research (ECAHR). Consortium members include Oslo Metropolitan University, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet) and the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, which is actively pursuing research in cold-climate HVAC.
LG is in the process of establishing a comprehensive local operation system for its HVAC business, which is expected to drive growth in its business-to-business (B2B) operations. The system covers all stages locally, from research and development to sales, maintenance and operations.
“We aim to expand our presence around the world by developing next-generation heat pump technology tailored to the diverse climate conditions of each region,”
said James Lee, head of the Air Solution Business Unit at LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company.
“We will continue to expand our footprint in the global market, adding value to drive growth in our HVAC business.”
Europe:
North America:
For more information on any of these opportunities, please get in touch with Lyle King, Will Brockbank, Max Fraser-Krauss or Joe Michie.
That's it for Volume 16! Stay tuned for more and don't forget to follow Influx Search for the latest industry news and job advertisements.
