Movers & Shakers March 2016: New WQA president, Water Quality Person of the Year announced

Graphic courtesy of Veolia.

Veolia to integrate wastewater treatment into oleochemical plant

PT Veolia Water Technologies recently won a contract "to design and build a wastewater treatment system integrated into a new greenfield oleochemical production plant in Indonesia," said a press release. The company will use its anaerobic and post-aerobic treatment technologies to comply with Indonesia’s strict wastewater discharge requirements.

The facility is home to one of the world’s largest palm oil companies. The new plant will be involved in hydrogenation as well as splitting, fracking and distilling of fatty acids and fatty alcohols to produce finished palm-based products.

Xylem wins $8M contract in Kuwait

Xylem Inc. will develop and supply custom technologies to Sulaibiya, Kuwait, wastewater treatment and reclamation plant as part of a contract with $8 million. After the plant’s current expansion efforts are complete, it will be one of the world’s largest water reclamation facilities of its kind.

With low annual rainfall, groundwater serves as Kuwait’s main water resource, providing 36 percent of the country’s annual water supply. Ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis will be used as tertiary treatment of 600,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.

Filtration company moves to expanded headquarters

Spiral Water Technologies expanded to a new headquarters in San Rafael, California. The new space will help to accommodate the company’s growing operations including production, research and development. Spiral develops advanced filtration solutions for difficult-to-treat waters, including its flagship automatic self-cleaning filter technology.

Jacobi Carbons establishes first Spanish reactivation center

The new Jacobi Carbons España in Zaragoza, Spain, will become the country’s first reactivation center. Jacobi Carbons will use the plant to serve the growing municipal drinking water market on the Iberian Peninsula.

Appointments

Photo courtesy of the Water Quality Association

WQA chooses new president

Donald K. McGhee, a master water specialist and long-time volunteer of the Water Quality Association (WQA), will serve as the organization’s president through March 2017.

McGhee is the principal of Hydro Systems Inc., which provides equipment and services to industrial and commercial water treatment customers. He is also a managing partner at Turbidex/Hydro Source LLC, which supplies zeolite filtration media throughout the world. In his new position, McGhee plans "to elevate WQA’s position as a resource to consumers affected by water quality crises such as Flint, Michigan," said a press release.

Former AWWA director joins environmental consulting group

Alan Roberson, former director of federal relations for the American Water Works Association (AWWA), will serve Corona Environmental Consulting LLC "to increase national attention and efforts to bring solutions to the complex issues currently facing the water community." Roberson has worked as an engineer, scientist and regulatory professional to protect public health and avoid unintended consequences.

In his new role, Roberson will lead collaborations between the water community and a broad range of stakeholders, which include water utilities, public health agencies, environmental advocates, state and federal agencies.

Photo courtesy of Micromet

Wastewater management business appoints new CEO

Andy Roberts will serve as CEO of Micromet after leaving the Water Alliance in May. Micromet is working to take South Australian technology to the rest of the world, said a press release. Its six-module machines use continuous electrolysis methods to clean 12 liters per second. They can fit in a standard 40-foot shipping container.

Global waste recovery company hires for wastewater market

Anaergia Inc. appointed Matthew Kuzma to lead technology commercialization in its wastewater resource recovery sector, according to a press release. In more than 20 years of experience in the wastewater industry, Kuzma has been focused on membrane filtration, membrane bioreactors, nutrient management and recovery and advanced biological wastewater processes.

Photo courtesy of Pelican Products

Pelican Products appoints commercial/government division leader

John Luna joined Pelican Products as director of product management — commercial and government markets. Luna has more than 19 years of product management, development and marketing experience. He will focus on the business’ case solutions and will also work closely with the new product development, marketing, production, quality assurance and sales teams.

Photo courtesy of Dewberry

Firm hires experienced water/wastewater manager

Bill Grant, P.E., will serve as senior project manager in Dewberry’s Charlotte, North Carolina, office. Throughout his 30 years of experience, Grant has worked in wastewater collection, transmission, treatment and residuals management; water treatment and distribution; stormwater management; and private development.

New members join US Water Alliance Board of Directors

As part of its newly restructured board of directors, the US Water Alliance gained several new members. They now include:

• Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, PolicyLink
• Michael Carlin, Deputy General Manager, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
• Al Cho, Vice President for Business Development and Strategy, Xylem
• Julius Ciaccia, Chief Executive Officer, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
• Paul Demit, Vice President, MWH Global
• Snehal Desai, Global Business Director, Dow Water & Process Solutions
• Monica Ellis, Chief Executive Officer, Global Environment and Technology Foundation & Global Water Challenge
• Hank Habicht, Managing Director, SAIL Capital Partners
• Jo Ann Macrina, Commissioner, Atlanta Department of Watershed Management
• Erik Meyers, Vice President, Conservation Fund
• Andy Richardson, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Greeley & Hansen
• Kevin Shafer, Executive Director, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District
• Elisa Speranza, Corporate Director and Senior Vice President, CH2M
• Cindy Wallis-Lage, President, Global Water Business, Black & Veatch
• Roger Wolf, Director of Environmental Programs & Services, Iowa Soybean Association

Senior VP and CEO joins Xylem

Mark Rajkowski joined Xylem Inc. as senior vice president and chief financial officer to lead the company’s global finance organization. Rajkowski’s most recent role was as strategic advisor to Westrock Company, formed in 2015 after the merger of MeadWestvaco and RockTenn. He has also worked with Eastman Kodak Company and PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Microvi adds senior VP of global business development

With more than 35 years of experience in the water and wastewater industries, John Darmody joined Microvi as senior vice president of global business development. He previously served as global director corporate development for MWH, where he collaborated with Microvi on several projects.

Awards, Milestone & Celebrations

CH2M engineer named Water Quality Person of the Year

The American Membrane Technology Association and AWWA chose CH2M Global Technology Lead for Desalination Jim Lozier as the 2016 Water Quality Person of the Year, according to a press release.

Lozier has worked in the industry for 34 years in various roles including lead process engineer for a Western Australia water recycling plant. He also worked on a reverse osmosis pilot program for the Reedy Creek Improvement District’s Energy Services group, which helped CH2M win the 2015 Stockholm Industry Water Award.

AWWA to present ‘Best in Advertising’ winners at ACE16

AWWA selected the winners of Journal AWWA and Opflow Best in Advertising based on creativity, originality, impact and message delivery. The winners are:

• Gold Awards — DN Tanks Xylem Inc. (Journal AWWA); PAX Water Technologies (Opflow)
• Silver Awards — McWane (Journal AWWA); Aurora Water (Opflow)
• Bronze Awards — American Flow Control (Journal AWWA); Tideflex Technologies (Opflow)

Sensus will receive the Gold Award for AWWA’s Sourcebook.

Pentair transmitter wins safety award

A smart transmitter by Pentair earned a 2015 exida Safety Award in the Best Final Element (Interface) category. The Westlock Controls Digital EPIC-2 ESD/PST Smart Transmitter is designed specifically for safety valves. The device alerts end users about potential safety issues so they can conduct various tests and emergency shutdown from the control room.

Iowa water works receives Directors Awards

After completing the Partnership for Safe Water’s Water Treatment and Water Distribution System Optimization Program, the Marshalltown Water Works (MWW) in Iowa is among the first utilities to receive the organization’s Directors Awards.

MWW received the Directors Awards for Treatment, becoming the second utility in the state to do so. It the first in the Iowa to receive the awards for its distribution system. "The self-assessment process … included separate evaluations of both the treatment and distribution system operations for their performance; identification of performance limiting factors; and the development of action plans to achieve system optimization, culminating in two peer-reviewed completion reports."

Xylem Flygt SmartRun wins award for innovation

Xylem’s Flygt SmartRun cleaning function won the 2016 RIONED Innovation Award, which recognizes advancements in urban water resilience and management. The product "detects abnormal blockages of the impeller and triggers an automatic cleaning sequence by momentarily reversing the impeller direction," reducing unplanned maintenance costs.