EVENT REVIEW

The Water and Energy Exchanges

Continue at Global WEX 2014
H
ow often have we gone to events hoping to bump
into the right persons? How often have we waited to
meet speakers after they fnish their presentations, only
to fnd there are three others who got to them before us?
What about the times when we were stuck in an irrelevant
session and wished we could have scheduled a meeting
instead?
The organisers of Global WEX 2014 have circumvented
many of the drawbacks that plague the water sector
events today. The Gl obal WEX
team sends out the compl ete
list of delegates and suppliers as
well as conference programme
before the event and allows fellow-
delegates to choose and rank in
order of priority whom they want
to meet and which conference
sessions they want to attend. After
collating the preferences of all the
delegates, the WEX team prepares
a customised time-table consist-
ing of pre-selected meetings and
conference sessions for each del-
egate. Meetings are held in a large
hall with numbered tables; each
meeting is given a 15-minute slot.
There is no longer any need to wait
in line to meet speakers or waste
time sitting through irrelevant ses-
sions. It is actually possible to fnd
By Sahana Singh
ones own unique balance between
ppts and meetings.
At this years event held in Ma-
drid, once again there was a good
mix of new and repeat attendees.
Water and energy exchanges (WEX)
continued to form the leitmotif of the
conference. Jim Southworth, Chair-
man of Utility Associates welcomed
guests with a speech highlighting
the opportunities embedded in the
water-energy nexus. Pointing out
that as much as 25% of the costs of
a water treatment plant could be
on account of energy used, he said
there was much work for technol-
ogy providers to improve energy
efficiency and to move towards
renewable energy.
Adr i ano Gar c a- L oygor r i
Verstegui from the Water Direc-
torate in Spains Ministry of Agriculture who delivered the
keynote lecture informed that this years World Water Day
theme set by the United Nations was Water and Energy.
Mr Verstegui said it had become increasingly important
to strike a balance between water and energy in Spain
especially as desalination was becoming a technology
of choice.
The frst session Towards a Zero Waste Society Waste
to Energy Incineration highlighted the growing sludge
34 MARCH/APRIL 2014 Asian Water
EVENT REVIEW
production worldwide as new sew-
age treatment works are built and
envi ronmental qual ity standards
become more stringent. The chal-
lenge facing sludge managers is to
fnd cost-effective and innovative
solutions whilst responding to envi-
ronmental, regulatory and public
pressures. Recycling of wastes are
the preferred options for sustainable
development, rather than incinera-
tion or landflling, but with sewage
sl udge thi s i s not straightfor ward
because of perceptions over con-
taminants, pathogens and its faecal
origin.
The session was chai red by Ky
Dangtran of Inflco Degremont. An
interesting case study of the Galindo
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP)
was presented by Jose Maria Villan-
ueva del Casal, Director of Sanitation Operations, Bilbao-
Bikaia, Consorcio de Aguas. The sludge from the plant had
a high concentration of heavy metals, therefore landfll
disposal was ruled out and fuidised bed incineration was
found to be the best solution. Byproducts of incineration
are being used for producing cement, low-strength con-
crete and asphalt mixture.
Ryan Welsh, Supervising Engineer from the City of
Cincinnati, USA expanded further on the advantages of
fuidised bed incineration at Mill Creek WWTP biosolids
handling programme. Multiple hearth incinerators were
found to lag behind the community expectations with
respect to air emissions and fuel effciency. Several al-
ternatives for biosolids disposal were considered before
ultimately selecting fuidised bed incineration. The result-
ing data showed that total flterable particulates were
reduced by over 92% compared to previous emissions.
There was a 17% reduction in carbon footprint.
At the session on sustainable water cycle manage-
ment, Matthew Griffths, Director of Water Strategy and
Reuse, Regulation and Supervision Bureau (RSB) from the
Government of Abu Dhabi spoke about the challenges
of managing water demand in a city with limited fresh-
water. The RSB has started issuing new utility bills, which
clearly state the water and electricity subsidy paid by the
Government for each household - intended to increase
awareness about the value of water resources. Mr Griffths
made a strong pitch for communication all the way in
the supply chain of water usage in order to encourage
conservation.
Another case study that created a buzz was the Ato-
tonilco WWTP at Mexico presented by Claudia Hernandez
of CONAGUA. For the past 80 years, Mexico City has been
redirecting excess wastewater fows and stormwater run-
off to the Tula Valley watershed. This transformed an arid
land into a highly productive irrigation district; however,
the untreated waters led to sanitary problems. To secure
the agricultural water reuse benefts while eliminating the
deleterious effects, the National Water Commission (CO-
NAGUA) unveiled a US$1.4 billion long-term sustainable
water management programme. A key plan component
is the Atotonilco WWTP located 64 km north of Mexico
City. This 800MGD plant will be the largest facility of its
type in the world, cleaning almost 60% of the wastewater
produced by the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City with a
population of over 20 million. Treated water will then be
used to safely irrigate about 80,000 hectares. The WWTP
is expected to be operational in 2015.
The session on the next-generation desalination tech-
nologies and innovations was led by Leon Awerbuch,
President and Chief Technology Offcer of Leading Edge
Technologies. Other presenters were Ghassan Ejjeh of Be-
six, Masaru Kurihara of Toray Industries and William Chang
of Emirates Sembcorp Water and Power Company. The
Fujairah 1 Seawater Reverse Osmosis plant came up for
discussion. Singapores Sembcorp Industries has signed a
20-year water purchase agreement with the Abu Dhabi
Water & Electricity Company for the expansion of the plant
by 136,000 m/d. Sembcorp has awarded a contract to
Spains Acciona Agua to design, build and maintain the
plant which will make it the largest RO desalination facility
in the Middle East.
The role of the private sector was debated in a panel
discussion titled Throwing the baby with the bathwater.
There is a tendency among people to take the failures of
certain PPP projects and extrapolate them to mean that
the entire concept has failed. The context of the failure
of a PPP contract; whether it is improper risk allocation or
unrealistic targets is often not critically examined. Nigel
Ayton elucidated on the Scottish Water viewpoint, which
is to partner with the private sector in areas such as tech-
nical capability, innovation and fnance. He explained
that PPPs do not mean outright privatisation; there is a
whole spectrum of contracts. Maria Eduarda Berto from
Estruturadora Brasileira de Projetos highlighted the advan-
tage of transferring construction risk to the private sector
Asian Water MARCH/APRIL 2014 35
Asian Water MARCH/APRIL 2014 37
SPECIAL FEATURE
MYANMAR
WATER
which has greater fexibility, agility and more effcient
contracting procedures. Yves Besse of Cab Ambiental
spoke about the need for better communication with
end-users to explain the effciency that partnering with
the private sector would bring. Roberto Zocchi from Ital-
ian utility ACEA pointed out that enormous investments
were needed in the future to maintain water infrastructure
in Europe. The current practice of using the 3 Ts (Taxes,
Transfers, Tariffs) for funding water services would need to
gradually move towards more tariffs in order to achieve
greater transparency.
Several regional workshop sessions focused on Central
and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa,
North Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Singapores na-
tional water agency PUB was represented for the frst time
at WEX by Maurice Neo and Kenneth Tan. The city-nation
has many lessons to teach in sustainability, such as the
need to appreciate the strategic importance of water.
Apart from sharing his countrys water story, Mr Neo high-
lighted the Singapore International Water Week coming
up in June which is a part of the countrys strategy for
sharing and co-creating solutions.
Yoshihiro Kobi, a Japanese developer who operates
a private industrial estate in Indonesia spoke in the Asia
session about the importance of human connections
in managing effuents. He recounted how an odour is-
sue raised by nearby residents was resolved by meetings
between the concerned parties and the installation of
suitable technologies. Patrick Couzinet from Veolia Water
Solutions and Technologies gave a round-up of Veolias
industrial and municipal water projects in Asia.
At the sludge session, Bill Barber, Technical Practice
Leader from AECOM explained that tightening waste-
water standards leads to an increase in the proportion
of secondary sludge and chemical sludge relative to
primary sludge. This causes detrimental impacts such as:
increased energy demand during aeration; decreased
biogas generation during digestion; poorer dewaterabil-
ity; and production of cake with higher water content.
He pointed out that primary sludge has inherently higher
energy content. Secondary sludge is less amenable to
anaerobic digestion and dewatering than primary sludge.
Doing away with primary treatment in order to remove
nutrients has negative downstream impacts such as in-
creased aeration requirements and a reduction in biogas
production. On the other hand, enhancing primary treat-
ment reduces downstream aeration requirements by over
20% and increases biogas production by 25% compared
with standard primary treatment.
Underground asset management and smart networks
were also covered in separate sessions sponsored by
Echologics and Sensus respectively.
Two interesting back to back panel discussions, the frst
on creative fnancing tools for funding water infrastruc-
ture and the second on managing water in an energy-
constrained world were held before WEX came to a close.
Patrick Andrew Mullen from International Finance Corpo-
ration (IFC) observed that the large (mostly European)
water operators who traditionally dominated the private
water market in developing countries are reducing their
risk-appetite for investment. They still want to sell their
water services and expertise, but they no longer want to
be the bank, he said. Regional water companies have
in many cases moved into that space such as in China,
Brazil and India, according to him. This has shifted the
profle of the typical IFC water client and reinforced the
importance of working with our colleagues in the regions,
said Mr Mullen.
This year also, a reality-TV style Innovation Forum was
sponsored by Aqualia. A number of innovative technolo-
gies related to water and wastewater were presented
including a dual-fush device, low-fouling membrane and
water quality meter. All the presenters were grilled with
questions from a panel consisting of experts in different
felds. The winner, Strathkelvin Instruments was announced
at the awards ceremony later in the day. The company
has developed a product called ASP-Con which auto-
mates and simplifes routine tests in the activated sludge
process.
Over the past few years, WEX has been expanding its
awards for fnancial, commercial and technological inno-
vation in energy and water sectors. This year also, a large
number of entries were processed by a team of judges.
The winners received their awards during the WEX Global
Gala Dinner sponsored by Degremont at the Circulo de
Bellas Artes in the centre of Madrid. Awards were given
in nine categories and the winners included Veolia Water
Solutions and Technologies, Remondis Aqua International,
Degremont, Hagihon Company Limited, Bluewater Bio,
Kemira, Antaco and Thermowatt Energy & Building.
Next years Global WEX 2015 will be held at Istanbul,
Turkey. We are currently engaged with municipal authori-
ties there to ensure the necessary institutional support,
said Mark Barker, the event organiser. Judging by the
feedback and the large number of repeat bookings we
have already received, I know that we can look forward
to an even bigger and better event next year. AW
Please visit www.w-e-x.com for more information about Global WEX 2015