Regional News

United States
Sprite placement in Lowe's
Sprite Industries announces retail placement in Lowe's Home Improvement Centers. In October, Lowe's began national distribution of Sprite Filtered Showers. Five SKU's include Sprite's Slim-Line model in white and chrome, along with the Royale All-in-One Filtered Showerhead with color options of chrome trim and chrome. The filtered shower products are prominently displayed in Lowe's Home Improvement Centers and also available at Lowes.com and via special order sales.

Nevada Computer to interface with PhoneTree
Nevada Computer of Nevada, Iowa, and PhoneTree of Winston-Salem, N.C. have reached an agreement to interface Nevadas WaterFlex for Windows software with PhoneTree® Automated Messaging Systems. Under the agreement, Nevada will provide the interface and market the system, which allows bottled water companies to contact routed customers through an automated messaging system. Customers are reminded of a delivery automatically and can report back to the system to remove their names if no delivery is needed. Eliminating "no product required" or "no bottles out" deliveries has become a mission of the company and this interface makes it easy and efficient, says Richard McHose of Nevada Computers.

Water for the Poor passes House committee
The Water for the Poor Act of 2005 has passed the House International Relations Committee. The legislation creates a stronger framework to address the pressing need for access to clean water. Worldwide, two to five million people die annually due to the lack of clean water. "Each day people go without safe drinking water is measured in thousands of lives lost and we urge Congress to pass this legislation before they adjourn for the year," said Water Advocates President David Douglas.

EPA unions seek end of fluoridation
Unions representing more than 7,000 workers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are calling upon state and federal authorities to cease the fluoridation of drinking water nationwide. The Boston Globe reports that the 11 unions advised EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to act as quickly as possible after a Harvard University study suggested a link between fluoridation and bone cancer in adolescent males.

American Water sponsors watershed cleanup
The Applied Water Management Group of American Water sponsored a cleanup of the Raritan Watershed Region in Hillsborough, N.J. in September in an effort to draw attention to the region's growing environmental concerns. "The Raritan River is literally our next-door neighbor," said Applied Water's Senior Project Engineer Jens Riedel. As water and wastewater professionals, we are especially concerned about preserving local water quality."

Former DEP employee guilty of log falsification
A former employee of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has plead guilty to falsifying a log book required by the Safe Water Drinking Act and failing to monitor turbidity levels in the Catskill Lower Effluent Chamber. Dieter Greenfeld faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000. City officials say that while the required monitoring was not completed, there is no sign that any contamination went undetected during Greenfelds tenure at the NYCDEP.

Patriarch acquires Oasis Corporation
Patriarch Partners, LLC has acquired (by its affiliated funds) certain assets of Oasis Corporation, including its operating subsidiaries in Mexico, Ireland and Poland. Patriarch, a New York-based investment firm, will provide significant capital resources combined with a new long-term strategic vision to rebuild the 95-year-old companys visibility and leadership in the water cooler business. The Patriarch Funds will operate this investment as Tri Palm International, a name that reflects the breadth of the company's presence in the marketplace. Tri Palm will continue to market and distribute its products under the Oasis brand name.

CamelBak selects AlphaSan
CamelBak Products, LLC, inventor of the water backpack system for military and law enforcement, industry and recreation, has chosen Milliken & Company's AlphaSan as the antimicrobial agent for its HydroGuard" product line. CamelBak incorporates AlphaSan into its standard film based reservoirs and adds it into their HydroGuard protective tubing, Big Bite valves and ChemBio Reservoir 4.0. Unlike some organic antimicrobial solutions, the silverion in AlphaSan will not break down to produce hazardous by-products such as dioxins.

ABA calls for limit on soft drinks in schools
The American Beverage Association is calling upon federal and state governments to limit access to soft drinks in schools across the country. In the face of growing criticism of soft drinks in schools and childhood obesity, ABA President and CEO Susan Neely said parents should have the assurance that children aren't drinking an excessive amount of sweetened drinks at school. Dozens of school boards across the country have already began limiting soft drink vending machines in public schools, many opting to dispense bottled water and juices instead. Simultaneously, Arizona soft drink distributors have agreed to proposed state guidelines to limit the sale of soft drinks at public schools in hopes of forestalling even more stringent state regulations, Beverage World reports. The voluntary guidelines remove everything but bottled water and 100 percent juices in elementary schools. However, the Arizona Beverage Association wants to be able to sell "nutritious or lower-calorie beverages" to middle and junior high school students.

Historic plant gets UV upgrade
Built in 1872, the Poughkeepsie Water Treatment Facility in the eponymous town in N.Y. was the first successful slow sand filtration plant in America. In September, the plant completed a significant renovation, including the addition of an ultraviolet disinfection system to serve the community of nearly 80,000. Drawing from the Hudson River, the plants new Aquionics UV system meets an average daily demand of eight million gallons. Six Aquionics Photo UV systems function in parallel to maintain the desired disinfection levels at the plant.

Nellis AFB selects Severn Trent
The SORB 33® arsenic removal technology and Bayoxide® E33 media from Severn Treat Services have been selected for use by Nellis Air Force Base at two of their water treatment facilities outside of Las Vegas, Nev. Total arsenic for the base's 600-gpm and 550-gpm water treatment facilities has been measured at between 19 and 32 ppb, compared to the new U.S. EPA standard of 10 ppd. Installation of the new system will take place prior to the U.S. EPA's January 2006 MCL compliance deadline. The contract is valued at $502,000.

Zenon opens office in U.S.
Zenon Environmental Inc. is opening its first United States office in San Diego County, Calif. The new facility, which will be located in Oceanside, will provide support to Zenons numerous customers in the area and will be the main office for its Southwestern United States operations. The new location is also in close proximity to the Pacific Rim Region, a viable location for the company's growing business in Asia.

World's largest UF plant
GE Infrastructure, Water & Process Technologies has completed work on the world's largest potable ultrafiltration plant in Minneapolis, Minn. The Columbia Heights water filtration plant, providing up to 78 million gpd to more than a half-million city residents, opened in early September. The plant utilizes GE's ultrafiltration technology, a pressure driven process that provides a physical barrier to pathogens and is commonly used to remove suspended solids, bacteria, microorganisms and viruses in potable water production.

Central America

Kimpen selects JMAR Technologies
JMAR Technologies, Inc. has completed the first phase of a three-phase program at Kimpen, S.A. DE C.V., Mexicos leading beverage development and manufacturing company. As a result of successful in-lab testing of JMARs BioSentry" system in their research facility, Kimpen intends to purchase two production units and initiate operational testing in two factories.

Train derails, spilling acid into water
A train derailment in the U.S.-Mexico border town of Nogales shut down potable water sources on both sides of the border in September after it spilled sulphuric acid into the Santa Cruz River. Forty percent of Nogales, Ariz.s water supply was compromised, forcing a State of Emergency declaration. Regulators from both governments are working together to clean up the spill and continuing to monitor the source water for contamination.

Plastic piping market takes off
The Latin American plastic pipe deployment data, in terms of the volume or quantity of linear feet, is forecasted to grow at an average annual rate of 6.8 percent to more than one billion feet in 2009, Sagasu Concepts reports. In 2004, the consumption was led by Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. The growth is an indicator of strong infrastructure activity in the water supply and wastewater removal sectors, as well as other factors such as gas and oil delivery. For a complete copy of the Sagasu Concepts report, Latin American Plastic Pipe Market Forecast, visit www.sagasuconcepts.com

Asia

Singapore seeks water self-sufficiency
Singapore has opened its first desalination plant in an effort to move toward water self sufficiency. The plant, which will meet at least 10 percent of the citystates water needs, costs $119 million (U.S.) and provides more than 135,000 cubic meters of drinking water daily. The nation currently imports more than half of its water from Malaysia and is planning future desal plants and rainwater harvesting projects to provide for its citizens.

A.O. Smith expanding in China
To support growing customer demand in Asia, A.O. Smith Electrical Products Company plans to significantly increase its engineering capabilities in China. The company will construct test labs: hermetic motor design and performance testing in Suzhou and fractional horsepower motor design and testing at its Changzhou campus. Construction is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year.

150 die from water in Mumbai
More than 150 people have died from waterborne diseases in Mumbia and its surrounding regions following the monsoons, Water 21 Digest reports. The monsoons led to devastating flooding which killed more than 1,000 people in the western Maharashtra region. Following the floods, dengue fever, leptospirosis, typhoid and malaria have been rampant in the area.