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As part of this bi-weekly newsletter, we bring you the latest industry news, technology innovations and appointments from across the industry including:
Sam joins Influx, Metso expand their offering, £165mn in fines...
To quick things off, Influx Search has some exciting news!
Sam joins us with a wealth of experience recruiting for high growth technology businesses, bolstering our capabilities across software engineering, devops & cloud engineering, AI, ML, infrastructure & platform, data & analytics and also project delivery. If you're looking to add to your technology teams, be sure to reach out to him directly.
Welcome to the team Sam McMillan!
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is urging businesses to stay vigilant and ensure water supplies are managed sustainably as water scarcity Alerts are issued for areas around Firth of Tay and Firth of Forth.
The risk of water scarcity for areas around the rivers Don (Aberdeenshire), Tay, Earn and Clyde has also been raised to Early Warning, SEPA advised in the latest weekly report published on Thursday 1st August. Parts of the East, along with Kintyre, Irvine and Ayr, and the Cree area of Galloway remain at Early Warning.
While much of Scotland has experienced a relatively wet summer so far, some regions have experienced drier than average conditions. Limited rainfall over the past week, particularly across more central parts of Scotland, has meant that ground conditions and river flows have deteriorated across much of the country.
Ground conditions remain Quite Dry across much of the East and parts of the South-West. Firth of Tay and Firth of Forth areas have Dry ground conditions.
Claire Tunaley, Senior Hydrology Specialist at SEPA said:
“This is a crucial time of year for water demand – it’s important water users and abstractors are aware of the risk of water scarcity so we can all help reduce pressure on the water environment. We know it can be challenging for businesses that rely on the water environment to plan ahead during periods of unsettled weather, but the reality is the situation can change very quickly should we have drier than average conditions.
We’re encouraging abstractors to monitor water usage and review best practice to prepare for these dynamic conditions, rather than waiting until levels reach a critical state. Sustainable water management not only reduces environmental impacts during dry periods but can also lead to cost savings and improved efficiency for businesses.”
Metso is acquiring Jindex Pty Ltd, a privately owned Australian company specializing in valves and process flow control.
Combining Metso’s experience and offering in slurry handling, hydrocyclones and minerals processing equipment solutions with Jindex’s valve offering will strengthen Metso’s capacity to provide more comprehensive slurry handling solutions for the mining industry.
“This acquisition is yet another important step in the development of Metso’s Pumps business line offering to bring us closer to being our customers’ lifecycle partner of choice,”
said Tiago Oliveira, head of Pumps business line at Metso. He further added:
“Flow and isolation control play a vital role in ensuring smooth slurry handling to maximize the productivity and efficiency of minerals processing plants. In the past, we have collaborated with Jindex on many customer projects and are now glad to welcome the Jindex experts to the Metso team.“
Metso’s Pumps business line offers complete solutions for slurry handling and hydrocyclones, including equipment, parts, aftermarket and lifecycle services and digital services. The equipment offering includes slurry pumps, pipes, hoses, valves and hydrocyclones.
Veolia Water Technologies (VWT) has provided a treated sewage effluent (TSE) polishing plant for the Katara Cultural Village in Qatar, reducing the country’s reliance on fresh water.
Katara, a major cultural and tourist destination in Doha, will now save between 5,000 to 15,000 cubic meters per day (CMD) of fresh water previously used for irrigation and district cooling (cooling towers make up) by utilizing treated sewage effluent instead of desalinated sea or brackish water.
The TSE polishing plant, provided by VWT Qatar, was designed to optimize space and power supply constraints within the existing Katara Energy Centre. This has led to a significant reduction in project costs. The plant, with a capacity of 15,000 CMD, is the first of its kind in the region, efficiently converting treated sewage effluent into high-quality demineralized water suitable for cooling towers feed and irrigation of Katara’s green hills.
Thierry Froment, CEO of Veolia Water Technologies Middle East, said:
“Our collaboration with Katara Project aligns with our GreenUp strategic program which aims to help territories adapt to climate change. This project not only conserves the precious freshwater, but also exemplifies the sustainable water use in the city. By transforming treated sewage into high quality water for irrigation and cooling, we are pioneering a new standard resource management efficiency and sustainability for the region.”
Mohammed Al-Meer, Director General of Katara Project added:
“This project and collaboration with VWT Qatar allowed us to reduce our freshwater consumption and align this progress with Qatar National Vision 2030. By utilizing treated sewage for irrigation and cooling, we are not only preserving vital natural resources, but also setting a new benchmark for sustainable practices in cultural and touristic destinations”.
Northern Ireland Water has marked the halfway mark in its Price Control (PC) 21 programme of base maintenance work with the completion of a £16m investment in its portfolio of wastewater pumping stations (WwPS).
Commenting on this milestone, Tzvetelina Bogoina, NI Water Director of Infrastructure said:
“NI Water deals with over 370 million litres of wastewater every day – that’s roughly the same volume as four and a half million household baths – and we rely on 1,300 wastewater pumping stations to ensure that this wastewater gets to our treatment works so that it can be properly treated and returned safely to the environment.
Maintaining our pumping stations and ensuring that they can work as efficiently and effectively as possible is critical to keeping our wastewater network flowing and protecting the environment"
she further added:
“Collaboration and engagement with these key stakeholders as well as our operational colleagues is central to planning the base maintenance work and ensuring that our equal regional spend is invested where improvements are most needed.
This means that we are continually working with our appointed consultants and contractors from McAdam, RPS, BSG and GRAHAM to instil innovation and drive efficiency to get the best performance out of our existing wastewater pumping station assets"
Exciting times for NI Water!
Amarinth has executed a £450 000 order from shipbuilding and fabrication company Harland & Wolff
Harland & Wolff secured a contract from UK Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA), awarded on behalf of the Lithuanian Government, to refit HMS Quorn, the former Royal Navy Hunt-class mine-hunting vessel. This decommissioned vessel was acquired by the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence from the UK Ministry of Defence in 2020.
The vessel was equipped with seven Girdlestone marine pumps that had reached the end of their operational life after 27 years in service. Due to the discontinuation of Girdlestone's business and the obsolescence of its pumps, Amarinth engineered a range of marine pumps that seamlessly replace the Girdlestone pumps with hydraulic and dimensional interchangeability.
A critical aspect of the project was the 32-week delivery schedule set by Harland & Wolff to align with the vessel's refit window in Belfast, Northern Ireland. To control costs, Amarinth conducted a strip and inspection of the old belt-driven Girdlestone pumps to see if any components could be reused. Following the assessment, it was decided the motors could be refurbished and so Amarinth collaborated with the original motor supplier on their overhaul to ensure the delivery schedule would be met.to replace obsolete Girdlestone pumps for the refurbishment of a former Royal Navy vessel that is now destined for service with the Lithuanian Navy.
Oliver Brigginshaw, Managing Director of Amarinth, shared:
"We are delighted to have successfully delivered this initial order from Harland & Wolff, building on our success in servicing and supplying interchangeable pumps for obsolete Girdlestone models used on naval vessels worldwide. We look forwards to collaborating on future orders as more vessels undergo refits, providing reliable and fully supported pumps for decades to come."
Congratulations to everyone involved!
Decker retired from Xylem at the end of last year having served as president and CEO since March 2014.
"Patrick is a fantastic addition of a world-class executive with experience transforming Xylem from an industrial products company to an advanced technology, services and solutions enterprise,"
said Jürgen Tinggren, Johnson Controls lead independent director. He further added:
"Patrick's appointment reflects our commitment to continuously refresh our board to ensure the skills and experiences of our directors appropriately reflect Johnson Controls' transforming business. We welcome Patrick to the board and are excited to benefit from the experience and expertise he will bring."
Prior to leading Xylem, Decker was president and CEO of Harsco Corporation. He also held various leadership roles at Tyco from 2003 until 2012, including president of Tyco Flow Control.
Celeros Flow Technology has secured multiple contracts to supply the safety-critical nuclear pump packages for Sizewell C, the UK’s newest nuclear power station.
The pumps will be designed and manufactured by the company’s ClydeUnion Pumps brand at its nuclear-accredited facility in Annecy, France.
Sizewell C is being constructed alongside the existing Sizewell B on the East Suffolk coast. It will be capable of generating 3.2 GW of power, enough to supply six million homes with low-carbon electricity for at least 60 years, and will avoid nine million tonnes of CO2 for every year of operation.
ClydeUnion Pumps will manufacture numerous safety-critical pump packages for the Sizewell C nuclear power station. These include the pumps for the emergency feedwater, component cooling water, safety injection, nuclear island vent/drain, and safety chilled water systems.
“We are proud to be contributing to Sizewell C, which is one of the largest net-zero projects in the UK and will play a key role in the energy transition,”
said Jose Larios, CEO of Celeros. He further stated:
“As a long-term partner to EDF, we have supplied safety-critical flow control systems for almost all their nuclear power plants in France and the UK. Our ClydeUnion Pumps team is now working collaboratively with the Sizewell C project team to ensure that the nuclear pump packages meet all regulatory and design criteria for this landmark project.”
Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water face £168m fines by the industry regulator over historic sewage spills.
The proposal will now go to public consultation and is part of Ofwat's largest ever investigation into water company performance.
The announcement comes amid growing public anger over the environmental and financial performance of some water companies.
Ofwat's investigation has looked into whether the three companies have been providing customers with the level of service they are entitled to under the law.
It has found the three companies failed to adequately invest in and maintain their networks, leading to repeated releases of raw sewage into the country’s waterways.
On Tuesday it proposed fines of £47m for Yorkshire Water and £17m for Northumbrian Water. For Thames Water it is proposing the largest fine on record of £104m.
The regulator's chief executive, David Black, said:
“Ofwat has uncovered a catalogue of failure by Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water in how they ran their sewage works and this resulted in excessive spills."
The companies can appeal, and Ofwat can reduce the fine if the water firms demonstrate they are taking measures to tackle sewage discharges.
Europe:
North America:
For more information on any of these opportunities, please get in touch with Lyle King, Will Brockbank, Max Fraser-Krauss, Joe Michie or Sam McMillan.
That's it for Volume 18! Stay tuned for more and don't forget to follow Influx Search for the latest industry news and job advertisements.
