PEORIA, Ill., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caterpillar Inc. and FuelCell Energy, Inc. have announced their first joint sale of an ultra-low emissions fuel cell power generation plant in the state of California. The 250-kilowatt Direct FuelCell power plant will be used by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, which expect the new plant to provide energy cost savings compared to current utility rates in the Los Angeles area.

The sale will include site engineering and installation of the FuelCell Energy DFC300A power plant and related equipment. The Districts are a group of independent special districts serving about 5.4 million residents living in Los Angeles County. The Districts, which treat about 530 million gallons of wastewater each day, are industry leaders in recovering and utilizing biogas and biomass byproducts from waste to generate electricity.

"We believe California represents an exciting market for fuel cell power generation equipment," said James J. Parker, Caterpillar Vice President with responsibility for the Power Systems Marketing Division. "As the world leader in distributed power generation, we see a growing need for all of Caterpillar's broad power generation product line, which delivers low operating costs, proven reliability and global distribution and support."

"This is a significant transaction for FuelCell energy and it represents our fifth order for a wastewater treatment application in the U.S. and Japan, a clear market for DFC power plants," said Jerry D. Leitman, Chairman and CEO of FuelCell Energy. "This sale marks the first project with Caterpillar in California, and demonstrates our ability to leverage Caterpillar's dealer relationships, along with turn-key project delivery and service capabilities."

The Districts plan to install the fuel cell unit at its Palmdale Water Reclamation Plant in northwest Los Angeles County. Delivery of the unit is expected in the fourth quarter of 2004. The District is receiving $1,125,000 in renewable incentive funding for the project from the California Public Utilities Commission. However, full financial details of the sale were not disclosed.

In April 2002, Caterpillar and FuelCell Energy signed an alliance agreement to distribute and develop ultra-low emission fuel cell power generation products for industrial and commercial use. The agreement calls for the companies to jointly develop power plants in the 250 kW to 3MW size range, incorporating FuelCell Energy's fuel cell module.

Direct FuelCells generate electricity with no combustion. They are, in effect, like large continuously operating batteries that generate electricity as long as fuel, such as natural gas, is supplied. Since the fuel is not burned, there are virtually no emissions. In addition, because DFC power plants are designed to generate hydrogen internally, they are commercially available today without waiting for development of a hydrogen supply infrastructure.

Sources:  http://www.cat.com/ and http://www.fuelcellenergy.com/

London, ON, -- Trojan Technologies Inc. has been awarded a contract, valued at over $700,000, to supply advanced ultraviolet (UV) drinking water disinfection equipment to the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

The Trojan systems will treat 40 million gallons (150,000 cubic meters) of water a day. By installing UV equipment, the plant will meet Ontario's stringent new disinfection standards for drinking water treatment without having to increase its use of chemicals.

The five TrojanUVSwift units will be installed at the drinking water treatment facility in Niagara Falls in the fall of 2004. The plant serves a population of more than 80,000 people in the City and portions of the communities of Thorold and Niagara-on-the-Lake. In addition, some 14 million tourists visit Niagara Falls each year.

"Trojan was also the only supplier that could provide third-party validated equipment within our timelines." said Chado Brcic, Director of the Water and Wastewater Division for the Regional Municipality. "The small amount of space, or footprint, that Trojan's systems require was also a factor because of the property constraints at the facility."

To achieve third-party validation, Trojan sent its systems to a qualified testing organization for disinfection performance testing. The systems were installed at a full-scale water treatment plant and challenged under actual operating conditions to verify the effectiveness and reliability of the equipment to meet disinfection targets.

"We were also impressed with Trojan's strong commitment to research and development, and the cost-effectiveness of its technology compared to other disinfection alternatives," Brcic added.

"We are committed to providing our customers with increased confidence in the safety of their water supplies by installing Trojan's water treatment solutions." stated Marvin DeVries, President and CEO of Trojan Technologies. "Our growing installed base demonstrates that our strategy of providing our customers with strong service and support with third-party validated equipment is the right one."

With over 3,500 municipal facilities in over 25 countries using its technology, Trojan has the largest installed base of UV systems in the world. Headquartered in London, Ontario, the company also has offices in the U.K., Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the U.S.

Source:  http://www.trojanuv.com/

Wallingford, UK, -- Wallingford Software announces today the launch of the latest version of FloodWorks, Version 3.0, which for the first time brings full real-time decision support to flood control rooms. Designed for use during flood forecasting, flood monitoring and flood control situations, FloodWorks Version 3.0 provides this decision support through sophisticated hydrological and hydrodynamic modeling.

This modeling capability allows managers and engineers to carry out fast and accurate simulation of the key elements of the future behavior of river, channel and coastal systems to support mobilization of emergency responses and provision of public flood warnings. FloodWorks Version 3.0 extends the complexity and flexibility of automatic event and alarm monitoring and flagging, alongside greatly enhanced image display capabilities to give control room staff a clear view of actual and forecast flood condition in detail, street by street.

Paul Banfield, Sales Director of Wallingford Software, explains: “The incidence of flooding is increasing, and the physical, human, and financial cost of the resultant flood damage can be extremely high. With FloodWorks 3.0 we have developed the first true flood control room decision support system, designed to run in real-time to help staff to forecast and manage throughout a flood event.

“At its core is the highly accurate forecasting of water levels, and we add to that excellent graphical mapping showing in image form the exact impact of these levels on both rural and urban geography. FloodWorks can then simulate numerous scenarios in parallel, giving flood control room staff quick answers to “what if” questions about different weather forecasts and mitigation strategies. Just as important, FloodWorks can generate actions automatically, for example sending out flood warning faxes or emails when a defined event status is reached, thereby underpinning the key administrative requirements under the hectic conditions of a flood event.

“It is this all round capability – forecasting, detailed operational support, and administrative support – that makes our latest release of FloodWorks the first full real-time decision support system for river flood control rooms.”

Wallingford Software Limited is the software products and systems company within the HR Wallingford Group. Wallingford Software produces market leading software tools for the water industry. Products include data management and network modeling software to support planning and operations in water distribution, sewerage provision, river management and coastal engineering.

Source:  http://www.wallingfordsoftware.com/

(DENVER) - - The American Water Works Association (AWWA), the authoritative resource on safe drinking water, today announced it has received $1 million in federal funding to expand its broad range of security and emergency response training programs.

AWWA's five training programs include vulnerability assessment training, security hardware education, crisis communications preparation, an online emergency response planning course, and coordination planning among emergency response agencies. The programs will benefit managers, superintendents and others involved in addressing security at more than 1,200 water systems nationwide.

"AWWA strongly supports utilities' efforts to secure water supplies and prepare for emergency situations," said Jack Hoffbuhr, AWWA Executive Director. "We are pleased that this funding will allow AWWA to expand its training programs and help water suppliers meet today's high standards of preparedness."

The 2003 appropriation was awarded by U.S. Congress for drinking water security activities. The responsible federal agency for disbursing the funds is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

AWWA is the authoritative resource for knowledge, information, and advocacy to improve the quality and supply of drinking water in North America and beyond. AWWA is the largest organization of water professionals in the world. AWWA advances public health, safety and welfare by uniting the efforts of the full spectrum of the drinking water community. Through our collective strength we become better stewards of water for the greatest good of the people and the environment.

Source:  http://www.awwa.org/

People post their requests for help and offer their suggestions to others in our open forum.

Mr. Smith wants bidders for Iraqi water treatment plant:

We will be inviting proposals shortly for design and construction of a complete 25 MGD (115 ML/day) conventional water treatment plant for the City of Baghdad, Baghdad Water Authority.

If interested in receiving more information, please contact:
Mr. Gordon Smith, P.E., PhD
RTI International, Baghdad.
Email:  gsmith01@rti.org
Web site:  http://www.rti.org/
Telephone (USA direct) 914 822 7333

or Messrs. Hydah and Deea at the Baghdad Water Authority.
(Click here to post a reply)

Mr. Murphy needs to remove heavy metals:

I need a cheap solution on how to remove heavy metals from the waste stream of my vat system.  I use about 3,500 to 6,500 gallons a month of total domestic and process water.  I am cleaning cast iron and the metals are in solution.

Any suggestions would be great
(Click here to post a reply)

J. D. Murphy
JDMURPHY@MSN.COM

Help Forum:  Share your expertise with others in our Help Forum.

IT Expert for Commercial Management of Utilities

Dr. Fromme International Consulting:  Based in Essen, Germany, the company's international consulting tasks range from strategy to finance, specializing in environment infrastructure. We work for German water firms as well as for international donors and are currently engaged in several development projects. The preparation of investment projects plays an equally important role to the enhancement of efficiency of public utility companies by management consulting and PPP/PSP.

The Task:
We are looking for long term and short term experts for the institutional development and economic consulting in the Former Yugoslav Republic.
Whereas the long term expert shall have at least 10 years of relevant experience the short term expert may be junior.
The experts work on the transformation of the waterworks into a modern customer and efficiency oriented services organization. Coaching the management of several water works presents an important aspect of this challenging assignment.

Your Profile:
A must:  
Degree in business administration or economics  
Professional experience in state water organization or utilities
Proficiency of English language
Relevant professional experience in commercial software applications, finance and accounting, general ledger and cost accounting, integration with billing systems, IAS, ERP, MIS, organizational  development, etc.          
     
A plus:  
Experience in transformation economies

Please contact me if you are interested in this opportunity.
Mr. Frauke Wulff
Email: application@internationalconsult.com

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This week's photo is of installation of the patented Severn Trent Services' Tetra "LP" underdrain filtration blocks at a St. Petersburg, Florida water treatment plant. The Tetra block is popular for its easy assembly and low headloss.

Submitted by Beth Rubinkam of Severn Trent Services

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