GWI: Meeting oil’s growing demand for water

How can we meet oil’s growing demand for water?

Published 21st January 2010

Energy is becoming a thirsty commodity. Before the world’s fossil fuels are finally exhausted, it is likely that their extraction will require an unimaginable amount of water.

There are two main factors driving this growth. One is that as old fields reach the end of their productive life, it becomes necessary to use water or steam to chase out the last traces of hydrocarbon. The other factor is that as older fields are exploited, it becomes necessary to turn to non-traditional resources such as tar sands and gas shale. These also require water-intensive technologies such as steam-assisted gravity drainage or fracking (see story in this month’s GWI).

The result is that the ratio of water required per barrel of oil or cubic foot of gas is rising quickly. For example, it takes 11 barrels of water to transport and separate each barrel of bitumen from the Canadian tar sands.

Meeting the growing water needs of the oil and gas industry is an interesting challenge. Whereas cities tend to grow up around freshwater resources, oil and gas fields don’t show the same forethought. Even Canada, which is one of the most water-rich countries in the world, will struggle to find the water it needs in Alberta, where the tar sands are located. Off-shore facilities also face difficulties: seawater contains too many sulphates to be used directly for well injection. Some form of membrane softening is required.

On top of the process water needs of the industry, there is a significant business in cleaning up the wastewater, or produced water, that comes out of the ground with the oil. In North America, the ratio is 12 barrels of produced water for each barrel of oil.

It is a great market for companies like GE, Siemens, Veolia, and Aquatech. But from a broader perspective, the increased demand for water in the oil and gas sector is likely to lead to greater competition for water resources, and conflicts with agricultural and urban water users. Besides being criticised for creating greenhouse gases, big oil is likely to encounter more complaints about its use of water. That is unless it can figure out a collaborative way forward.

Projects like Aquatech’s Mukhaizna facility for Occidental Petroleum in Oman, or Veolia’s San Ardo project for Chevron, are the way ahead. They recycle the produced water as process water, and return the excess to nature in such a way that others can benefit from it. This is a great solution where oil wells are net producers of water, but where they are net consumers, and they compete with other users, there is no such win-win solution. In those circumstances, the best solution would be for oil companies to invest in shared water production facilities which also benefit local communities. This kind of thinking will make the water and energy nexus real.

Source:  http://www.globalwaterintel.com/insight/how-can-we-meet-oils-growing-demand-water.html

Sustainable: Protecting Profits in a Water Scarce World

January 25, 2010

While water is plentiful on Earth, the amount that we can access for business and personal use is scarce – and shrinking. In water-intensive industries, developing and executing on a corporate water strategy is critical to the future of your business.

By Thera N. Kalmijn and R. Paul Herman

Sustainable Life Media (January 25, 2010)

While our bodies are more than half water (highest when you are born, decreases over time) and the earth is two-thirds covered by H2O, we can’t easily tap either of these sources.  Less than 1% of the world’s fresh water is available for human use – leading to severe negative human impact:  3.5 million people die each year from water related diseases like diarrheas, and almost 1 billion people do not have ready access to safe water supplies. By 2025, projections estimate more than 50% of the world’s population will not have access to water, suffer health issues be engaged in water conflicts, or a similar challenge¹. 

These challenges also risk profitability, revenue, jobs and energy volatility.  A temporary shutdown of a semiconductor plant could cost Intel or Texas Instruments $200 million in revenue².  In 2001, hydroelectric power shortages forced the shutdown of aluminum plant smelters in the Pacific Northwest, resulting in the loss of 8,000 jobs³. In 2007, “drought in Ghana severely reduced hydropower production, forcing Unilever Ghana to cut power consumption by 25% and purchase expensive diesel generators to make up for lost power from the grid.”⁴

Hence, leading companies are starting to pursue excellence in water management as a potential to deliver both Human Impact + Profit¹.   How can managing water be more HIP?  In three ways: selling products that solve a human need, improving everyday operations, and new management practices.  SureGround has developed a unique framework just on water management – to assess how much Gain and Good can be realized, or is at risk.

With increased pressure on water due to population growth, climate change, and increase in consumption associated with urbanization and industrialization, efforts focused on water efficiency are only the tip of the iceberg.  A comprehensive water management plan focuses on the following 10 R’s of Water Management protect profits, society, and the environment.

A survey of industries and companies leading in water practices using these 10 R’s of Water Management shows some are on the right track, and much work remains to be done.  To start, assessing water risk is a challenge.  Water risk varies greatly by geography and industry, and has significant variability due to fluctuating weather patterns.  Industries with the greatest exposure include agriculture, manufacturing, food and beverage, extraction, and power generation⁵.

The food and beverage sector alone has a direct consumption of 575 billion liters per year, enough to meet the basic daily needs of everyone on the planet.  Risk assessments for the food and beverage industry are complex as supply and value chain exposures dominate the water footprint with over 90% of water use outside of the company “fence-line”⁶. 

Reporting according to emerging water foot printing guidelines being developed by the and future water metrics requirements (such as those already required by the Norwegian government’s pension fund of the 1,100 companies it invests in) will help industry focus water management efforts where they are most needed.

Unilever, a global food and beverage giant with operations in 50 water-vulnerable countries, is recognized as a leader in water management practices and is among the first to measure and report its water footprint.  Only 3% of Unilever’s water footprint comes from internal operations.  The remaining 97% is upstream in the supply chain (10x internal use) and downstream in consumer product use (10x internal use)⁷.  While Unilever does work to reduce internal operational impacts, efforts up and down the value chain are more significant and often more profitable financially, socially, and environmentally. 

In their focus on the environment, Unilever employs a responsible catchment management policy.  As part of this policy Unilever Bestfoods Brazil helps prevent toxic pesticide run-off from reaching streams and rivers by planting a native buffer between fields and streams (as required by local regulations). 

Rainwater harvesting and water recycling at factories in water-stressed Hindustan have reduced Unilever’s groundwater use by 50%, positively impacting Unilever and the local community⁸.  Unilever also focuses on reinventing products to reduce water impacts. Unilever’s Surf Excel Quick Wash, sold in India, cut water need by two buckets per wash — and product sales jumped 20% in 2008. 

One Rinse Fabric Conditioner sold in Vietnam shrunk water need by 66% — and sales jumped 30%.⁸ These are HIP Products that generate both increased Human Impact + Profit.

Whether it is manufacturing a product, constructing and operating a building, fostering an economic cluster such as information technology in the Silicon Valley, or developing the resource industry in Northern Alberta, the efficient use of water is of central importance to longterm corporate success and sustainability.

References:

1.  “Watching Water: a guide to evaluating corporate risks in a thirsty world”, JP Morgan, March 31, 2008  – and Water.org – Learn about the Water Crisis.  (http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/#water)

 2.  “A Watershed Moment:  Calculating Risks of Impending Water Shortages”, Susan Arterian Chang, December 1, 2009, RiskMetrics in the News

3. – 6.  “Manufacturers Prepare for Summer of Shortages”, Bob Felton, July 3, 2001.  InTech

7. – 8. http://www.unilever.com/sustainability/environment/water/?WT.LHNAV=Water

Source: sustainablelifemedia.com

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/home

Chile: Water a Matter of National Security

Source: World Business Council for Sustainable Development 

IPS, 23 January 2010 – In its proposed constitutional reform, the Chilean government recognises that the availability of freshwater is a matter of national security. Environmentalists applaud the initiative, but some business groups are worried it will hurt their bottom line.

The paragraph that will be added to Article 19 of Chile’s Constitution, if Parliament approves the bill sent by President Michelle Bachelet on Jan. 7, states that water is a national good for public use, regardless of the state where it is located or the course it follows, including glaciers.

The bill “opens a first step for resolving the crisis of access, contamination, concentration and overexploitation of water in Chile, and the degradation of watersheds,” declared a group of environmental organisations and workers from private sanitation companies.

The initiative made it over the first hurdle Jan. 13 when it was approved by the Chamber of Deputies agricultural committee.

The legal text recognises that freshwater, which is lacking in the Chilean north and abundant in the south, has become a “scarce good” and that its availability is “a matter of national security,” much more than fossil fuels, which can be imported from other countries.

Around the globe, this vital resource is threatened by the effects of climate change, which is causing glaciers to melt as well as more intense droughts.

Chile is a world leader when it comes to freshwater reserves in the form of glaciers. According to the latest inventory by the government’s water agency, there are more than 3,500 glaciers, covering some 20,000 square kilometres.

In March, the Sustainable Chile Programme will publish a book about water conflicts in this country. So far, the group has identified hundreds of disputes between communities and mining, hydroelectric, forestry and agro-industrial companies.

Currently, freshwater is recognised as a national good for public use only legally, not constitutionally. In contrast, the Constitution does give the government control over the nation’s vast mining resources.
Read the whole article

(*This story was originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.)

WaterWorld: New high-tech industrial park in China investigates water reuse for new plants

 Black & Veatch provides services to study advanced water treatment options

SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 19, 2010 — Black & Veatch and Zhongying Precious Metal Company Ltd., are investigating advanced technologies that would provide sustainable options for two new wastewater treatment plants. The plants will treat domestic and industrial waste at a new industrial park in the Lunggang District of Shenzhen. One treatment option under investigation would provide for potential water reuse applications.

The owners of the new industrial park, Zhongying Precious Metal Company Ltd., want the plants to produce effluent that meets Chinese National Discharge Standard Class 1A. Meeting Class 1A requires additional treatment to reduce nutrients and suspended solids and is the standard required for wastewater being discharged into sensitive water bodies.

“Black & Veatch has a strong track record in advanced technologies and a long history of working in the China water industry,” said Mr Xue Chu Liang, Managing Director of Zhongying Precious Metal Company Ltd. “As we are going to build a world class and sustainable jewelry industrial park, it is important for us to use a company with international expertise that could help us determine the best sustainable solution.”

The industrial park will cover an area of 12 hectares and will centralize the design and production of precious metal jewelry. Housing these design and production activities in the park will help increase exports to international markets and also reduce pollution. The Shenzhen Government has been actively supporting the development of high tech industries in the area.

“Black & Veatch has worked on a number of advanced wastewater treatment plants around the world,” said Alan Man, Vice President and Managing Director of North Asia Pacific. “Recycled water is increasingly being used as a solution to improve sustainability and overcome water scarcity issues.”

Technical Notes:

• The park will build two wastewater treatment plants, one to treat domestic waste that will have a capacity of 9,000 cubic meters per day. The other will treat industrial waste with a capacity of 2,000 cubic meters per day.
• Black & Veatch will provide engineering design and equipment procurement services for the domestic wastewater treatment plant and civil and structural design for the industrial wastewater treatment plant. In addition the company will also provide specialist advice on the procurement, testing and commissioning of the plant.

• Black & Veatch is investigating Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)/Integrated Fixed-film Activated Sludge (IFAS) technology. MBR/IFAS systems are well suited to some industrial and commercial applications, and the high-quality effluent produced makes them a good solution for water reuse applications and for surface water discharge applications that require extensive nutrient removal.

• MBR/IFAS technology can be designed for and operated in small spaces and has a high removal efficiency of nitrogen, phosphorous, bacteria, biological chemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids.

• Summary of Class 1A Discharge Standards: BOD 10 mg/l, SS 10 mg/l, Total-P 0.5 mg/l, Total-N 15 mg/l

• The project is expected to be completed by December 2010.

About Zhongying Precious Metals Co. Ltd
Zhongying Precious Metals Co. Ltd (Zhongying) was founded in November 2004 with a registered capital amounting to RMB 100 million. It is a privately contributed firm jointly owned by the three largest jewelry dealers in Shenzhen and firms in the Shenzhen building industry. Zhongying has business lines in industrial investment, processing and selling of jewelry, building and owning jewelry processing factories and developing jewelry production centers.

About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets.  Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black & Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, program management, construction management, environmental, security design and consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With $3.2 billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices worldwide (2 in Canada in Edmonton and Markham) and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six continents.  Headquarters in Kansas, USA.    Web: www.bv.com

AFP: India’s Tata launches low-cost water filter for urban poor

India’s giant Tata Group on Monday unveiled a new low-cost water purifier, which it hopes will provide safe drinking water for millions and cut the toll of deadly diseases.

The Tata Swach — named after the Hindi for “clean” — is designed to be used in rural households that have no electricity or running water, using ash from rice milling to filter out bacteria, the company said.

The device, which will cost under 1,000 rupees (21.5 dollars) according to one newspaper report, also uses tiny silver particles to kill harmful germs that can lead to diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid.

R. Gopalakrishnan, executive director of the Tata Group conglomerate, said the Swach was the “first step in a nationwide public effort to offer the consumer and the common citizen his right to have safe drinking water”.

“It’s a right that public policy has sought to fulfil but not very successfully so far,” Gopalakrishnan, who is also vice chairman of Tata Chemicals, told reporters in Mumbai.

According to the UN, more than one in six people worldwide — 894 million — do not have access to clean water for their basic needs, with diarrhoea the leading cause of illness and death, particularly among children.

Nearly 90 percent of deaths from diarrhoea are due to lack of sanitation, unsafe drinking water and water for hygiene. In India, 75 percent of the rural population does not have access to safe drinking water.

The UN World Water Development Report published in March said that better water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources could cut the burden of disease around the world by nearly one tenth.

Tata’s device, based on a larger one that was supplied to areas affected by the December 2004 Asian tsunami, has been in development for three years and is targeted at the 85 percent of Indians who do not currently filter their water.

It has a 9.5-litre (2.5 US gallon) capacity and can filter 3,000 litres until the cartridge has to be replaced, which would last an average family of five for 200 days, Tata Chemicals managing director R. Mukundan said.

A number of other low-cost water purifiers are already on the market, including Hindustan Unilever’s battery-operated Pureit model, which has a 4.5-litre capacity and can filter up to 1,500 litres.

Tata, which also sells the high-end Himalayan brand of mineral water, has invested one billion rupees in the project and aims to sell three million units in the next five years.

The filter, which Mukundan said meets the highest US Environmental Protection Agency standards, removing micro-organisms, colour and odour, has been tested in 600 rural households in four Indian states.

Mukundan said the company would eventually look to sell the device in sub-Saharan Africa but “first we want to address the Indian market because the potential is quite huge”.

Shipra Saxena, the India programme officer for British charity WaterAid, welcomed the filter’s launch.

Asked why private companies were providing a basic service normally carried out by governments, she told AFP by email: “Every player has some role to play. That is why the public-private partnership has gained prominence.

“The government is doing appreciable work but then the scale is a problem… private players can pitch in.”

Source: Agence-France Presse (AFP), December 7, 2009

RBC Blue Water Project

RBC Blue Water Project commits $1 million to help rebuild Haiti infrastructure Canada NewsWire, 22 January 2010, 569 Words, (English) TORONTO, Jan. 22 /CNW/ — TORONTO, Jan. 22 /CNW/ – RBC today announced that the RBC Blue Water Project will commit $1 million to support the efforts of ONE DROP and Oxfam to provide access to water and sanitation to the people of Haiti and rebuild small water and sanitation infrastructure in the country.

The RBC Blue Water Project is a wide-ranging, multi-year program to help foster a culture of water stewardship, so that people have clean fresh water today and tomorrow.

Part of the RBC Blue Water Project is a grant program of $50 million over ten years. Through the RBC Blue Water Project, we will also:

• Reduce the intensity of RBC’s own water footprint;
• Embark on education and awareness programs for employees and clients to promote sustainable water use and create an understanding of the value and vulnerability of our water resources;
• Increase our ability to provide financial services to innovative water technology companies and water-related services, and encourage the growth of this business sector;
• Encourage other organizations to get involved, fostering collaboration among and between all sectors.

As of January 1, 2010  RBC is accepting applications for RBC Blue Water Project Leadership Grants. Eligible organizations with programs dedicated to watershed protection or access to clean drinking water may apply for grants ranging from $25,000 to $500,000, using a form available online.

Applications are due at 5 p.m., EDT,
March 12, 2010. Successful applicants will be advised in early June, 2010.

IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition 19–24 September 2010

IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition 19–24 September 2010

Montréal, Canada Water is the lifeblood of the world and never more so than in Montréal, Canada, where 4,500 water professionals will gather in September 2010 for the International Water Association (IWA) World Water Congress and Exhibition.

The key topics to be discussed at this event are:

• Science and application of water management

• Water, climate and energy

• Cities of the future

• Managing utilities and their assets

• Securing new and traditional water resources for the future

• Water, ecosystems and catchments

• Water and health

• Water and wastewater in developing countries.

The IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition is a high-profile biennial event that in previous years has been held in Vienna, Beijing, Marrakech, Melbourne, Berlin and Paris. In 2010, the Association is partnering with the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) and the Canadian Association on Water Quality (CAWQ) to hold the event in Montréal.

The International Water Association is a global network of 10,000 individual and 400 corporate water professionals in 130 countries. IWA members span the continuum between research and practice and cover all facets of the water cycle, from the science and management of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater to the conservation of water resources throughout the world.

ADB: Uzbekistan: US$ 60 million ADB loan to support water supply and sanitation

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Republic of Uzbekistan have signed a US$ 60 million loan agreement to support the government’s efforts to strengthen the water supply and sanitation sector.The loan, from ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund, is the first tranche of a US$ 300 million multi tranche financing facility (MFF) – ADB’s first MFF investment program to Uzbekistan. The programme aims to improve the living standards, environment, and health of three million people in Uzbekistan.

Since 2000, ADB he provided US$ 193.1 million in loans and US$ 5.1 million in grants to the water supply and sanitation sector sector.

The loan will finance improvements to water source and distribution systems in Damkhodja and 11 district centres in Bukhara and Navoi provinces, as well as upgrade wastewater treatment plant and sewerage systems in the capital city of Surkhandarya province. The programme will also strengthen water supply and sanitation institutions and support capacity development. A performance-based service contract and lease contract will be piloted for service agencies to encourage more private investment in the sector. The loan will include programme preparation and management support to implement the loan and to prepare and design the remaining tranches under the investment program.

The total project costs are estimated at US$ 75 million. ADB will provide a US$ 60 million loan with repayment term of 32 years, including a grace period of eight years with an interest charge of 1% per year, rising to 1.5% for the balance of the term.

Source: ADB, 01 Dec 2009

China CSR: China’s First Water Ecosystem Pilot Program Accepted

China’s First Water Ecosystem Pilot Program Accepted

26 October 2009 – The Wuhan water ecosystem protection and restoration pilot program has just passed acceptance by the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China and Hubei provincial government — making Wuhan the first city in China to have achieved this level.

Wuhan, with a total water area of 2117.6 square kilometers and many rivers and lakes, has been nicknamed “The City of a Hundred Lakes.” However, the city’s water ecosystem has been seriously polluted in recent years. After inspection and assessment, Wuhan was made one of the pilot cities by MWR in 2005.

Industry professionals say that Wuhan’s successful experience in water ecosystem protection and restoration not only improves the city’s water environment, but also offers valuable experience to the whole country on water ecosystem protection and restoration.

With the increase in population and the rapid economic development, China’s ecosystem, particularly the water ecosystem, is under more and more pressure and this has seriously hindered sustainable social and economic development. MWR has been carrying out water ecosystem protection and restoration projects since 2004 in the hope of maintaining the normal operation of the water ecosystem. Between 2005 and 2008, MWR chose ten cities in China: Wuxi, Wuhan, Guilin, Laizhou, Lishui, Xinbin county in Liaoning, Fenghuang County in Hunan, Songyuan, Xingtai, and Xi’an to run the water ecosystem protection and restoration program on a trial basis.

This article is reproduced with kind permission of ChinaCSR
For more news and articles visit the ChinaCSR website.

Managing Water in Southern China

A series of droughts in China, including some earlier this year, has raised concerns that Hong Kong’s water supply might not be as secure as had been thought.

Drinking water has rarely been a concern in Hong Kong, where the supply has historically been plentiful and affordable. But a series of droughts in China, including some earlier this year, has raised concerns that Hong Kong’s water supply might not be as secure as had been thought.

Civic Exchange, a public policy research group based in Hong Kong, has released a report titled ”Liquid Assets,” highlighting water security and management in the Pearl River Basin and Hong Kong.

The report warns that South China’s supply of water – which comes from the Dongjiang, a major tributary of the Pearl River – is threatened by climate change and pollution. Additionally, there is growing competition from industries in the surrounding Guangdong wetlands.

Mike Kilburn, Civic Exchange’s environmental program manager, said that ”while China protects classic farmlands, the story of Guangdong is relentless development.”

”Ecologically, the delta is not in good shape,” Mr. Kilburn said.

The authors of the report said at a news conference that Hong Kong’s water prices were a significant part of the problem, as low prices encouraged consumption.

The International Water Association reports that Hong Kong’s water tariffs are among the lowest in the world, while its per capita consumption of water is among the highest.

According to Civic Exchange’s representatives, the most immediate way to manage the use of water resources is to raise the price, but they acknowledged that political issues might make raising rates difficult.

They also believe that Hong Kong and Macao should be brought in on the discussions relating to water management in South China.

Currently Hong Kong’s role is limited to ”water supplies management” – negotiating long-term fixed rates for water – rather than ”total water management,” which would look beyond the pricing issue at things like conservation, adaptation measures and preservation of South China’s wetlands.

”Hong Kong does not have a water policy,” said Christine Loh, a former Hong Kong legislator and the founder of Civic Exchange. ”What we have is a water department that looks at things like piping, cleaning and negotiating water prices with Guangdong, but this is a supply-led attitude.”

Ms. Loh said Hong Kong needed a demand-oriented water policy and total water management system that looked at broader factors to secure the long-term water supply. Factors include raising tariffs, increasing conservation measures, generating awareness campaigns and planning for alternative sources like desalination plants.

Source: International Herald Tribune, December 30, 2009