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Award recognises innovation in drinking water technology
December 10, 2012
Award recognises innovation in drinking water technology
A water treatment process that has cut Wellington Regional Council’s chemical bill by a quarter has won recognition at the New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards.
Judges described the Com::pass process, winner of this year’s Chemical Bio and Food Award, as an innovative solution to a problem experienced worldwide – namely, responding quickly to variations in impurities entering water treatment plants with precisely adjusted amounts of chemicals.
Com::pass combines advanced instrumentation technology and software to calculate the exact amount of chemicals necessary to remove impurities.
The process was developed by Martinborough-based consultancy h2ope Ltd and the New Zealand arm of DCM Process Control Ltd in conjunction with the regional council.
Regional council water supply group manager Chris Laidlow said the savings in chemicals and improvements in water quality had sparked worldwide interest.
He said the savings now amounted to about 1,000 tonnes of chemicals, or $250,000, a year.
“Our original intention was to improve water quality and treatment plant reliability, though it has had the added benefit of lower running costs.
“Com::pass has mainly attracted international interest and sales from Australia and Britain, but also from places as far afield as China, South Korea, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Europe.”
The process is also in use at plants in Dunedin, New Plymouth, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Matamata and Hamilton.
Mr Laidlow said the regional council began operating a prototype at its Wainuiomata plant in 2007 and introduced the process at its main Te Marua plant in 2009.
“This has proven to be a great example of collaboration between the public and private sectors, with h2ope and DCM Process Control each providing their particular expertise and our own staff technical staff also making a contribution to development.
“We are continuing to provide input to further development as well as making available the infrastructure on which to test improvements.”
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