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Water Utility Management International • September 2014 News Contents SEPTEMBER 2014 I water VOLUME 9 ISSUE 3 utility management INTER N ATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS ENERGY EFFICIENCY Saving energy and cutting water treatment costs on the US-Mexico border TARIFFS CUSTOMER SERVICES Incorporating marginal costs in water supply tariffs: prospects for change Improving utility customer services: the case of Eau de Paris PLUS ... A new data paradigm for water management NEWS Research finds common coagulant could corrode sewers research team at the University of that take up the hydrogen sulphide and effect for sewers downstream. AQueensland has discovered that a oxidise it to form sulphuric acid. The researchers undertook a two-year common coagulant used in drinking water The team, led by Professor Zhiguo sampling programme in South East treatment can be a prime contributor to Yuan, concluded that to reduce sulphide Queensland, conducted an industry survey global sewer corrosion. formation, it was necessary to reduce either across the country, and undertook a global Aluminium sulphate (alum) is widely the sulphate or the organics in wastewater, literature review and a comprehensive used as a coagulant as it is relatively the latter not being a viable option. They model-based scenario analysis of the cheap and widely available. The paper, recommended that utilities move to sul - various possible sources of sulphate to published in the journal Science, reveals phate-free coagulants, in order to reduce reach its conclusions. that the coagulant is the main source concrete corrosion by 35% after just ten The team also recommends a of over 50% of the sulphate found in hours and up to 60% over a longer period more fully integrated approach to wastewater, which in turn is indirectly of time, generating potentially large savings urban water management to identify the primary source of hydrogen sulphide. in sewer maintenance. other interactions, noting that the main This gas is well known as the cause of rapid The research also discovered that reason the connection had not been degradation in concrete sewers, sometimes the production process for desalinated realised earlier is the institutional reducing their life by up to 90%. or recycled water normally eliminates separation of the urban water system The mechanism for the degradation is sulphate from the final produced water, into water and wastewater services, the presence of microbes on sewer walls creating a potentially valuable protective often run by separate organisations. G Opponents go to court over Israel fluoridation ban group of public health experts and since the 1980s, and until the ban around regarding the amount of fluoride actually Asenior dentists opposed to health 70% of the country’s water was fluoridated. consumed, which could lead to excessive minister Yael German’s decision to end The decision to halt fluoridation came in a consumption. Supply of fluoridated fluoridation in Israel have filed an appeal 2013 Supreme Court ruling that estab - water forces those who do not so wish in the country’s High Court. lished a deadline of a year to end the to also consume water with added The group allege that the decision will practice following a report by the Adin fluoride. This approach is therefore not ‘cause harm to public health and signifi - committee, which recommended ending accepted in most countries in the world,’ cantly increase the gap in dental health mandatory fluoridation but also suggested the ministry said. between the well-off and the poor’. allowing local decision making on whether The lawyer for the public health group, German is a long-time opponent of to fluoridate. Joseph Havillio, told press: ‘Fluoridation mandatory fluoridation – in 2002 she A ministry of health press release at must be a scientific decision and not a headed one of a number of local authorities the time of the ban argued that ‘only some political one, so it is absolutely unreason - attempting to end fluoridation of the coun - 1% of the water is used for drinking’, and able that the minister decided it on her try’s drinking water, a stance opposed by cited scientific evidence that fluoride in own, in contravention of the advice of the the health ministry at the time. large amounts can damage health. professional level in her office and of the Fluoride has been added by law to the ‘When fluoride is supplied via medical and academic establishment in public drinking water supply in Israeli towns drinking water, there is no control Israel and abroad.’ G ADB approves $49 million loan and grant UK gives $252 million to fund Tanzania for Armenia’s ageing water system water and sanitation initiatives he Asian Development Bank results and joint work on more he UK has announced to aid Tanzania to transition Thas approved a $49 million effective and timely ways to Tfunding of $252 million for from a low to middle-income loan and a technical assistance achieve them. Tanzania’s water and sanitation economy. grant of $900,000 to support The programme blends sector programmes for the WSDP on the other hand, the sustainability of Armenia’s expertise and resources from period 2014-2019. The UK’s whose DFID funding by 2019 road and water sectors, which government planning, finance Department for International will go up to $113 million, have deteriorated due to limited and sector agencies with civil Development (DFID) acting head is a four-component water investments and public manage - society, user groups and devel - for Tanzania, Ros Cooper, said and sanitation development ment system challenges. opment partners, who together the funding will support the initiative focusing on water Half of the country’s water will help to ensure a realistic country’s Big Results Now resources management, rural system needs to be upgraded, course of action. initiative and also complements water supply and sanitation and many rural areas lack The programme is intended the second phase of the Water services, urban water supply access to clean piped water. to produce a more integrated Sector Development Programme and sewerage services and The programme will promote approach to road and water (WSPD). finally sector institutional more efficient service delivery management, with deeper The Big Results Now strengthening and capacity through a clearer focus on reforms in both sectors. G initiative is a plan developed building. G 2 • WATER UTILITY MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS CONTENTS New Zealand review gives clean bill of health to fluoride he addition of fuoride to drinking water is also being keenly Tdebated in New Zealand, where a review into the health effects of water fluoridation has found ‘no adverse effects of any signifi - cance’ from adding fluoride to public water supplies. The report, commissioned by the New Zealand chief science advisor Sir Peter Gluckman and Royal Society of New Zealand president Sir David Skegg, was the work of an expert panel that looked in particular at the claims that fluoride contributes to the risk of a spread of illnesses and conditions. The report concluded that fluoride ‘does not pose appreciable risks of harm to human health’, including in particular cancer, bone fractures, effects on cognition, reproduction, endocrine function, cardiovascular and renal effects, and effects on the immune system. The report found that the only side effect from fluoridation at the FEATURES levels used in New Zealand (between 0.7 and 1mg/l) was mild dental fluorosis, which can cause minor mottling on teeth. It was 5 CUSTOMER SERVICES found that this was as prevalent in non-fluoridated areas as in Improving utility customer services: fluoridated ones, suggesting it was caused by other sources such the case of Eau de Paris as children swallowing toothpaste. By Xavier Fanchtein It dismissed a much-publicised review from China that claimed fluoridation could reduce children’s IQs by up to one point as not having considered other sources for the issue and suggested the 8 ENERGY EFFICIENCY low observed decrease was ‘likely to be a measurement or statisti - Saving energy and cutting water cal artefact of no functional significance’. An extensive study in treatment costs on the US-Mexico New Zealand found no link, the report added. border The review found ‘compelling evidence’ that fluoridation at By Robert Lonergan, Roberto Molina, Renata Manning-Gbogbo, Frank established and recommended levels produced ‘broad benefits’ Bracamonte and George Hunter for dental health. It also cleared the use of fluoridated water for making up baby milk. Fluoridation in New Zealand, which is being undertaken by 21 of the country’s councils and is not used by 44, has met with vocal 12 TARIFFS opposition from protest groups, which led the councils to call for Incorporating marginal costs in water the federal government to take charge of fluoridation policy earlier supply tariffs: prospects for change By George Anstey and Tom Graham this year. Anti-fluoride group Fluoride Action Network NZ spokesperson Mary Byrne voiced concerns to press about the scope of the review, and said of the panel that she ‘would imagine it was just 16 DATA MANAGEMENT going to be very pro-fluoridation.’ She also voiced concerns that A new paradigm for water the review did not address the ‘broader philosophical issues’ management surrounding fluoridation. G By Nitin Kapoor and Gautam Menon Suez signs framework agreement with La Caixa bank uez Environnement has announced that it is signing a framework Sagreement to acquire the remaining 24.1% of its stake in Spain’s Aguas de Barcelona (Agbar) from Spanish savings bank La Caixa, in exchange for 22 million new Suez shares and €299 million ($404 million) in cash. The move will give La Caixa a 4.1% holding in Suez, making it the company’s second-largest stakeholder – there is also an intention to reach up to a 7% stake ‘in the near term’, Suez says.
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