American Water Engineering Practice Leader to Participate in C2ES Webinar

American Water announced Suzanne Chiavari, engineering practice leader, will speak on a webinar hosted by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) July 24, 2014 at 2 p.m. EST.

During the webinar, titled “Innovation and Effective Stakeholder Engagement on Water and Energy Issues,” Chiavari will describe American Water’s recent work using renewable energy technologies, and how the company has engaged community partners to establish greater integration across its resource management activities.

One example is American Water’s use of solar energy. American Water has installed over 3.1 mW of direct current of solar generating capacity at 11 facilities across three states (New Jersey, Illinois and Missouri). The first solar installation was a 500-kW facility constructed in N.J. in 2005 and today, that same expanded facility generates more than 800,000 kilowatt-hours per year of clean energy and provides 20% of the peak usage power to run the water treatment plant. Other facilities include a floating 115-kW solar array on a reservoir at the Canoe Brook Water Treatment Plant in Milburn, N.J.; an 890-kW ground mounted facility in Mansfield, N.J. that powers 50 percent of the well station at peak load, and the most recent addition of a 25-kW array in Brunswick, Mo.  

American Water also patented NPXpress, a nitrogen and phosphorus removal process for wastewater treatment that offers reduced energy requirements and chemical consumption. It has reduced aeration energy use by up to 50% and supplemental carbon source by 100% at two full-scale wastewater treatment plants in Mapleton and Jefferson Peaks, N.J. 

Additionally, American Water has formed a partnership with ENBALA Power Networks. ENBALA’s technology connects the demand-side assets of industrial and institutional electricity users to the Smart Grid to provide Grid Balance to electricity system operators. The technology manages the way electrical equipment—which in this case is American Water’s treatment plants and pumps—uses power without impacting the efficiency of its process or its operational costs.

This is the third and final webinar in a series sponsored by the Assn. for Metropolitan Water Agencies, the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions intended to help utility managers address issues across the water-energy nexus.

Source: American Water