Business News Round Up - Feb. 15
Editor's Note: Each week, Water & Wastes Digest will post an aggregate of business news briefs and networking news items to keep you informed on facility openings, business mergers and purchases, changes in personnel and award notifications, among others in the water and wastewater treatment industries. If you have business news briefs you would like included in this weekly round up, please email the press release, photo and a link to the post on your website to [email protected] with the subject line "Business News Round Up." One news item per company per week will be posted.
Energy & Utility CEOs Launch a Sector Inclusion Commitment
CEOs from 32 of the country’s leading energy and utilities employers have launched a sector Inclusion Commitment that is a long-term commitment to attract more diverse and inclusive talent into their industry, reflecting the communities they serve.
The Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership, led by sector employers, recognized in its Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy: 2020 that its current workforce fails to fully represent the 65 million people it serves every day. It’s no great surprise that 83% of the sector’s workforce are male, compared to 47% for all sectors nationally. Women, people with disabilities, the BAME community and under 24s have traditionally been under-represented in the energy and utilities sector, compared to national averages.
Trelleborg Assumes Full Ownership of Joint Venture
On Feb. 5, 2019, Trelleborg, through its Trelleborg Industrial Solutions business area, assumed full ownership of the joint venture with Max Seal. This includes a manufacturing facility based in Tijuana, Mexico, that produces watertight seals for a variety of plastic and double corrugated wall pipe systems for water and wastewater.
Since 2014, Trelleborg and Max Seal have been developing and manufacturing polymer-based sealing systems together. The operation has already been fully consolidated financially and on Feb. 5, 2019, Trelleborg acquired the remaining 49% of the shares of Max Seal. The 130 employees become part of the Americas organization of Trelleborg seals and profiles operation.
Rehau Expands Municipal Water & Wastewater Line
Rehau is offering two additional cross-linked polyethylene PEXa pipes in their municipal piping program. In addition to Municipex water service line, the expanded product range now includes Municipex pre-insulated for cold-weather applications and Municipex force main for wastewater applications.
“With more than 1 billion ft of Rehau PEXa pipe installed worldwide and many North American water service projects, municipalities have reason to trust Municipex to safely and efficiently transport potable water,” said Dale Gentry, Rehau Municipex national account manager. “Now, with our expanded line including pre-insulated and force main, we are building on this proven performance with cold-weather and wastewater solutions. These products offer the efficient installation and longevity that municipalities have come to expect from Municipex water service line.”
Tsurumi Pumps to Feature Pumps at Trade Show
Tsurumi Pump will bring its industry-leading products to the American Rental Association annual trade show. This year’s event will take place Feb. 17-20 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. Tsurumi will occupy booth number 4313. As an added benefit to its customers, there will be specials offered at the booth.
“Tsurumi Pump is a well-respected, global manufacturer of some of the most durable pumps you’ll find on the market today,” said Glenn Wieczorek, managing director of Tsurumi Pump in North America. “The company has been extremely successful within the rental market which is a true testament to the reliability of our pumps.”
IDE Technologies to Design a Desalination Plant
IDE Technologies has announced that it has been chosen by Teck Resources Limited (Teck), to design and supply the desalination plant for the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) project in Chile. QB2 is an extension of Teck’s existing Quebrada Blanca operation in Chile. The desalination plant will be located at the port site for the QB2 copper mine in the Tarapacá region and will be the second largest seawater desalination plant in Chile.
IDE’s experience encompasses more than 400 desalination plants worldwide, with more than 20 successfully operating desalination plants in Chile. The new SWRO desalination plant for the QB2 project will produce high-quality water for use in the copper concentrator. IDE's design of the QB2 desalination plant will be in accordance with the stringent environmental requirements and safety regulations in Chile.
Inductive Automation & FreeWave Technologies Team Up
Inductive Automation and FreeWave Technologies are taking charge to advance the true benefits of IIoT networks by providing increased data visibility and a more reliable data network for industrial IoT customers with remote assets.
Ignition Edge MQTT can run on FreeWave’s hardened, C1D2 ZumIQ Edge Computer and the ZumLink IQ Intelligent Edge Radio to flawlessly perform edge-based data collection using various industrial protocols and data publishing using MQTT. This publish/subscribe architecture provides granular data to anyone on the network and the proven ruggedness of the Zum platform provides a reliable home for applications that place analytics and intelligence alongside remote assets.
Milliken Infrastructure Solutions New Website
Milliken Infrastructure Solutions, LLC has announced a the official launch of a brand new website with the intent to improve each user’s experience as he or she navigates to find resources and information based on product, industry or resource preference.
“A website is not only a billboard for the company but part of a brand promise. While our previous site contained a significant amount of the content we wanted to deliver, we heard from customers and partners the need for not only more detailed technical information but also easier navigation and download,” said John Hepfinger, Global Market Director. “As we continuously strive to make more meaningful connections to our infrastructure customers, it only made sense to enhance one of those avenues for engagement.”
ASSE International Publishes Revised Performance Requirements
ASSE 1055-2018, has been designated as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is now available for purchase.
Chemical dispensing systems with integral backflow protection provide a means of mixing potable water with chemicals to provide the user with a chemical solution that is ready for use. In industrial and institutional cleaning operations, it is desirable and convenient to dispense cleaning solutions derived from potable water and concentrated products; however, a dispensing device connected directly to the potable supply constitutes a cross-connection, which could be a source of contamination to the potable water. ASSE 1055 identifies accepted methods of backflow protection, as well as test methods for evaluating backflow systems incorporated into a chemical dispensing system.
Industrial Flow Solutions Announces Merger of BJM Pumps & Stancor
May River Capital, together with Longview Asset Management and Knox Capital Holdings LLC, completed a merger that brings together Stancor, L.P. with BJM Pumps LLC. The merged businesses will be a part of Industrial Flow Solutions, which specializes in the design, manufacturing, sales and service of pumping and fluid management solutions for harsh, rugged environments.
Stancor has more than 30 years of experience designing and manufacturing Electrical Submersible Pumps and pumping controls systems. The company is headquartered in Monroe, CT with a satellite manufacturing site in Prospect, CT. Stancor delivers solutions based on integrated pump and control systems, including its popular Oil Minder product. The company serves building trades, construction, mining, utilities and wastewater customers.
Networking News
- American Water names Kevin Kirwan Senior Vice President and Chief Environmental and Operational Excellence Officer.
- Kevin Barker Selected as New President of Beckhoff Automation LLC.
- Venkee Sharma, CEO of Aquatech International, has been appointed to serve on the U.S. – India CEO Forum.