United water awarded grant from water research foundation
Harrington park, n.j.--(business wire)--united water, one of the nation’s leading water services companies, announced today that it has been awarded a research grant from the water research foundation in denver, co. the water research foundation is an internationally recognized leader in water research that is dedicated to advancing the science of water by sponsoring cutting-edge research and promoting collaboration. the total value of the research project, which is to evaluate the use of water-resistant membranes to remove certain harmful chemicals, known as volatile organic compounds (vocs) from drinking water, is $523,000. the water research foundation will contribute $175,000 and suez environnement, united water’s parent company, will contribute $200,000. another $148,000 of in-kind contributions will be made by project team members. “we are very grateful for the support of the water research foundation on this important research project aimed at protecting the quality and reliability of the water delivered to our consumers,” said bertrand camus, ceo of united water. “the grant will offer us an opportunity to achieve progress in advanced treatment of surface water and groundwater resources in order to protect them, while mitigating the impacts of climate change on the water cycle.” previous testing by united water has shown that using low-cost membrane technology is effective in removing potentially harmful chemicals such as vocs. they include tetrachloroethylene, used in dry cleaning; radon, a colorless, odorless, naturally occurring gas formed from the disintegration of radium; and trihalomethanes, a byproduct of water chlorination. the objective of this project is to better understand how the membrane works and what is needed to maintain it. in addition to united water, the team working on the research project consists of confluence engineering group, llc of seattle, wa; williams mccarron inc. of long beach, ca; the city of redmond, wa’s sammamish plateau water and sewer district; the united states bureau of water reclamation; the suffolk county water authority in long island, ny; and layne christensen, mission woods, ks. about the water research foundation the water research foundation is an internationally recognized leader in water research that is dedicated to advancing the science of water by sponsoring cutting-edge research and promoting collaboration. for 45 years, the foundation has worked with a variety of professional partners to identify, prioritize, fund, manage, and communicate scientifically-sound research across the globe. the foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that carefully invests research dollars from more than 950 subscribing organizations in the u.s. and abroad to tackle an array of issues related to the treatment and delivery of clean drinking water. since 1966, they have managed more than 1,000 high-impact research studies valued at more than $500 million. about united water united water is one of the nation’s leading environmental companies, employing 2,350 men and women who provide water and wastewater services to approximately 5.5 million people in 21 states throughout the country. in addition to owning and operating 18 water utilities, united water operates 90 municipal and industrial water and wastewater systems through innovative public-private partnerships and contract agreements. founded in 1869, united water is a subsidiary of suez environnement. about suez environnement natural resources are not infinite. each day, suez environnement (paris: sev, brussels: sevb) and its subsidiaries deal with the challenge of protecting resources by providing innovative solutions to industries and to millions of people. suez environnement supplies drinking water to 97 million people, provides wastewater treatment services for 66 million people and collects the waste produced by close to 50 million people. suez environnement has 80,410 employees and, with its presence on a global scale, is a world leader exclusively dedicated to environmental services. suez environnement, a 35.7% gdf suez affiliate, reported sales turnover of 14.8 billion euros ($18.8 billion usd) at the end of financial year 2012.
