United water signs 5-year contract with town of poughkeepsie, ny, to
operate wastewater facilities
Harrington park, n.j.--(business wire)--united water, a suez environnement subsidiary, announced it reached an agreement with the town of poughkeepsie, new york, for a five year contract to operate, maintain and manage its arlington and country club wastewater treatment facilities. the agreement calls for reduced operating costs, improved operational efficiencies, facility upgrades and stronger environmental compliance. the contract is valued at about $6.5 million over the five year term. "in these difficult economic times, the town must investigate all opportunities to reduce costs and improve efficiencies in the delivery of services to our residents. the partnership between the town and united water is the result of a comprehensive effort to understand how best to deliver sewer services in a cost effective manner,” said stephan l. krakower, town councilman. “united water brings a high level of knowledge and expertise to our town which will result in real savings in operational costs and on capital improvements over the next five years.” as a part of its work, united water will make improvements to the arlington facility. the major upgrades include disinfection system modifications, resulting in better chemical management, as well as needed safety improvements that create a safer work environment for employees. additionally, united water will discontinue the current practice of sludge incineration which will significantly reduce electrical and fossil fuel use as well as the carbon footprint of the facility. “we are pleased to be a part of the solution that helps the town of poughkeepsie provide efficient and sustainable wastewater treatment services to its residents,” said bertrand camus, ceo of united water. “united water’s professional management and experience with an aging infrastructure brings the opportunity to optimize the facility’s operations, improve the environment and minimize the need for future expensive capital projects. we look forward to serving the community.” the wastewater facilities serve about 15,000 residents. the arlington facility has an average dry weather daily flow of 2.5 million gallon a day (mgd) and a design capacity of 4 mgd. the country club facility has an average dry weather daily flow of 40,000 gallons a day and a design capacity of 60,000 gallons a day. about united water united water is one of the nation’s leading environmental companies, providing water and wastewater services to approximately 7 million people in the united states. in addition to owning and operating 20 water utilities, the company operates more than 200 municipal and industrial water and wastewater systems through innovative public-private partnerships and contract agreements. united water’s affiliate, utility service company, is the nation’s leading provider of long-term asset management contracts for water storage facilities with municipal and industrial clients. 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 to protect resources by providing innovative solutions to industries and to millions of people. suez environnement supplies drinking water to 91 million people, provides wastewater treatment services for 61 million people and collects the waste produced by 50 million people. suez environnement has 79,554 employees and, with its presence on a global scale, is the world’s leader exclusively dedicated to environmental services. suez environnement, a 35.4% gdf suez affiliate, reported sales turnover of 13.9 billion euros ($18.5 billion usd) at the end of financial year 2010.
