Recap: Swiss Cleanwater Group at "Planning for the future: how to use our water resources more efficiently"

Sustainable Water Treatment by Swiss Cleanwater Group

Kim Weis Hansen, CEO Swiss Cleanwater Group
15 January 2013

Swiss Cleanwater Group contributed with the more technological approach towards a solution that could help provide millions with clean drinking water, whilst not needing vast amounts of chemicals or energy.

From the previous presentations at the seminar, it was clear that solutions such as desalination and reverse osmosis were frequently used, not by free will, but more because of lacking alternatives.

Kim Weis Hansen, CEO. Photos: Hasse Ferrold

Below you can see the slides of the time-limited 15 minute presentation:

We cannot survive without water... food we can do without for a couple of weeks, but water is something we must have.

There are no substitutes for water, you cannot switch water with cola or something different. Water is a resource.

Its not only us humans that need QUALITY water - its also so many other things that make everything in a world function.

We have less and less access to clean drinking water due to all types of water pollution.

If this is the total water supply....

Then less than this droplet is what we can drink.

...and these factors are just an eye-opener to why water problems are becoming bigger.

In our area in San Diego, the water prices have risen by 65%!!! We should think we were dealing with oil...

Other water treatment uses too many chemicals and too much energy.

Here are some of the common systems on the market that are used for water treatment.

We wanted to create a solution that could fill the gap of an environmentally friendly solution.

Output-wise this is where we would place the Swiss Cleanwater Machine.

These are just some of the benefits of Swiss Cleanwater Machines - see all here:
http://www.swiss-cleanwater-group.com/en/the-scg-advantage.html

A quick overview of one of the three available machines.

This is what our core competency is.

One of our NGO cases from Ethiopia

A mobile water treatment case from Germany. See here for Mobile Water Treatment.

Its a global challenge we all need to face.

This is one of our patented water kiosks.

...perfect for disaster water treatment, and can be powered by solar power.

Remember the name ;-) we are here to stay...

You want to know more or find out how you can get clean water?

The objective of the presentation was to show the various stakeholders present that it is possible to provide clean drinking water, through a new way of treating water.

The presentation did not go into technical details as this was not the right audience for that, if you are looking for a deeper explanation of how a Swiss Cleanwater Machine works, then you can read about it here: http://www.swiss-cleanwater-group.com/en/purification-of-water.html

You can also see a short video clip explanation on that page.

Recap: Flood risk assessment in urban areas and how to adapt

Today we will recap the presentation by Rambøll at the event "Planning for the future: how to use our water resources more efficiently", 15 January 2012.

Rambøll - Flood risk assessment in urban areas and how to adapt
by Henrik Sønderup

Rambøll have been doing a lot of interesting work and research on flood risk assessment after the heavy rains in Denmark on July 2nd, 2011.

Looking at various parameters Rambøll has been able to create an assessment of which areas of Frederiksberg, in Copenhagen, would require the most attention in case such floods repeated itself.
Basically this is calculating estimated annual costs due to flooding - and what is the likelihood of flooding in a specific location and what are the costs?

The first part of the question is easy for engineers to assess and answer, yet the second part of the question takes into account not only the financial costs of flooding but also the human costs. Damage costs are usually available from the insurance companies, or local authorities.

EUs flooding directive - climate adaption plans is established "to assess if all water courses and coast lines are at risk from flooding, to map the flood extent and assets and humans at risk in these areas and to take adequate and coordinated measures to reduce this flood risk."

By using integrated modelling to assess the risk of flooding Rambøll is able to make justifiable claims to where resources should be put to use in the case of a disaster. However, what are the socioeconomic consequences of floods? This can be examined on various levels; on a national level, on a city level even down to an individual business.

To round off the presentation, the concept of adapting urbanization to prepare for flooding, looked at how open spaces and recreational areas could become basins for potential flood water, and how old rivers such as "Ladegaards Å" which runs underground through Frederiksberg can be used to divert flood waters efficiently.

Review of the event: Planning for the future: how to use our water resources more efficiently

Swiss Cleanwater Group participated at the event entitled "Planning for the future: how to use our water resources more efficiently" organized by the British Chamber of Commerce in Denmark and the European Environment agency.

Different stakeholders presented their viewpoints on how we will need to deal with relevant water issues in the coming years.

Over the next couple of days we will bring a recap of the various presentations, today:

BMW Group: Corporate Sustainability and Water Management

Ursula Mathar, VP for Sustainability and
Environmental Protection, BMW Group

Ursula Mathar, VP for Sustainability and Environmental Protection, BMW Group discussed the driving factors to achieve sustainable mobility in the future. For BMW the 6 key factors that were focused on in their sustainability efforts were:

• Environment
• Urbanization
• Politics and Regulations
• Economic
• Culture
• Customer Expectations

From BMWs point of view, sustainability comes with being a premium brand. It is being driven not only by the first five factors above, but also customer expectations. On all levels sustainability is and integral part of the corporate number one strategy.

Ursula Mathar, then discussed "How can sustainability create innovation so we take it to the next level?". A very interesting viewpoint that places sustainability as a catalyst for creating innovation, and not innovation to create sustainability.

At the BMW Group there are 17 production sites globally - all of which are ISO14001 certified. Focusing on the water aspect of sustainability, BMW looks at how they can reduce water usage and how they process wastewater. At their plant in Landshut, they have implemented a new way of preparing plastics using O2 snow, rather than water and have "closed the circuit" so to say and are successfully reusing water.

At BMW, water consumption has fallen by 30% over the last 5 years per vehicle produced. That is a step in the right direction. At BMW the main water usage has come from the paint shop, which now has more effective ways of using water.

Water efficiency - providing the context and offering solutions

Panel debate on water efficiency at the European Environmental Agency in Copenhagen, Denmark

Date: Jan 15, 2012

Professor Jacqueline McGlade
Executive Director, EEA

The following points were presented by Professor Jacqueline McGlade:

We just came out of the year of water so it is a great time to reflect on the previous year.

Is it about efficiency or savings?
Efficiency is technology, savings is human behaviour. In the end we want to achieve the same things.

Report: Climate Impact report from EEA
The need for efficiency is clear. Countries need to manage their water and decide to which use what should be put. Public, industry and secure water for ecosystems.

You can download the report here from the EEA:
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/climate-impacts-and-vulnerability-2012

Some time you do not want to be too efficient. In the beverage industry, they are afraid of the poorly increasing water which means further complications in their manufacturing processes. Its about using the right water, not using the least amount of water.

The European Environmental Agency has focused on thematic areas which are:

• European waters - assessment of status and pressures 
• Towards efficient use of water resources in Europe 
• European waters in the context of vulnerability
• European waters current status and future challenges - a synthesis

A quick explanation

Status assessment
What is actually in this water?

Water efficiency
Using different criteria to try to understand how different organizations could use water. How do we fill the gaps?

Water vulnerability
This is more regarding the climate and the changes experienced.

A quarter of water in Europe is used for irrigation. Using water in an efficient manner such as means of delivering water.

A lot of Europe does not have water pricing. That is going to be the next revolution where the rest of Europe will move towards more structure water pricing. It is extremely important to be getting the price right.

EIP
Fostering innovation in industry regarding water sections. See more here: http://ec.europa.eu/cip/eip/index_en.htm

Key Messages from presentation
- Good water management needs water and energy efficiency
- Full stakeholder participation is needed
- A fair and transparent structure of water pricing needs to be established
- Will act as incentives to industry to provide technological innovation

SCM 24 at home in the “Museo del Agua”

Our SCM 24 has been installed in the Museo del Agua in the Valley of Tehuacan, Puebla. Here are pictures from the fantastic day.

Passing by Evian

Being in the water business, we felt it would be fun to bring you some photos from one of the most famous "water cities" in the world, Evian in France.


View Larger Map

A view over the lake towards Switzerland

The following images are from the Evian museum in the city.

Our Mobile Water Treatment Solution in Video

Our mobile water treatment solution is sometimes to good to be true for some people, therefore we made a short video clip from our R&D facility which shows a Swiss Cleanwater Machine being moved around:



If you want to read more about our mobile water treatment solutions