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January 2010
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SPECIALIST ARTICLE NO. 1 - Mission: Save Lives

Water is becoming increasingly scarce - a case for the valve industry

The increasing scarcity of water is one of the biggest challenges of this century. The valve and sealing industry has long recognized the problem and its economic importance and is already making a valuable contribution to supplying people the world over with water.

The world’s water supply situation is already dramatic. 1.2 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. Almost one in six people is affected. The insufficient provision of adequate sanitary facilities is also already alarming – 2.6 billion people lack such facilities. Agriculture also suffers from the shortage of water. Illness and death will therefore become “constant companions”. Water consumption, on the other hand, has increased three-fold since 1951.

Of all the world’s large regions, Africa is the one with the worst provision of water. Over 300 million people have no access to adequate drinking water. Water for domestic use and agricultural production is often in short supply. The future will accentuate the situation. As a result, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has forecast that by 2050, up to 600 million people on the continent will suffer from climate change induced water shortages. Especially in northern and southern Africa, the situation is growing more acute.

Parts of Asia are also affected by the shortage of water as the central Asian climate has, in recent decades, become warmer at a rate higher than the global average. Glacier melting has therefore been accelerated. Consequently experts assume that up to 20% of Central Asia’s glaciers, which serve as freshwater reservoirs, will melt by 2050. If individual glaciers were to disappear then the important supply of melt water will dry up in some regions.

Southern Asia is badly affected by this development. Himalaya’s glaciers will, to a large extent, have disappeared by 2035. However, countries in Europe and America are also experiencing reduced water resources.

Politicians have long recognized the problem. According to the United Nations Environment Program, the annual worldwide investment in water developments totals $ 80 billion. A doubling of the sum will be necessary in the foreseeable future to improve both the supply of water and the disposal of wastewater.

The worldwide market volume of construction work, machines, plants and services in the water and wastewater sector is estimated at $ 460 to 480 billion. This includes the producers and suppliers of valves, compressors and pumps. For example, the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) has reported that the total production and turnover respectively of German companies is already valued at over Euro 4 billion. 81% of the total production is exported.

Valve manufacturers are involved at several stages within the water supply system: at the extraction point, water treatment, transport and supply. The gradual depletion of water resources means that water extraction is becoming more and more important. Seawater desalination plants are one hope for the future as they offer an inexhaustible potential. The oceans have immense water reserves. According to the Royal Academy of Engineering, desalination will play a major role in the future. The reverse osmosis process – a common process in such plants – uses high pressures and therefore needs high pressure valves, pumps and piping.

In view of the rapidly increasing importance of such plants, valve manufactures are pressing ahead with the development of their products. A vital process, since salt induced corrosion is a technological problem of large proportions. Weight savings occasionally play a significant role. For example, Tyco Flow Control has developed a butterfly valve made of composite materials.

The U.S. West Coast, where higher temperatures caused by the greenhouse effect may well lead to acute water shortages, is increasingly turning to seawater desalination plants. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by “Climatic Change”. It predicts winters will become warmer which, as a consequence, will diminish the snow cover in the mountains on the West Coast. Up to now the summer thaw has provided the coastal region with water. If in the future precipitation falls more in the form of rain than snow it will go unused as water immediately flows away. The consequence will be a dramatic shortage of water in the hot summer months.

Example San Francisco Bay: it is planned to build a reverse osmosis desalination plant for $ 105 million in Marin County. The plant is designed to convert seawater into drinking water. It will be the first development of its kind in the San Francisco Bay and is expected to go into operation in 2014.

Spain is also committing itself to seawater desalination as the water supply situation on the Iberian Peninsula is already becoming problematic. Flowserve Corp has received orders to equip new plants. The combined value of the orders totals over Euro 2.2 million.

A new plant, the largest of its kind on the continent, is planned for Australia as the country’s southern and eastern regions are threatened with drought. The Australian company Thiess and its joint venture partners will construct a desalination plant, for which an investment volume of Euro 2.1 billion has been allocated by the Government of the State of Victoria. When the construction has been completed by the end of 2011, the plant will supply 150 billion liters of drinking water annually to Melbourne and the region’s other towns and cities. The development also includes the operation of an 86 kilometer long pipeline connecting the plant to Melbourne’s water network.

Tyco Water, a division of Tyco Flow Control, is also involved in the building of Australia’s largest desalination plant. The company will supply 6,200 steel pipes for this project. Three and a half million people will be provided with drinking water once the plant is up and running. >

About half of the seawater desalination plants are located in Arab countries according to the University of Bochum, Germany. The reason is obvious. Desalination plants are energy intensive. This does not present a problem to rich states with large oil reserves.

The signs of the times have already been recognized by Fujairah, one of seven emirates that have made up the United Arab Emirates since 1971. In order to meet the increasing demand for energy and water, the emirate has built a combined power station and seawater desalination plant in Qidfa. The hybrid plant produces simultaneously electricity and drinking water. The whole complex produces 656 MW and 455 million liters of drinking water each day.

However, the water treatment process is not the only important aspect. Drinking water has to be taken from its source to the regions where it is needed. Valves are therefore vital for the pipelines.

For the plant in Fujairah, the German valve manufacturer Erhard GmbH supplied needle valves. The company is also involved in the further development of the Fujairah project by providing valves for new pipelines with a contract worth several millions. Almost 100 butterfly valves designed for high pressure up to 81 bar have been ordered by the Emirate.

The new pipelines will increase the Fujairah plant’s daily capacity from 455 million liters to 1045 liters per day. To do this, two parallel 180 kilometer long pipelines with a diameter of 1600 millimeters and a further single 130 kilometer pipeline with the same diameter are being constructed. The pipelines, which will secure the water supply in one of the world’s hottest regions, will be ready for use beginning of 2010.

In Turkey, the country’s government has backed a mammoth development to provide the Turkish population with an adequate source of water. A 128 kilometer long pipeline now runs from a drinking water reservoir located to the south of the capital city on the River Kizilirmak near Kesikköprü all the way to the north of Ankara. When fully operating, 9,000 liters of drinking water per second will be pumped to Ankara.

A difficult undertaking: “The topography of the land didn’t make the job any easier,” explained Attila Differences in altitude and inclines of up to 500 meters had to be overcome. “The complexity of the pipeline route made it obvious from the start that the valve technology was going to have to meet the highest demands.” Almost 2,500 butterfly valves, needle valves, ball valves, air valves and diverse other valves were ordered by the Ankara development.

Valve manufacturers operating in the water supply industry have to be flexible as they are helping to provide a basic human need. The Ankara pipeline was originally only planned to go into operation in 2010. However, a drought in Turkey that led to the capital city’s 3.7 million population to endure water shortages, meant that the development’s completion date had to be pushed forward.

Valves are also become increasingly more important for tourist projects in regions where water is a scarce commodity. The $ 1 billion Ayla Oasis development in south Jordan will include an artificial lagoon which will add 17 kilometers to the seafront near Aqaba. Scheduled to be completed by 2017, the Arabian Venice themed complex on the banks of the Red Sea, which includes first-class hotels, an 18 hole golf course and a marina, will attract tourists from all over the world. It is therefore imperative for the resort that the water level in the lagoon is constantly maintained at an exact level. The gigantic project will be supplied with EPC coated non-return and butterfly valves, bronze bushings and shafts as well as duplex stainless steel seat rings. Demands on material and technology are high in salty sea water.

Valve manufacturers will however continue to focus on the supply of water to countries in need. They will therefore make a vital contribution to provide the world’s population with the elixir. Mission: save lives!

Author: Michael Vehreschild, KCI Verlag

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