BlueTech Research - Intelligence Briefings

This month I visited Japan to learn more about the Japanese water industry and their approach to addressing global market opportunities. If you have spent any time in Japan, there will be two things you will have noticed: the complete order with which things are done and the scale of the achievements of the country. Last week I met over a dozen water technology companies in five days, without leaving Tokyo. Each company is a global leader in its own right. Napoleon once said, “let China sleep, for when she wakes she will shake the world”. This could well apply to Japanese water companies which may shake the water world as they look now increasingly at overseas market opportunities. I wrote a short piece about the Japanese water industry that can be found at www.BlueTechResearch.com. (Japan sets its sights on water). In advance of BlueTech Forum I have also written a short piece on ‘Three Key Reasons Company’s make acquisitions in the Water Sector’ (also available on-line) and summarized inside.

With speculation growing that there are several Asian firms in the hunt to acquire the Siemens water business, it is timely this month that we provide a corporate overview on the Japanese multinational Hitachi. In addition to this, BlueTech Research’s VP of Sales Jeff Guild shares his thoughts on how best to partner and enter the Chinese market. We also provide a BluePrint on Arsenic, and provide review and commentary on the water technology news stories that have come to the fore this month. Preparations are forging ahead for this years’ BlueTech Forum in Amsterdam on May 14th. We also provide some details on the topics and speakers at this years forum.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and prosperous new year. In this issue, we have launched two new features: Corporate Profiles and BluePrints. Corporate Profiles will detail the portfolio of water technologies offered by large water tech corporates, business strategy and key market verticals. This month, we look at Finland based chemicals firms Kemira. BluePrints are succinct 2-3 page overview on specific contaminants, markets or technologies. We’ve kicked off the BluePrint series by looking at the high profile contaminant selenium. These new features form a part of the ever growing portfolio of intelligence products that comprise your BlueTech Research Subscription.

This month was a tumultuous month in the world of water with the announcement by Siemens that it intends to sell off a significant portion of its water technology business. To help you analyse what this means, we have provided some analysis on this as well as a Company Profile for the Siemens Water business this month. We have also completed a new update release of the Innovation Tracker which now includes the BlueTruffle(™) company rating system to complement the Disrupt-o-meter(™) and over 50 videos of company CEO’s presenting. Make sure you don’t miss our end of the year webinar that will include highlights from throughout 2012.

This month we highlight a variety of developments in the desalination arena including a Forward Osmosis desal plant, desalination by wires, low-temperature thermal distillation, composite materials for thermal distillation, and research into optimizing reverse osmosis membranes for conditions in the Arabian Gulf. Desalination is definitely an area of innovation right now (there were twice as many desalination patents filed in 2010 compared to 2005). We expect innovation in this area to continue as it intersects with hot applications and themes such as Produced Water and Zero Liquid Discharge - a topic we will be covering in a BlueTech Webinar in January 2013. Make sure you don’t miss the BlueTech 2012 Omnibus Webinar that will include highlights from throughout 2012.

I am delighted to present your BlueTech Intelligence Briefing for October 2012, but one element of your BlueTech Research Subscription. Each BlueTech Intelligence Briefing provides you with need-to-know, actionable information on water technology market developments, new technology/patent activity, investments, acquisitions, IPOs and market trends. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me or any member of the team. We will be delighted to assist you.

We live in a digitally connected world but there is no replacement for meeting with people face-to-face at conferences and trade shows. Two upcoming opportunities to meet with the BlueTech Research team are the Wetsus Congress, Oct. 1-2 in Leewarden, the Netherlands and at WEFTEC, Oct. 1-3 in New Orleans. At the Wetsus annual Congress, I will be a plenary speaker on “Water Myths, Challenges and Solutions”. Through our partnership with the Water Environment Federation and ImagineH2O, BlueTech Research will be supporting the Innovation Pavilion and associated programming at WEFTEC this year. The Innovation Pavilion will house ten companies offering cutting-edge products and services, including BlueTech Research. Join us at the Innovation Pavilion and we can discuss the latest water technology innovations together!

Algal biofuel technology firm OriginOil has selected the California-based water technology firm Clean Water Technology (CWT) to manufacture its Produced Water treatment system. AbTech Industries, provider of the SmartSponge® hydrocarbon adsorbent technology, has completed the installation of stormwater treatment systems at two military bases. GE Energy will invest in the testing of memsys clearwater Pte Ltd.’s membrane distillation technology for its use in unconventional resources market, in return for exclusive license in this market area.

Go Green Global Technologies Corp. Launches Second Generation Non- Chemical Water Treatment Technology. SCFI’s AquaCritox® Supercritical Water Oxidation System Qualifies For Financial Credits as a Class 1 Renewable Energy Source in Connecticut. GE’s ABMet Selenium/Metal Removal Technology Secures First Full Scale European Installation in Belgium. Arbsource LLC Secure Phase 1 SBIR contract of $150,000

GE Water has announced that ASI Messina of Italy is it’s first European customer for the GE LEAPmbr membrane bioreactor (MBR). A new Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) is to be built with the Primozone GM18 ozone solution in a new facility at SalMar Settefisk, Follafoss, Norway. Victoria University, Australia announce results of pilot project to use 30-38ºc waste-heat in membrane desalination at a rate of 2-3L/hr. University of Hull (UK) researchers have developed a passive water disinfection technology using porphyrins attached to glass beads in photochemical reactor.

Hyflux Utility (India) Pte Ltd, Hitachi Ltd and Itochu Corp partner to develop seawater desalination plant in India. Hydrovolts Inc. receives visit from the Whitehouse. €12 million algae harvesting project. Treatment Plant. Smart water meter trial expands

Technology Licensing Opportunity, Oasys Water, Mekorot, H2O Innovations, IFAS MBR, Produced Water, BioShaft, Nanofiltration, WEF's new direction, ARSENOTEQ biological arsenic removal technology, UV LED product launches, Bilexys, Imagine H2O Competition, Combining MFC with RED, Envirogen, Bluewater Bio, BioteQ, Omni Water Solutions, Siemens and Cambridge Water Technology (CWT), Crystal IS merger, Stormwater, Nitrates, Water Innovation Hubs

Severn Trent Services enters framework agreement with Thames Water Utilities Ltd. In- Pipe Technology, have announced licensing agreement opportunities. Ecologix Environmental Systems has designed a mobile Integrated Treatment System for hydraulic fracturing. Pasteurization Technology Group have raised $1 million from EIC Ventures. Voltea have secured €4 million in financing.Clean TeQ Holdings have formed a 50:50 joint venture with Nippon Gas Co. InnoWA Membrane Gmbh have been acquired by Mahle Industry GmbH

Supercritical Water Oxidation, Sorubin, magnetically induced membrane vibration, OceanSaver, Puralytics, ceramic disk membranes, Joule, Stormwater Regulations, Water Quality Trading, Fracking.

Eco-Tec Biogas Purification Systems, Ostara, Imagine H2O announces finalists, low-cost aerobic wood chip filter, Trojan Technologies acquires Salsnes Filter, Fracking in China

Kinrot Ventures & GE Water, Bio Pure Technology, AbTech Industries, THMs, Lanxess enters desalination market, AirDrop Irrigation technology, Xylem & GE, Rochem and APTwater, Water Re-use Standards, Hydraulic Fracturing Regulations, Nutrient Regulations.

Stormwater Xylem spinout from ITT, In-Pipe Technology & PMC Biotech, IPO: Dais Analytic, Selenium removal, Siemens, International Space Station, Nutrient Removal, Trojan UV & OpenCEL, Energy from Biosolids Regulations, Fracking Regulations, Regional Water Innovation Clusters. Featured Article Desalination Patent Landscape Report “Low Energy Desalination? Call off the hunt, we are there” Paul O’Callaghan, CEO O2 Environmental

Ostara Pearl 2000, American Water and Enbala, Hydreon optical rain sensor, Sionix and Superklean, future Chairman of Xylem, Frack-water treatment,Regional Water Centres, Private Equity rank “Water” as prime interest. Featured Article Bloomberg New Energy Finance interviews Paul O’Callaghan, CEO of O2 Environmental and BlueTech Research on the likelihood of a smart water revolution.

The world’s cheapest desalinated water, Xylem, Pure Technologies, GE's LEAP*mbr, Aquatech, Ecolab acquires Nalco, IPO: MyCelx, Pump companies stepping up their innovation game, Energy from water distribution services , Water Re-use. Featured Article “Brave Blue World”, the opening presentation from the BlueTech Forum 2011 given by O2 Environmental’s Paul O’Callaghan

Desalitech, Freewave Technologies & Rockwell Automation, Biochar effective in Phosphate Removal, Study finds Hydraulic Fracking leads to Methane contamination in drinking water but not contamination of Fracking Fluids, WaterSmart, mOasis. Featured Article Smart Water Networks: Integrated Metering, Leak Detection and Network Management Solutions