Business Overview 2009 (pdf - 6.8MB) - Veolia Water

Our fundamentals / Research & Development
Innovation is central to the
major challenges in water
Veolia Water’s R&D is the
mainstay of its business,
anticipating clients’ future
problems and innovating
daily to find solutions.
The water experts within
Veolia Environnement’s
network of 900 researchers
and developers work
on every stage of the water
cycle and every type
of process.
Progress in the management and treatment
of water resources
In 2009, the Ripost® simulation tool was used for the first
time in an industrial application to help with a case of
accidental river pollution. This tool helps forecast the extent
and duration of river pollution so that water intakes can
be protected and appropriate measures implemented.
The Regal project is designed to fight seawater intrusions
in coastal aquifers used for drinking water supplies.
The aim is to prove that recharging aquifers with treated
municipal wastewater is both technically and economically
advantageous.
Our high-performance treatment process, nanofiltration
with a very high conversion rate, is now operational.
Our R&D teams are also making progress on the Opaline®
range. These processes combine ultrafiltration membranes
with an adsorbent (activated carbon) to remove
microorganisms and micropolluants like pesticides.
A new membrane is currently being developed for the
Opaline® C process.
Veolia Water is also working with the universities of Poitiers
in France and Brisbane in Australia on the production of
recycled water by membrane treatment of wastewater.
The objective is to develop processes that will minimize
both operating and investment costs.
Water quality traceability in the supply network is another
new service we are currently rolling out after completion
of work on the Smart Meter sensors. These low-cost sensors
provide real-time chlorine, pressure, temperature and
conductivity measurements and can be installed for dense
geographic network coverage. Thanks to this service clients
can be informed of accidental pollution and water quality
can be optimized at the distribution point.
Progress in wastewater treatment technologies
In municipal wastewater treatment, the Amonit® process
management tool enables energy savings of up to 50%
in the simultaneous nitrification-denitrification phases.
Industrial effluents, which can be extremely variable
in terms of their type, load and composition, must be
characterized and assessed in real time in order to prevent
toxicity problems resulting from biological treatment.
This is now possible, thanks to the completion of the first
industrial on-line alert prototype, on which work started
in 2008. This device can also be used for municipal effluents.
Work on saline industrial effluents (such as leachates
22 Veolia Water 2009