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

Our achievements / Water resource management and protection
Solutions for
the solar power
industry
Veolia Water and its subsidiary VWS
have worked together to design services
especially for the solar power industry.
VWS offers a wide range of solutions
for clients in this sector, which is
characterized by rapidly evolving
technologies. Examples of solutions
include ultrapure water for the production
process, recovery of materials from
the effluents, and assistance with
technological transformations.
Photowatt®, the industry pioneer
in France that supplies and installs
photovoltaic systems for installations
connected to the electricity grid, has
entrusted Veolia Water with the
management of its water cycle. Veolia
Water thus moved from an equipment
rental contract in 2006 to a full-fledged
contract for ultrapure water supply and
effluent management with a performance
guarantee agreement in 2009. Our
successful partnership with Photowatt®
reflects our ability to meet the specific
requirements of this fast-growing sector.
provide wastewater services to over 68 million people
worldwide. In 2009, we confirmed our position as world
leader in this market with contracts in Qatar, Japan and
the United States. In Europe, the framework directive,
which gives Member States until 2015 to restore the “good
ecological status” of their water bodies, encourages them
to increase measures to bring their wastewater systems
up to standard. As a result, Veolia Water, which already
treats the wastewater of 30 million people in, for example,
Belfast, The Hague, Prague and Budapest, was asked
to do so in Madrid, San Remo and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
in 2009.
In rural areas, when the area is too small or difficult
to access, small-scale wastewater treatment systems are
an indispensable alternative to public facilities. Veolia
Water is investing in this field and continues to enlarge
its range of services for clients in this specific market,
particularly in France where the law will gradually require
all private homes to ensure that their systems meet
the norms.
Industrial companies have to comply with equally strict
legislation and also have to manage increasingly complex
issues regarding the treatment of their effluents. We are
committed to helping these companies limit their impact
on the environment. In particular, we offer a service
that detects hazardous substances in effluents. We offer
these clients, who are under increasing economic pressure,
solutions that help them to control their costs and, wherever
possible, to recycle. For example, in Brazil, VWS’ technical
know-how enabled us to forge trusting relations with
the national oil company Petrobras. In 2009, VWS won
a twelfth contract for the design and construction of a
water treatment and recycling unit for the oil company’s
Abreu e Lima refinery, which will reuse about one-third
of the water consumed on the site. In a bid to cater for our
clients’ desire to “produce more with less,” we continue
to focus on an industrial ecology approach. For example,
VWS’ interest in improving carbon footprints has resulted
in a large-scale initiative and we offer a growing number
of innovations and schemes in energy saving and materials
recovery (see page 43).
Expertise in alternative resources
Recycling of treated wastewater is one way of securing
the water requirements of arid areas and improving
supply independence. Veolia Water offers tried and tested
technological solutions to produce water from effluents
that is suitable for industrial purposes, agricultural
irrigation, recharging aquifers, watering of urban green
areas and even drinking water. Industrial companies are
aware that some of their water needs can be met with
recycled water, thereby avoiding the need to tap hard-toaccess
water resources and allowing them to optimize their
32 Veolia Water 2009