Re-use pioneer wins 2015 Stockholm Industry Water Award

The 2015 Stockholm Industry Water Award (SIWA) has been presented to CH2M, a Colorado-based global service and engineering company, for developing and advancing methods to clean water as well as increasing public acceptance of recycled water. Presented every year by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the award honours outstanding and transformative water achievements by companies that contribute to sustainable water management.

Not only has CH2M invented, implemented and refined methods for cleaning used water back to drinking water quality, the company has also pioneered the application of social science research to better understand the reasons for why people reject the notion of re-use. This research, combined with demonstrations, education and transparency, is said to have dispelled myths around use of treated wastewater and paved the way for acceptance of potable re-use.

“With growing populations and more unreliable precipitation patterns, it is essential to increase our re-use of water in the future,” said SIWI Executive Director Torgny Holmgren. “CH2M has understood this. In working for public acceptance of drinking treated wastewater, they have taken a step beyond engineering and shown impressive commitment to wise water management.”

Some of CH2M’s achievements include:

• In the 1960s, the company pioneered the third stage of effluent treatment by successfully removing excess phosphorous, nitrogen and trace metals, restoring the used water of the South Tahoe Public Utility to purity.
• In the 1970s, the company designed the world’s first surface-water indirect potable re-use plant, improving the water quality for more than one million people in northern Virginia.
• In the early 2000s, the company worked with Singapore’s national water agency to prove the safety of potable re-use and win public acceptance with the country’s NEWater project.

“While technological innovation is an important part of our contribution to water re-use, many of the pivotal water re-use milestones would not have been built if the public had not accepted them,” said CH2M Global Water Technology Director Brock McEwen. “Through technology and innovative public education tools, we will continue to contribute to a more sustainable water future.”

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Image caption: The Denver Potable Reuse Demonstration Plant, designed by CH2M in the 1980s, was a milestone in the advancement of water purification technology. Image credit: CH2M.