CH2M-IDC Hong Kong Ltd has been select-ed by the Hong Kong Water SuppliesDepartment to design, oversee operations andmonitor the performance of two sea waterdesalination pilot plants.

The 30-month pilot programme, which willevaluate the use of reverse osmosis technologyand associated pretreatment and post-treatmentprocesses, is part of a ‘Total Water Management’programme that is being run by Hong Kong’sgovernment, and is believed to be a major step inthe development of full-scale desalination facili-ties to ensure sufficient and sustainable potablewater resources for the island.

“WSD recognizes that desalination technolo-gies may provide an additional and currentlyuntapped source of fresh water for Hong Kong,”said Alex Au, managing director of CH2M-IDCHong Kong.

Contacts:CH2M-IDC Hong Kong Ltd, Suit 3201, Central Plaza, 18Harbour Road,Wanchai, Hong Kong.Tel: +825 2507 2203,Fax: +825 2507 2293, Email: info@ch2m-china.com.

CH2M HILL,World Headquarters, 9191 South JamaicaStreet, Englewood, CO 80112, USA.Tel: +1 303 771 0900,Fax: +1 720 286 9250.

ISSN 0958-2118 July 2003www.filtsep.com

C o n t e n t s

News 1–4

Feature: Directions in management of membrane side streams 5–9

Feature: Salt-removal method is environment-friendly 9–10

Patents: 10–14Featured Patent:• Composite polymer and

silica-based membranes for metal sequestration 12–14

Research Trends 15–16

Events Calendar 15

CH2M HILL studies Hong Kong’s first desal project

ISSN 0958-2118/03 © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reservedThis journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditionsapply to their use:PPhhoottooccooppyyiinnggSingle photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a feeis required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms ofdocument delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.

Biomass reactor set to clean water supply

Toxicologists are exploiting microarrays asnever before to look at gene expression pat-terns on a genomic scale in response to poten-tially harmful compounds.

To help life science suppliers capitalize on thisburgeoning field, BioInformatics Llc recentlypublished The Market for Toxicogenomics Products& Services. The report looks at service providers,microarrays, databases and informatics productsfrom the end-user’s perspective, based on adetailed survey of over 300 scientists.

Report findings indicate that membranes areamong the predominant microarray platforms. Itsays that about 68% of the scientists surveyed pur-chase microarrays from a commercial provider.

Contact:Alyssa Martin, BioInformatics Llc, 2111 WilsonBoulevard, Suite 250, Arlington, VA 22201, USA. Tel:+1 703 778 3080, Fax: +1 703 778 3081, Email:a.martin@gene2drug.com.

Microarray technologydrives toxicogenomics

In the USA, researchers have developed adevice, which relies on a membrane, thatcould help a Rhode Island town rescue itsdrinking water supply from petrol contamina-tion, claims a report in The Cincinnati Post.

Professor Makram Suidan of the University ofCincinnati and Albert Venosa, a microbiologistat the Cincinnati office of the USEnvironmental Protection Agency, have justcompleted five years of research on a systemcalled a biomass concentrator reactor.

To get rid of the methyl tertiary butyl ether(MTBE), they had to create a reactor thatretained as much biomass as possible during thefiltering process, says the report. To do this, the

scientists modified a system that has a porousmembrane which contains the biomass but letsthrough clean water.

The reactor will be installed in Pascoag, in aneffort to remove a petrol additive that has leakedfrom underground tanks into the ground watersupply. It will scrub MTBE, a suspected carcino-genic, from Pascoag’s water system.

Contact:Professor Makram Suidan, Department of Civil &Environmental Engineering, 701 Engineering ResearchCenter, PO Box 210071, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0071,USA. Tel: +1 513 556 3648, Fax: +1 513 556 2599,Email: ceeinfo@uceng.uc.edu.

AWWA membership reaches an all-time highThe American Water Works Association(AWWA) says that its membership hasreached 57 332 members — an all-time high.

Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of AWWA,said: “The fact that membership in AWWA is atan historic high, and continues to grow, is areflection of its commitment and dedication to

the water profession and its mission to provideclean drinking water to the public.”

Contact:Andrew Hudson, AWWA, 6666 W. Quincy Avenue,Denver, CO 80235, USA. Tel: +1 303 794 7711, Fax: +1303 347 0804, Email: ahudson@awwa.org.