www.worldpumps.com

Feature24

World Pumps (WP): Flowserve

has recently published very

strong third quarter results with

record bookings and a sales backlog.

What part did the water business play

in this?

Chuck Powers (CP): Increasing global

demand for fresh water will continue to

drive strong investments in water

infrastructure around the world.

According to the September 2008 Water

Desalination Report published by Global

Water Intelligence, more seawater reverse

osmosis capacity is under construction

than at any time before. Large-scale

projects are underway in most regions of

the world. The most active regions in

the world are Mexico, Australia, Spain,

the Middle East and now the US.

Flowserve has the technology and

knowledge to capitalize on these

opportunities to further balance our

business portfolio.

WP: Flowserve’s water business grew by

more than 21% in 2007. What growth are

you expecting for 2008 and what factors

are driving that growth?

CP: While we don’t provide projections

for specifi c lines of business, we can say

we expect continued global growth in

the water industry driven by increased

spending on new and existing water

infrastructure and on new desalination

projects:

• Flowserve has programme designed to

reduce total cost of equipment owner-

ship and improve operating profi tability.

Customers in water resources are looking

for these types of options.

• Flowserve has also taken advantage of

its global footprint to serve the

upgrades and repair services industry for

the water resources industry. We have

years of experience in both clean water

and wastewater products with IDP, Byron

Jackson, Worthington and other product

lines.

WORLD PUMPS January 2009

Water & wastewater

Getting its feet wet – Flowserve in the water industryFlowserve is a major player in the water industry with many projects around the world. We talked to Chuck Powers, Director of Global Water Industry & Product Management, Flowserve Pump Division, to see where the water market fitted in with Flowserve’s overall strategy.

&

Figure 1. Flowserve’s family of VCT vertical mixed fl ow circulating pumps is designed for continuous duty in high capacity, low pressure services such as desalination, fl ood protection and water supply. Available in single or multistage heavy-duty confi gurations, VCT pumps are engineered in accordance with Hydraulic Institute and AWWA standards.

0262 1762/09 © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

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www.worldpumps.com

Feature 25WORLD PUMPS January 2009

WP: What applications are most

important to Flowserve’s water strategy?

CP: We see signifi cant growth and

opportunities in desalination, water

transmission, water & wastewater

treatment, irrigation, fl ood control and

drainage. Because source water is the

largest single issue facing the industry

today, alternative approaches to gray

water are being used. The aging global

infrastructure will be important in our

strategy going forward.

WP: Is Flowserve a pumps or systems

provider?

CP: Both. Flowserve has expertise in the

successful application of pre-engineered,

engineered and special purpose pumps

and systems. Customers are looking for

solutions to their system, not just

products, to meet expected changes in

the urban base load. Flowserve has the

capabilities to provide for these types of

projects, including large water fl ood

projects.

WP: What does Flowserve see as the

growth areas in both regions and

applications?

CP: We found signifi cant opportunities in

developing nations with new infrastruc-

ture projects, as well as opportunities in

developed countries as they refurbish

aging water infrastructures. We expect

desalination opportunities to come from

all over the world as demand for clean

water increases. Spending on new water

infrastructure across both developed and

developing countries is projected to more

than double from its current level of an

estimated $US80 billion annually to

$US180 billion annually over the next 15

to 20 years, according the Morgan

Stanley April 2008 report ‘Emerging

Markets Infrastructure.’

WP: How much is Flowserve involved in

desalination?

CP: We are very much involved in

desalination projects throughout the

world. We’ve supplied the industry for

over a half a century in both thermal

and membrane desalination.

WP: What are the typical demands of

customers and does Flowserve provide

for those demands?

CP: Our customers look to Flowserve to

supply technology that helps them

increase effi ciency, improve reliability

and save money. Pumping energy is one

of the most signifi cant costs to the

industry. Due to the size of the sites, the

overall technology in the systems,

hydraulics and materials all play an

important role in our portfolio of

off erings. Our customers in the desalina-

tion industry are worried about pitting,

crevice corrosion and stress corrosion

cracking, which are problematic when

processing seawater and brackish water.

Flowserve addresses these issues with

materials, including proprietary super

austenitic stainless steels, duplex

stainless steels, bronze and nickel alloys

and Ni-Resist metals along with its

complete range of engineered polymers.

Flowserve maintains its own steel, nickel

and light reactive alloy foundries as well

as non-metallic manufacturing facilities

to ensure the quality of the materials

used to manufacture valves for desalina-

tion customers.

WP: Have there been any major changes

in the demands of the water & waste-

water industry over the last few years?

CP: Around the world, the water and

wastewater industry is experiencing

stricter government regulation, pressure

to lower energy consumption, and

mounting treatment and scarcity issues,

according to the article ‘Analysing the

world’s water industry’ in the July/August

2008 issue of Water & Wastewater Asia.

China and India, with 1.3 billion and

1.1 billion inhabitants respectively, face

unprecedented water management

challenges as they attempt to integrate

a burgeoning industrial base with daily

human activity, according to the article

‘Fine tuning an approach to the

changing water market’ in the same

issue of Water & Wastewater Asia.

In the Middle East, an increase in the

amount of water being used in Dubai is

coupled with an increase in the amount

of sewage being produced, which has

gone up from 25,000m³ a day in 1981 to

400,000m³ a day in 2007 according to

the April 1 2007 article ‘Go With the

Flow‘ on ArabianBusiness.com.

Adequate treatment of wastewater,

along with the ability to provide a

suffi cient supply of clean water, has

become a major concern for many

communities in the US, according to the

US Environmental Protection Agency.

There has been improved cooperation

between regulation, legislation and

community demands to defi ne better

source water options to reduce

environmental impact.

WP: How important is energy savings to

Flowserve’s customers?

CP: Higher energy effi ciency is a major

goal for water industry applications.

Flowserve works with customers to

provide solutions that help them save

money by increasing effi ciency of not

only energy consumption, but also

operating costs, reliability and mainte-

nance. Pumping solutions are usually a

large portion of life cycle energy costs,

increasing the importance of pump

technology and design options.

Figure 2. The Flowserve MN mixed-fl ow, non-clog

pump is engineered for low total cost of ownership in

demanding sewage handling services or where solids in

suspension are of particular concern.

Figure 3. A large salt water reverse osmosis desalination

plant employs Flowserve DMX axially split, multistage

pumps in six treatment trains – fi ve for seawater reverse

osmosis and one for secondary permeate treatment

– to move 2250 m3/h (9900 gpm).

Contact

Flowserve World Headquarters

5215 N. O’Connor Blvd., Suite 2300

Irving, TX 75039

Email: fpdinformation@fl owserve.com

Website: www.fl owserve.com

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