Visions - Fall 2013 - (Page 22)

CLEAN WATER PROJECTS Providing Clean Water to Businesses and Communities in Mexico exico is proving itself to be a fierce business competitor among nations in the western hemisphere, but still faces serious infrastructure problems, including a number of water treatment challenges. According to U.S. government data, the country suffers from severe scarcity of waste disposal facilities. M Through NAFTA, Mexico serves as an indispensable economic partner to the U.S., so as a manufacturer and exporter to the U.S., Mexico's concerns become the U.S.'s concerns as well. To help keep their competitive edge and to not impede growth, Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, declared social infrastructure improvements to be a top priority of the Mexican government, by announcing a multimillion-dollar infrastructure improvement plan in 2007. This plan included the improvement and development of the water treatment sector as well as areas of electrical power and transportation including roads, ports, airports, railways, and more. pollution elimination, dehydration, and microorganism-disabling process through biochemical treatments. The water, now separated from the sludge, is then chlorinated in order to remove micro-organisms. The San Luis Potosi plant is considered a remarkable facility since part of the treated water has helped the regeneration of a lagoon, creating a livable environment for wildlife. Also, it provides additional treatment so its water can be used as a coolant by an electric power plant. The Ciudad Juarez facility similarly puts its water through advanced treatments so it can be incorporated into industrial use and irrigation later. The two plants treat 5,000 liters per second, resulting in water treatment for over a To that end, the process of treating the Mexican population's massive million local residents. The combined operations have generated flow of wastewater has become a viable business for Sumitomo considerable revenue each year. Corporation Mexico (SCMX) in the last 10 years.Through a part- Although these projects work toward cleaning the water produced by nership with the French company Degrémont S.A., a leading water residents, plans are emerging for SCMX to become involved in oil & business company with global reach and member of the Suez water separation in tandem with Mexico's new offshore drilling iniGroup, Sumitomo participates in wastewater treatment centers in tiatives on the horizon. "On August 12 of this year, the President of three Mexican cities: San Luis Potosi, Ciudad Juarez, and Culiacan. Mexico announced plans for energy reform," said President and GM Sumitomo pursued and completed its first Mexican water project in the 1990s, with the construction of certain plants under an EPC scheme with the support of a mechanism called "Yen Credit," where the Japanese government provided financing for Mexican governmental projects. In 2003, long after the "Yen Credit" projects, Sumitomo put together again a partnership with Degrémont S.A. Degrémont was looking for business partners for operations in the Mexican water sector under a Build-Operate-Transfer plan (BOT), and a partnership with Sumitomo fulfilled that need. Both SCMX and SC Tokyo have a percentage stake in this water treatment business with Degrémont. The water treatment process involves various stages of water cleansing and modification. The modern filtration systems use many innovative methods, such as initially removing deposits in a receiving pool and screening the water to remove large floating waste. Using the latest in modern technology, the water undergoes a "degreasing" and "degritting" process, after which the thick sediments, oils and solids are removed from the water and the resulting sludge is collected in storage tanks. That sludge completes its own 22 v i s i o n s F a l l 2 0 1 3 of SCMX Kazuyoshi Higuchi."Currently, the congress is discussing how to take advantage of offshore oil reserves just off the coast. Mexico was a petroleum producer for many years, but those reserves will be gone in the next 80 years, so they need to explore opportunities for the offshore oil reserves. We are currently working with Hitachi to create oil & water separation projects in the sea. This petroleum can contain 50 percent water, so the crude oil & water need to be separated at platform level so the crude oil can be transported without extra water. The heavy metallic content that remains in the water, though, should be sent to a treatment plant that we can build as well. We are currently exploring these as business opportunities." Mr. Higuchi also said that Mexico City's leaking water supply system needs repair, and this can be seen as a business opportunity that mirrors our corporate social responsibility. "Mexico City DF has three divisions and the structure for the management of drinking water follows this, so three subcontractors are in charge of administrating drinking water divisions," he said."The city is currently experiencing nearly 40% leakage, which could open the door to use our expertise to solve this problem."

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Visions - Fall 2013

Visions - Fall 2013
Contents
What is Infrastructure?
Interview with GM of Steel Group
Rail Supply Business
FOCUS: Union Pacific and Canadian National Ra
FOCUS: Arkansas Steel Associates
Structural Business
Interview with GM of Machinery & Power Business Group
Rail Systems Business
Automotive Business
FOCUS: New Mazda Plant
Aerospace Business
Renewable and Conventional Power Business
FOCUS: Desert Sunlight
Construction Equipment Business
Logistics Business
Corporate Social Responsibility - Clean Water Projects
The View from Washington

Visions - Fall 2013