28-Sept 11: For the second consecutive occasion, Aqua Environmental will be the Platinum Sponsor at Pipes Wagga 2012. This unique event provides engineers and practitioners with practical skills and tools to assist  in dealing with pipes. Pipes Wagga takes place on 13th and 14th March 2012.

The first Pipes Wagga conference in 1991 came about when staff from the City Council became aware of the magnitude of the problems the city had with concrete sewer mains laid prior to 1920. To gather the information they needed to start to deal with the problem, they organised a workshop with the known experts. It soon became obvious that this workshop would be of value to a wider group of organisations involved with water engineering and the first Pipes Wagga Conference was organised. This original conference has continued to grow to the now bi-annual event.

The objective of Pipes Wagga is to provide engineers and practitioners with practical skills and tools to assist in dealing with pipes. Pipes Wagga aims to challenge delegates to examine their daily work practices and asks them to discuss how to ensure more efficient methods are always applied.

The feature of Pipes Wagga has always been the quality presentations relevant to the industry and the sharing of actual experiences, live field demonstrations such as relining, pipe cracking, data equipment and the opportunity to network with industry members, suppliers, contractors and much more.

Pipes Wagga is relevant to planners, local authorities, engineers, environmentalist, scientists, researchers, contractors and equipment suppliers, service contractors and project managers.

Pipes Wagga also contributes to the publishing of industry manuals and supports charity projects for water related issues for underprivileged communities.

The strength of Pipes Wagga is to provide a platform for the presentation of quality papers, live demonstrations, trade display and extensive “hands on” field demonstrations which are all an integral inclusion of Pipes Wagga.

Visit the Pipes Wagga Website.

15-Jun 11: Aqua now has access to advanced metallic pipeline inspection technologies called Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL) following Pure Technologies’ acquisition of EMTEK. The technologies will allow for the detection of corrosion, pitting and cracking on metallic pipelines from 100mm up to 2m diameter.

Pure Technologies Ltd., announced yesterday that it has purchased the business and assets of Electromechanical Technologies, Inc. (EMTEK), a Salt Lake City-based developer of advanced pipeline inspection technologies.

EMTEK provides reliable state-of-the-art In-Line Inspection tools (ILI) for the pipeline industry. With years of experience, these tools are built to endure the rugged pipeline environment, and to provide the highest quality data available.

The unique design of the EMTEK tool combines the best technology into a compact, light-weight design. Each tool is equipped with:

• Extra High Resolution (XHR) MFL.
  • Better magnets and better sensors.
  • Tighter sensor spacing for maximum resolution.
  • Uniform sensor spacing on the entire circumference.
  • Higher sample rates for best quality data.
• Near-field sensors that discriminate between Internal and External defects.
• 6-axis Strap Down Inertial Sensor Integration for quality map and geographic location generation.
• High Resolution geometry sensors for detecting dents, bulges, wrinkles, buckles, and other geometric anomalies.

Each tool is capable of passing 1.5D bends, and can pass 25% bore reductions.

Commenting on the transaction, Jack Elliott, Pure’s President and COO, said:

“The ground-breaking extra-high resolution magnetic flux leakage (XHR-MFL) systems developed by EMTEK will immediately position Pure as the industry leader in condition assessment of ferrous water and wastewater pipelines. Conventional MFL is a well established technique for inspecting oil and gas pipelines; however the internal cement mortar lining common in water pipelines has always created challenges. EMTEK’s patented technology has overcome these challenges.

“While the majority of our growth to date has come from the inspection, condition assessment and monitoring of prestressed concrete pressure pipelines, this type of pipe represents less than five percent of the total installed base of pressure pipe around the world. The EMTEK technology, opens up a much larger available market to us, and complements our SmartBall® and Sahara® solutions for leak detection and condition assessment, which are applicable to all types of pressure pipe.

“In the oil and gas sector, we will now be able to package the EMTEK system with our unique SmartBall leak detection system, thus providing the only combined integrity and pinhole-leak detection capability available on the market. Recent high-profile oil and gas pipeline leaks in North America have resulted in increasing regulatory and political pressure on operators to upgrade their leak detection systems. We have already seen increasing interest in our SmartBall system and we expect our enhanced offering to accelerate our growth in this sector.

“EMTEK’s commitment to innovative non- destructive testing systems fits well with Pure’s aggressive R&D program and the patents acquired with the transaction will strengthen our already comprehensive IP portfolio. EMTEK’s solutions will be delivered through our regional offices in the Americas, Middle East and Australia; through our Hong Kong joint venture in greater China; and through selected licensees.”

Full press release can be found here.

24-May 11: Aqua will be showcasing their large suite of services at the 36th Annual QLD Water Industry Operations Association Workshop and Exhibition on 1-2 June 2011. The event, held at University of Southern Queensland, will see a delegates attend a strong two-day technical program supported by a large trade exhibition.

Trade visitors can obtain free exhibition entry – download your pass here.

Other exhibitors at the WIOA QLD event are:

• ABB
• Acrodyne
• Acromet Australia
• Aegis
• Aegis Safety
• AIM Water
• Air-Met Scientific
• Allflow Supply Co.
• Aqua Guardian Group
• Aqualift
• Austeck
• Australian Innovative Systems
• Australian Water Association
• Automation Group
• AWIS
• AWMA Penstocks and Stopboards
• Blakers Pump Engineers
• Bürkert Fluid Control Systems
• Capital Safety – ANZ
• CAPS Australia
• Challenger Valves & Actuators
• Clearwater Recruitment
• Complete Tapping Service
• Conneq
• Control Microsystems
• CRS Industrial Water
• CSE Semaphore
• CST Wastewater Solutions
• DCM Process Control
• Dynapumps
• Eco Catalysts
• Ecolab
• Elster Metering
• Epsom Environmental Services
• Festo
• G.E. Power & Water
• H2O Rx / Chemical System Consulting
• Hach Pacific
• Hurll Nu-Way
• Hydramet
• Hydro Innovations
• Hydromet
• ITS Trenchless
• ITT Water & Wastewater
• Iwaki Pumps Australia
• Kembla Watertech
• KRE Engineering
• KSB Australia
• Labtek
• Ludowici Watergates
• McBerns
• Merck Millipore
• Merriman Controls
• Metaval / Vag
• NOV Mono Pumps
• NuFlow Technologies
• Odour Technologies
• Omron Electronics
• Pacific Laboratory Products
• Parasyn
• Peerless Epigen
• Probac
• Process Control Services
• ProMinent Fluid Controls
• Pryde Measurement
• qldwater
• Roto Pumps Australia
• Royce Water Technologies
• sebaKMT
• Sewer Equipment Company (Aust)
• SkillsTech Australia
• Spirac
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Think Pipes Think PVC
• Toowoomba Regional Council
• Trenchless Australasia Magazine
• Trio Datacom
• Tyco Environmental Systems
• Tyco Water
• Ugly Fish Eyewear
• UV Guard
• VEGA Australia
• VoR Environmental
• WAM Australia
• WAPSA
• Waters Marine
• Water Industry Operators Association of Australia
• WME Media

Full details on the event can be found here.

Delegate Registration for the event can be found here.

8-Nov 10: Aqua was last week awarded a three year leak detection project in Melbourne with Yarra Valley Water. The award of this contract comes on the back of two years hard work by our local Melbourne crew.

This project will see Aqua survey at least 1,850km of water main each year for Melbourne’s largest water retailer. “We’re excited to be engaged again by Yarra Valley Water. They have certainly cemented themselves as one of the regions leading water utilities by committing to a long term project to reduce water leakage” said Hugh Chapman, General Manager.

Aqua Environmental is Australia and New Zealand’s leading provider of water main leak detection and pipeline condition assessment services with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. We currently complete in excess of 12,000km of active leakage detection survey on reticulation water mains each year.

As a member of Pure Technologies Group we are able to provide access to a suite of water pipeline technologies including SmartBall, Sahara, PipeDiver and PureRobotics.

5-Oct 10: Aqua Environmental is pleased to announce it has today been acquired by Pure Technologies.

The capabilities of Aqua and Pure together will allow us to offer a complete package of leak detection, acoustic monitoring and condition assessment services for a wide range of pipelines around Australia and New Zealand.

Pure Technologies, based in Calgary, Canada, is an international asset management technology and services company which has developed patented technologies for inspection, monitoring and management of critical infrastructure around the world. Most relevant to our current Client base are the SmartBall and Sahara tools for identifying leaks and assessing the condition of large diameter and difficult pipelines.

“With this acquisition, Pure will now provide pipeline leak detection, condition assessment and asset management services in Australia, where drought has led to an increased emphasis on water preservation” said Jack Elliot, Pure’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

“The State and Federal governments have invested heavily in water infrastructure and to fund such projects, the retail cost of water has risen substantially. Reducing leakage with proactive techniques and technologies is vital to the region” he said.

We will keep everyone informed of any changes to our business operations that may occur as a result of the acquisition.

Both of Aqua’s Principals, Hugh Chapman Sr. and Hugh Chapman Jr. will continue to be involved in the business.

The business will continue to trade as Aqua Environmental for the foreseeable future.

For more information on Pure visit their website: http://www.puretechnologiesltd.com

About Pure Technologies Ltd.

Pure Technologies Ltd. is an international asset management technology and services company which has developed patented technologies for inspection, monitoring and management of critical infrastructure around the world. Pure’s business model incorporates four distinct but complementary business streams:

• Sales of proprietary monitoring technologies for pipelines, bridges and structures (SoundPrint®, SoundPrint® AFO);

• Recurring revenue from data analysis and site maintenance for these technologies, and from technology licensing;

• Premium technical services including inspection, leak detection and condition assessment (P-Wave®, SmartBall®, Sahara®, PipeDiver™, PureRobotics™);

• Specialized engineering services in areas related to asset management, primarily in the area of pipeline condition assessment for water and wastewater infrastructure (Openaka Corp., Price Brothers UK Ltd, and Jason Consultants).