Black & Veatch Honored for Work on Prominent Singapore Desalination Facility

Kansas City , Mo. (February 8, 2006) – Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting and construction company, was recently distinguished with a 2005 Environmental Business Achievement Award from the Environmental Business Journal (EBJ). The company earned a Project Merit award for its work on the Singapore-Tuas Seawater Desalination Project, which began successful operation in September 2005. Each year EBJ recognizes companies and executives for outstanding achievements in the preservation and protection of the environment. The awards will be presented March 1, 2006 at EBJ’s Environmental Industry Summit IV in Coronado, Calif. ( USA).

"We’re delighted to receive this prestigious award in recognition of our work on this pacesetting facility," said Dan McCarthy, president and CEO of B&V Water. "The project stands as clear confirmation of the exceptional capabilities of our global technology specialists whose collective expertise is setting new standards for innovative and economical water treatment solutions. The award serves as recognition of Black & Veatch’s global leadership in helping utilities produce safe, ample drinking water for their customers, while sustaining and protecting the environment."

The Singapore-Tuas Seawater Desalination Project is a seawater reverse-osmosis (SWRO) plant that produces potable water directly from seawater and was constructed at a cost of US$90 million. The facility represents the leading edge in large-scale membrane desalination treatment and accommodates 10 percent of Singapore’s national water demand.

With a capacity of 136,380 cubic meters per day (36 million gallons per day), the Singapore-Tuas Seawater Desalination Project is the largest SWRO plant in Asia and one of the largest in the world. The facility features a compact pretreatment process with screening and combined flotation/filtration prior to extraction of dissolved salts by two stages of RO membranes, with additional treatment to improve water quality further prior to distribution and consumption. The expected first-year selling price of US$0.49 per cubic meter (m 3) is the lowest of any comparable project anywhere in the world. In addition, the use of energy recovery devices allows the production of treated water at only 4.2 kWhr/ m 3, making the Singapore-Tuas facility one of the most energy-efficient SWRO plants in the world.

Project delivery was accomplished through a 20-year Design-Build-Own-Operate contract awarded by Singapore’s Public Utilities Board to SingSpring in January 2003, with Black & Veatch providing complete design and permitting services for the project as well as support during construction, commissioning and operation. SingSpring is a subsidiary of Hyflux, a prominent Singapore-based water treatment company.

The plant has also been shortlisted for “Desalination Plant of the Year” by Global Water Intelligence for that publication’s 2006 Global Water awards.

About the Environmental Business Journal

The Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) is a publication of Environmental Business International, Inc. (EBI) and provides a strategic overview of the environmental industry. Published since 1988, EBJ is recognized as a leading industry newsletter and a principal source of business information on the environmental industry. Environmental Business International offers strategic business information in the form of newsletters, comprehensive research reports and consulting services. Its mission is to serve the business development needs of environmental companies by providing high-quality strategic information, products and services.

About Black & Veatch

About Black & Veatch Black & Veatch Corporation is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, information and government markets. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions include conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, information technology, environmental, security design and consulting, and management consulting services.

B&V Water, Black & Veatch’s water business, provides innovative, technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide. Local project managers work with a global team of water and wastewater treatment process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management services. The employee-owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. Black & Veatch is ranked on the Forbes “500 Largest Private Companies in the United States” listing. The company’s Web site address is www.bv.com.

Media Contact:
Carl Petz
913-458-4685
petzcf@bv.com

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