After 8 months of hard battle, Veolia and Suez announced last April 12 an agreement for the merger of the two groups. The most relevant consequences of the resolution of this conflict will be the creation of a new Suez made up of assets forming a coherent and sustainable group from an industrial and social standpoint with revenues of around €7 billion and the implementation of Veolia's plan to create a global champion of ecological transformation, with revenues of around €37 billion. In the words of Antoine Frerot, CEO of Veolia: "All stakeholders in both groups are therefore winners. The time for confrontation is over, the time for combination has begun".
This merger will completely change the configuration of the world's water industry. An industry in which the Saur Group is another major player. A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to chat with its CEO since 2019, Patrick Blethon, who explained the company's plans in municipal water markets and in other areas such as water treatment for industry.
We also highlight in this issue the Provisur project carried out by Tedagua in Peru. An initiative that includes all aspects of water cycle management, using a holistic approach to design, build and operate water supply - through reverse osmosis desalination - and sanitation facilities in a coastal tourist area south of Lima.
Meanwhile, digitalization continues to gain ground as the topic of the moment. We look at a Hidroconta telemetry project in Spain that exemplifies how IoT equipment and the customized Demeter platform enable monitoring of domestic water consumption to ensure informed decisions that can pave the way to sustainable water use. Droople is also leveraging the benefits of IoT, this time in the hospitality sector, where IoT technologies play a role in water filtration solutions to ensure predictive maintenance and customer support. But there is much more to come in the future: Xylem's global youth program, Xylem Ignite, wants to harness the power of technology combined with the passion and creativity of young people to drive innovation in the water industry.
Finally, we launch a look at aging water infrastructure: the risks of aging dams and the future prospects of dam decommissioning. and we learn of an exciting new EU initiative, Destination Earth, will create a digital model of the Earth to monitor and simulate natural and human activity, in support of environmental policies and sustainable development.
We hope you enjoy this seventh issue of Smart Water Magazine Bimonthy.
