Strengthening Ivory Coast’s Water Infrastructure

The La Mé plant, located near Abidjan, has a daily production capacity of 240,000 cubic metres of drinking water. This supply will directly benefit millions of people in the Greater Abidjan area, a region experiencing rapid population growth and increasing pressure on existing water resources.

By ensuring reliable water treatment and delivery, the partnership supports the Ivorian government’s strategy to secure sustainable access to clean water, a critical factor for both public health and economic development.

International Expertise Meets Local Knowledge

Veolia brings decades of experience in the design, operation and optimisation of drinking water treatment facilities across the world. PFO Africa contributes extensive local expertise in infrastructure development and delivery. Together, the two companies will manage operations, maintenance and performance monitoring to guarantee high-quality water for communities.

The partnership demonstrates the value of combining international know-how with regional capacity to deliver long-term solutions that address Africa’s infrastructure challenges.

Driving Sustainable Development in West Africa

Access to safe drinking water remains a major challenge in many African countries. Urbanisation, climate change and population growth are increasing pressure on existing systems. The La Mé project therefore represents a milestone for sustainable development, enabling improved resilience to water scarcity and ensuring essential resources for future generations.

Through this initiative, Ivory Coast strengthens its leadership in sustainable infrastructure in West Africa and sets a benchmark for other nations seeking to expand and modernise their water networks.

Commitment to Communities

The collaboration will also focus on training and upskilling local teams to operate the facilities, creating long-term employment opportunities and ensuring knowledge transfer. By developing local capacity, Veolia and PFO Africa are ensuring that the benefits of this project extend well beyond infrastructure, supporting communities and regional economic growth.

Quick Reference Links

• Veolia
• PFO Africa

Project manager Paul Delves explained:

As heavy rainfall drains into the sewer network it can overwhelm it, causing flooding from manholes and issues for customers with their home bathrooms and toilets. Our models showed that the capacity of the sewers was inadequate to deal with this and increasing demands on the network, so the project focused on installing larger pipes to hopefully help to alleviate many of these problems.

The project involved staged road closures to allow open-cut methods for the pipe replacement. Collaboration with BCP Council and local residents helped minimise disruption, and the scheme was delivered ahead of schedule.

The works also brought community benefits, with Hillbourne Community Centre receiving car park improvements after hosting a temporary compound during construction.

The Waterloo area has also experienced wider land drainage problems, which remain under the responsibility of BCP Council as Lead Local Flood Authority. Wessex Water continues to support efforts to address these surface water issues.

Looking ahead, Wessex Water is set to increase its investment in environmental improvements, with plans for 2025–2030 outlining a £580 million programme to reduce storm overflow discharges, deliver more nature-based solutions and promote sustainable rainwater management – more than double the 2020–2025 investment.

Quick Reference Links

• Wessex Water
• YTL Construction
• BCP Council

A global commitment to humanitarian aid is meaningless if we cannot get what is needed into the hands of vulnerable communities. In every crisis we see the same pattern: water supplies are destroyed or contaminated, disease spreads and aid agencies race against time to prevent countless deaths.

We have the technology to make water safe, but we are being hampered by administrative processes and barriers that stop aid at borders. Unless the world works together to clear the bottlenecks, lives will continue to be lost needlessly.

Hydrachem’s OASIS water purification tablets are already used in more than 60 countries, helping to produce over 10 billion litres of safe drinking water each year. They are deployed by NGOs, governments and healthcare institutions worldwide to combat waterborne diseases and support communities in distress. However, the company is experiencing first-hand the growing difficulties of getting these vital supplies where they are needed most.

Barbieri added:

The technical innovation of being able to turn contaminated water into safe drinking water within minutes is not enough. Without stronger international collaboration to overcome political, logistical and regulatory obstacles, humanitarian responses will remain hindered.

We need governments, NGOs and international bodies to recognise that delivering clean water must be treated as urgently as delivering food or medicine. Delivery protocols need streamlining, and secure and predictable supply routes need to be established. Every delay costs lives. Cooperation is not optional; it is the only way to ensure safe water reaches the people who need it most.

Quick Reference Links

• Hydrachem
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• UNICEF – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Dale Petroski, Victaulic Infrastructure Sales Manager Europe

 

 

 

Our commitment extends from initial ideation to project completion and beyond,” said Dale Petroski, Infrastructure Sales Manager Europe at Victaulic. “Encompassing every stage of the water project journey, Victaulic offers dependable solutions that uphold sustainability principles, delivering constructability and environmental value.

Quick Reference Links

• Victaulic
• Victaulic Water & Wastewater Solutions

The investment and improvements we are making at Worsbrough are part of our programme to continue to improve water quality and river health. The new storm overflow tank will increase the site’s storage capacity. This will lower the frequency and duration of storm overflows discharging into local watercourses following periods of heavy and prolonged rainfall.

Our contract partners Ward & Burke and Barhale are condensing activities to work as quickly as they can to complete the project and keep disruption to a minimum. We’d like to thank local residents for their patience whilst we carry out this important work.

Quick Reference Links

• Yorkshire Water
• Ward & Burke
• Barhale

Karla Butler Appointed Vice President and General Manager of DuPont Water Solutions

DuPont has announced the appointment of Karla Butler as Global Vice President and General Manager of its Water Solutions business. The division focuses on advanced filtration and specialty-separation technologies that support critical water, energy, and life sciences needs worldwide.

Jeroen Bloemhard, President of DuPont Healthcare and Water Technologies, said: “Water Solutions is a key pillar in DuPont’s growth strategy. With Karla’s leadership, I am confident that DuPont’s Water Solutions team will continue to help solve the world’s most pressing water filtration and purification challenges, creating value for our customers, our shareholders, and society.”

Bringing more than 35 years of experience in commercial and operational leadership across multi-industrial companies, Butler has previously held senior positions within DuPont. Her appointment underscores the company’s commitment to accelerating innovation in sustainable water treatment solutions.

I am truly honoured to lead DuPont’s Water Solutions business, a purpose-driven team committed to addressing some of the world’s most critical challenges,” said Butler. “I am excited to work alongside my new colleagues, customers, and partners to increase access to clean water and sanitation, enable more industrial water reuse, produce healthier foods and medicines, and support the development of cleaner energy sources.

DuPont Water Solutions’ technologies currently help purify more than 50 million gallons of water every minute across 112 countries. Its broad portfolio of technologies includes:

• FilmTec™ reverse osmosis and nanofiltration elements
• AmberLite™ ion exchange resins
• IntegraTec™, Inge™ and MemCor™ ultrafiltration modules
• MemPulse™ membrane bioreactor systems
• OxyMem™ membrane aerated biofilm reactors
• DesaliTec™ closed-circuit reverse osmosis systems

These solutions are designed to address the growing challenges faced by municipalities, desalination plants, and industrial water users, including microelectronics, agriculture, and life sciences sectors. The technologies also contribute to the global shift towards cleaner energy, supporting electricity generation, lithium recovery, and green hydrogen production.

Quick Reference Links

• DuPont
• DuPont Water Solutions

• Scar House (Nidderdale): over 3 billion litres
• Grimwith (Yorkshire Dales): over 2.7 billion litres
• Langsett (South Yorkshire): over 900 million litres
• Digley (West Yorkshire): over 750 million litres

Groundwater levels and river flows across the region have also seen a marked rebound, helping support water resources recovery.

Dave Kaye, director of water services at Yorkshire Water, said:

The rainfall we’ve seen over the last seven days has had a significant impact – the largest weekly increase in stocks we’ve seen in 30 years. The rain over the last seven days has also recharged groundwater and the region’s rivers. The recharge of the rivers means we can enact our drought orders and permits to allow the reservoirs maximum recovery.

While the increase in reservoir and groundwater stocks is positive and very welcome after the driest summer on record, our stocks are still well below where they should be at this time of year. We hope the reservoirs and groundwater will continue to recover through the autumn and winter months so we’re in a good position entering 2026.

Despite the relief of the rainfall, we are continuing our efforts to tackle more than 800 leaks per week and lay over 1,000km of new water pipes over the next five years. The hosepipe restrictions remain in place and will be in effect until reservoir and groundwater levels have seen sufficient recovery. We’re hoping this will occur through usual autumn and winter rainfall and we will continue to monitor levels and remove the restrictions as soon as we are able.

Once again we’d like to thank customers’ efforts to adhere to the restrictions and for those taking further steps to conserve water resources.

Quick reference links

• Hosepipe restrictions: what’s allowed
• Restrictions update: to remain in place
• Water Situation (“Watsit”) Report
• Yorkshire Water – News & media