DENVER — July 23, 2010, marks the official launch of the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination. Located in Perth, Australia, at Murdoch University’s Rockingham campus, the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination (NCED) was established to provide research and development of desalination technologies and solutions to address Australia’s unique water needs. Last summer the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage, and the Arts provided funding for the center, and Murdoch University is the administering organization responsible for developing a research program, engaging partners, and managing intellectual property frameworks.

The hub of NCED will be a world-class desalination pilot-scale testing and research facility. The pilot-test facility will allow researchers to performance test new and improved desalination technologies and processes at a pilot scale, enabling the industry to validate commercial products, integrate currently available technology, and assess potential technology options. This spring, CH2M HILL was appointed lead design consultant for the new pilot-scale testing and research facility.

“We congratulate the Australian Government on their support for the establishment of the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination,” said David Middleton, CH2M HILL’s Australia and New Zealand Regional Water Business group manager. “We applaud their foresight in funding the creation of a center dedicated to ensuring the country’s future water needs. The desalination innovations developed at NCED will have world-wide application as improvements are made in the efficiencies and carbon footprints of future desalination facilities.”

“The facility will provide the desalination industry with an opportunity to pilot unique applications or near-commercial development projects at a scale that can be confidently translated to an operating plant,” Middleton added. “It will be flexible, modular in design for testing multiple novel technologies, and it will be highly instrumented for researcher efficiency, scalability, and reliability of results.”

The pilot-test desalination facility is expected to be operating by Sept. 2011, in time for the International Desalination Association World Congress in Perth.

In addition, in July, CH2M HILL celebrates the opening of an office in Perth. To support its work in Western Australia, CH2M HILL‘s new office will service the needs of the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination project delivery team and the Water Corporation of Western Australia.

For more information, visit www.ch2mhill.com.