New InterLink: June 2020 edition

Even though we have heard enough, and really just want to move on and get back to life as we know it, I have to bring up this global occurrence which has turned our lives upside-down and has put other subjects in focus than the ones we usually deal with.

The Corona crisis has of course made public health and ways of protecting ourselves the number-one topic on the agenda. Yet again, we are reminded of the importance of water to people’s health. Keep your distance and wash your hands often. But what good is soap without water? How do you keep your distance if you’re living with thousands of others in a crammed space in camps or slum districts and water is only available from a small dripping tap where people crowd?

On the other hand, water can kill. More than two million people die every year from waterborne diseases or because of inadequate or complete lack of sanitation. This spring, several large Danish
water companies have published their annual report. These make for an interesting read, and even in a country like Denmark which we ourselves consider quite organised, there’s room for improvement. “We want to supply healthy water to people and to Nature”, one of these reports states. Imagine if all water companies felt that way? One report used this image to demonstrate what it is all about:

All communities borrow water from nature and all communities should return this water in a cleaned and healthy state. All communities should be safeguarded against climate change, and water is usually an early warning that something is changing. Either monster rain that makes sewers overflow, leading to massive pollution at the expense of both people and Nature, or droughts that dry up lakes and streams and force people to move to other areas.

While the Corona crisis has made health the main topic, attention has also been drawn to ways of maintaining control and keeping an overview of an infrastructure as critical as water and wastewater. In many places, emergency crews and 24-hour staffing have been put in place to make sure nothing goes wrong. The answer to this challenge is automation; learn more in our Smart Water area.

Prior to launching the new AVK Smart Water business unit, 50 years of AVK history have passed. In 1970, the first AVK valve was developed and sold to the Danish water supply, which at the time lacked a functional, sustainable shut-off valve for the distribution network. Inside the magazine, you can read about Niels Aage Kjær’s 50 years jubilee as a manufacturer, and you can see one of the very first AVK valves manufactured back in the 70’s which, after a thorough clean-up, still works. Also, there is a lot of Smart Water on the agenda, and insights to where AVK contributes to climate
adaptation projects around the world.

Enjoy reading.

Michael Ramlau-Hansen