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- Veolia North America, Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans unveil Hubgrade center for digital management and control of wastewater treatment, a first in the U.S.
- Hubgrade combines Veolia’s water and energy activities to improve environmental quality while cutting costs, reducing emissions and enhancing long-term sustainability for New Orleans
- These achievements exemplify the goals of Veolia’s global GreenUp strategy, which strives to lead the ecological transformation of the planet by accelerating water quality improvement, decarbonization and technological innovation
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Veolia North America, the leading provider of environmental solutions in the U.S. and Canada, today joined New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans Executive Director Ghassan Korban at the city’s East Bank wastewater treatment plant to open a new digital control center that will for the first time use advanced data collection and analysis to improve how New Orleans treats its wastewater, protects public health, improves environmental quality and advances its smart city goals.
The control center is the first location in the United States to use Veolia’s Hubgrade suite of digital tools for wastewater treatment, which have successfully been deployed in other global cities to provide advanced monitoring and control systems.
Veolia has partnered with SWBNO for 31 years to improve the city’s wastewater treatment system, and recently renewed their partnership to reimagine how the city treats and manages its wastewater.
At a ribbon-cutting event in the new Hubgrade control room, Cantrell, Korban and other community leaders joined Veolia for a demonstration of how the digital system works, featuring a map-based interface that shows operators key performance indicators and simplifies complex processes.
Picture: Veolia Project Manager Erick Gomez demonstrates the Hubgrade digital solution in the new control room at New Orleans’ East Bank wastewater treatment plant for, from left to right, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans Executive Director Ghassan Korban and Veolia North America CEO Frédéric Van Heems.
Digital solution offers transformative tools for wastewater treatment
Hubgrade combines digital tools with human expertise to continually collect data from wastewater treatment, analyze it with proprietary artificial intelligence systems, and use those findings to make operations more efficient and effective. Its centralized secure data platform brings together information about chemical use, energy consumption, weather-related and seasonal variations, and process performance for dynamic monitoring and advanced analytics. Reports that previously took hours to compile are now available with just a few clicks. AI tools can detect subtle operation changes over time and identify potential energy savings across all operations.
Veolia North America CEO Frédéric Van Heems said, “The new Hubgrade center we’re launching today is an important step on New Orleans’ path to become a smart city. We can adjust operations to perform better, cost less, save energy and cut emissions, while positioning New Orleans as a model for other cities around the world. This helps drive economic growth, enhance the overall quality of life, and build a more resilient, sustainable and prosperous New Orleans for generations to come.”
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said, “This is a monumental moment for both New Orleans and the nation as we open the first Hubgrade center in America. We are setting the standard for cities across the country, making innovative investments that are transformative and building a legacy for future generations. What we’re doing is unprecedented, and New Orleans is ready to lead. Our city is at the forefront of digital transformation, embracing groundbreaking solutions that will safeguard our water resources and improve the quality of life for all our residents.”
Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans Executive Director Ghassan Korban said, “The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans is committed to infrastructure reliability and resiliency, as well as technology modernization. Our continued partnership with Veolia will make our East Bank and West Bank wastewater treatment plants far more efficient and effective.”
Long-standing partnership brings real benefits to New Orleans
The partnership between Veolia and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans has rebuilt and sustained the city’s infrastructure at both of its wastewater treatment plants. This collaboration has improved water quality, boosted operational efficiency, and fostered community engagement on ecological issues and climate change. These achievements exemplify the goals of Veolia’s global GreenUp strategy, which strives to lead the ecological transformation of the planet by accelerating water quality improvement, decarbonization and technological innovation.
In addition to improving daily wastewater treatment operations while strengthening long-term capacity, function, and resilience, Veolia has provided extraordinary operational support during hurricanes and natural disasters, such as when wastewater treatment plants were devastated by Hurricane Katrina and later by Hurricane Ida. Veolia drew on its global resources to restore service for residents and recover from the damage without waiting for federal assistance.
As part of its support for community and educational efforts in the city it serves, Veolia has created community, educational and environmental initiatives across New Orleans, including working with the New Orleans East Festival, Joe W. Brown Memorial Park, the Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail, Delgado Community College, the Southern University System, and neighboring high schools.
Earlier this year, Veolia and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans renewed their partnership with a new five-year agreement to include Hubgrade digital monitoring as well as a new sludge treatment system; new pumps and equipment at both East Bank and West Bank plants; and a new oxygen system that will save $2 million a year, reduce chemical costs and power use by at least 10%, and eliminate an estimated 12 metric tons per month of carbon emissions.
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ABOUT VEOLIA NORTH AMERICA
A subsidiary of Veolia Group, Veolia North America (VNA) offers a full spectrum of water, waste and energy management services, including water and wastewater treatment, commercial and hazardous waste collection and disposal, energy consulting and resource recovery. VNA helps commercial, industrial, healthcare, higher education and municipality customers throughout North America. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., Veolia North America has more than 10,000 employees working at more than 350 locations across the continent.
www.veolianorthamerica.com
ABOUT VEOLIA GROUP
Veolia's ambition is to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. With nearly 218,000 employees on five continents, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for managing water, waste and energy that help to radically change the world. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia contributes to developing access to resources, preserving available resources and renewing them. In 2023, the Veolia group served 113 million people with drinking water and 103 million with wastewater services, produced 42 terawatt-hours of energy and recovered 63 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) generated consolidated sales of €45.3 billion in 2023.
www.veolia.com
ABOUT THE SEWERAGE AND WATER BOARD OF NEW ORLEANS
For 125 years, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) has served as the city's drinking water, wastewater, and drainage utility. With nearly 1,300 employees, SWBNO is a true "one water" utility, providing essential water services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, where and when they are needed. Guided by a strategic planning effort, SWBNO works daily toward its vision of becoming a model utility that earns and holds the trust and confidence of customers through reliable and sustainable water services.
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CONTACTS
VEOLIA NORTH AMERICA
DeShanon Cobb
Manager, Communications and Community Relations
504-491-9478
[email protected]
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
Leatrice Dupré
Press Secretary
504-658-4901
[email protected]
SEWERAGE AND WATER BOARD OF NEW ORLEANS
Ceara Labat
Community Outreach Specialist
504-521-2177
[email protected]