An exhibition of technical projects opened the third and last day of the XXII AESabesp - Fenasan Technical Meeting, whose great highlight was the awarding of the AESabesp Trophy for the most prominent work of 2011.

Round Table Discussions

"Technology as a tool for management and increasing efficiency and productivity in environmental sanitation" was the subject of the discussion held by Dante Ragazzi Pauli (aid to the presidency of Sabesp) Cassilda Teixeira de Carvalho (president of ABES - The Brazilian Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering) and Marcelo Gomes, of Sindesan.

"Climate change and interfaces with sanitation" was the subject debated by Mário Thadeu Leme de Barros, of the University of São Paulo School of Engineering, Luiz Carlos Baldicero Molion, of the Federal University of Alagoas, and Wanderley Paganini, superintendent of the Environment for Sabesp.

Simultaneously, the discussion "Sanitation and housing: integration for citizenship" was participated in by Amauri Pollachi, of the Department of Sanitation and Watersheds, Tássia de Menezes Regino, of the São Bernardo do Campo City Hall, and Eduardo Trani, of the State Housing Department.

And the discussion "Municipal Sanitation Plan - Law 11445” comprised of Francisco José de Toledo Piza, from the Agência da Bacia do Alto Tietê Foundation, and Eng. Keiko Obara Kurimori, who is deputy-mayor of the town of Lins, in the state of São Paulo. Piza states that "there is a lack of courage to make appropriate demands for sanitation services and there has been a regression because the rights of the municipality are imposed, but also progression because the service provider must adapt to the plan of each municipality, instead of managing them all the same way".

Keiko, sharing the opinion, stated that the local government of Lins uses its own sources of financing, as well as resources from the Federal Government, the state and private institutions. The initial investment is forecast at BRL 32 million, updated year-by-year. Currently, the town is 100% serviced in terms of water supply and sewage collection and treatment: "this level was attained with the help of the population, which was invited to participate in a public hearing to discuss the issues facing by the town", stated the deputy-mayor.

In the afternoon, a further eight technical lectures were presented, with subjects such as "The deficit in the civil engineering, plumbing and sanitation labor market", "Technical aspects in the selection of biogas compressors" and "Ultra-filtration - advantages and benefits".

Fenasan receives visitors from afar

From 1 p.m., the third day of Fenasan was open to the public, whose numbers surpassed the sum of all the previous days, resulting in the greatest numbers of visitors to the event. AESabesp president, Hiroshi Ietsugu, estimated that at least 13,000 people passed through the aisles of Fenasan and 2,000 congress-goers attended the lectures of the Technical Meeting.

The participation of visitors from universities and sanitation utilities companies from other Brazilian states, with Sanepar (Paraná), Copasa (Minas Gerais), Casal (Alagoas) deserving of special mention. Some international presence was also noted, such as the English engineer Susan Buchanan, development manager for Politest, represented at Fenasan by the exhibitor Digitrol. "I've been to Brazil four times, three of them on business. But Fenasan surprised me. I came today to talk about our equipment, to explain to people what it is, how it works, and what it’s for. It has been marvelous, I think it’s great that people really stop to listen; there's a lot folks passing by here, the foot traffic's really heavy. I'm really excited about this Fair".

Award ceremony and closing

The cultural director of AESabesp, Olavo Alberto Prates Sachs, kicked off the closing ceremony of the XXII AESabesp - Fenasan 2011 Technical Meeting, highlighting the "arduous task of choosing from among 60 technical projects" and the innovations for this edition, such as the 12 round table discussions. He took the opportunity to announce the awarding of the AESabesp "Technical Meeting Highlight" trophy to the Sabesp Unit that has most encouraged its employees to present new projects, which was won by the Eastern Business Unit, represented by its superintendent Márcio Gonçalves Oliveira, who celebrated and dedicated the prize to his team, which was on hand to witness the occasion.

Then, the Vice-Chairman and technical director of AESabesp, Walter Antonio Orsatti took to the podium to announce the much-anticipated AESabesp awards, in the following categories:

Best Stand:
- Amanco Brasil
- Glass Pumps and Valves
- Hidrosul Hydraulic Machinery

Technological Innovation
- Degrémont Water Treatment
- Kanaflex Plastic Industry
- Wastec Brasil

Best Technical Support:
- Enops Engenharia
- Novus electronic products
- Semco industrial equipment

Then it was the turn of AESabesp president, Hiroshi Ietsugu, to award the winners in the following categories:

Fenasan 2011 Highlight:
B.& F. Dias Indústria e Comércio

Sustainability Highlight:
Higra Industrial

And that was how yet another edition of the largest technical market event in Latin America was wound up, with president Hiroshi’s statement that in 2011 impressive numbers were attained, with the increase in area of 57%, compared to last year: "all praise and criticism that we have received will be important for next year. We invite all of you back for the 2012 edition, which will be held on the 5th (opening ceremony), 6th, 7th and 8th of August”, he concluded.

At the end of the fair, the Socio-environmental Projects Department of AESabesp, headed by its Director, Luiz Pires Regadas, drew the winner of a raffle for a bicycle from among the visitors to the fair that answered a questionnaire on the means of transportation they used to get to the event. The winner was Sidnei Teixeira Santos, a Sabesp employee in the town of Bragança Paulista.