GLV wins $28M contract to build large U.S. water treatment bioreactor

MONTREAL – GLV Inc. says its Ovivo water treatment business has won a $28-million contract from the City of Canton, Ohio, to build North America’s largest membrane bioreactor filtration system to treat waste water.

The system is part of a $90-million plant upgrade scheduled to begin in 2015 and be completed in 2017.

Ovivo president Marc Barbeau says the deal highlights improvingacceptance of the environmentally friendly technology despite its higher costs and energy use compared with conventional treatment alternatives.

The contract is part of the U.S. municipal water business the company (TSX:GLV) has identified as a key growth market. Other growth markets include energy, electronics and metals, and municipal water in Europe.

Analysts described the contract as positive given its size and the fact that GLV had a pilot project in the U.S. city.

GLV’s stock has been hit hard by restructuring of its water group since the acquisition of Christ Water Technology in 2009.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, its shares were up more than 17 per cent, or 60 cents, to $4.12 Friday morning, a far cry from the 52 cents the issue was trading at in September 2012 after having fallen from its peak of $15 in 2008.

Sara Elford of Canaccord Genuity sees further stock improvement and sees the operation as a “unique and strategically attractive water platform” should improve the company’s profitability.