Life-cycle thinking at the heart of sustainable water utility development
The Hungarian Water Partnership is proud to highlight a successful arsenic-removal project concluded by one of our member companies, Puraset Ltd. , Pureco Ltd. and its project partners, demonstrating why sustainable water utility investments must be evaluated beyond their initial construction costs.
The project in Bihor County, Romania, uses regenerable adsorbent technology to provide safe drinking water while reducing waste generation, supporting circular operation and delivering a more favourable solution over the system’s entire life cycle. It shows how Dynamic Cost Comparison (DCC) and Life-Cycle Costing (LCC) can help decision-makers identify solutions that are reliable, cost-effective and sustainable over the long term.
We are particularly proud that the project and its wider professional lessons have been featured in Mérnök Újság, the official journal of the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers. The article, titled “Life-Cycle Cost-Based Arsenic Removal,” was co-authored by Dr. Károly Kovács, President of the Hungarian Water Partnership and the Hungarian Water Association (MaSzeSz), and József Ányos, Deputy Technical Director of KEVIÉP Ltd. the project partner.
The article presents the engineering considerations behind the selection of the arsenic-removal technology, the operation and advantages of the regenerable adsorbent solution, and the importance of considering operating, maintenance, energy, chemical and waste-management costs throughout the full life cycle of water infrastructure.
Its central message closely reflects the professional approach promoted by HWP: in sustainable water utility development, the best solution is not necessarily the one with the lowest initial investment cost, but the one that provides the greatest overall value and can be operated reliably and sustainably for decades.
The full article can be read here:
The complete July 2026 issue of Mérnök Újság is also available digitally here. The article begins on page 32.