Clearford Announces Two New Village Sanitation Projects And A New Industrial Contract In India, Update On Q4 2018 Revenues, And A Reduction In Interest Costs

Clearford Water Systems In . (“Clearford” or the “Company”), recently announced that its subsidiary, Clearford India Pvt. Ltd., has signed contracts for two new Clearford One system installations for villages in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu States. This new announcement was accompanied by an update on the Company’s recent activity in India in the second half of 2018, including the commissioning of two industrial wastewater systems and the signing of another project at an industrial site in Gujarat.

Design work is underway for the project in Alwa village, Gujarat State, after the first work order for Phase 1 was issued by the Indian multi-national firm Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) subsidiary, L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Ltd., on August 29, 2018. The complete design-build project for a Clearford One sanitation system is being funded through corporate-social responsibility (CSR) programming to improve public health in the village.

When all phases are complete, the wastewater system will serve over 1,200 people in this rural village outside of Vadodara. Clearford will provide end-to-end wastewater servicing for the community, which is 4 times larger than the village in Gujarat where the first Clearford One system in India was installed in 2016.

The second new project, located in rural Tamil Nadu State, was signed on December 14, 2018. Clearford will deliver improved sanitation for approximately 130 people in Rangapuram Colony, Poondi village, through a CSR partnership of the Murugappa Group’s Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd. with The Voice Foundation, a local Indian entity of the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada.

Both projects will include wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure with low-cost constructed wetland facilities providing final treatment to local agricultural reuse water quality standards. The Clearford One system is designed to be operated by trained local people with minimal electricity usage, making it a sustainable model for sanitation in rural India.

Kevin Loiselle, President & CEO of Clearford, explained the significance of these projects to the Company’s objectives in the Indian market: “We are pleased to see the Clearford One system gain continued traction in the Indian market with the implementation of a larger village project in Gujarat State, where the first Clearford One installation successfully demonstrated the value and performance of the technology for sustainable village sanitation. The Poondi project establishes another Clearford demonstration site, now in the South India region where there is a well-documented need for sanitation solutions in rural communities.”

Mr. Loiselle also discussed the growing interest in Clearford’s complete solution for commercial and industrial developments. “A second wastewater project has been signed with Hilti Manufacturing India Pvt. Ltd. and a third is being discussed following the success of the first installation for on-site treatment and beneficial reuse of wastewater from toilet and washroom facilities at the company’s plant in Navsari, Gujarat,” he explained. A similar system was installed by Clearford earlier in 2018 at the McCain Foods (India) plant in Mehsana District, Gujarat.

“Clearford continues to pursue several advanced opportunities for industrial site wastewater systems across India as these operations seek out low cost solutions for reusing water and reducing their environmental footprint,” said Mr. Loiselle.

Mr. Loiselle, who visited project sites and met with Indian partners in November, expressed enthusiasm over Clearford’s recent progress in India. “We expect to continue gaining momentum in the Indian market as these new projects are completed in 2019, and as deeper strategic relationships are developed with India’s business and philanthropic communities,” he said.

“This promising outlook in India complements the Company’s progress in North America, where the new business model is on track to generate significant revenue growth starting in 2019. Our North American sales will be down in 2018 due to the early winter weather conditions we are facing and the Company will not meet its originally forecasted Q4 revenue targets released in its November 14, 2018 press release. It is expected that revenues will be below $2 million for the quarter. The reduction is due to project delays and will increase our 2019 opening backlog. It is expected that the revenue associated with these project delays will be realized during the first and second quarters of 2019,” Mr. Loiselle concluded.

In addition to the above, the Company is also announcing that it has amended its November 19, 2014 Loan Agreement to reduce the interest rate from 11% to 9.75%. It has also agreed to a change in interest payment terms from annual payments to semi-annual payments due in May and November of each year respectively. There were no other changes to the terms and conditions of the loan.

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About Clearford Water Systems Inc.
Clearford Water Systems is a provider of unified water management solutions for the design, deployment, financing and operation of water infrastructure systems. The Company’s technology-based water solutions include Clearford One wastewater infrastructure systems, Clearford M-brane packaged treatment solutions, and a full range of UV Pure water disinfection products. For more information, visit www.clearford.com.