Reliable Backup and Emergency Water Services for Industry and the Community: GE Showcases Mobile Water Desalination Technology
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Johannesburg, November 11, 2008 - GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), has introduced its Mobile Water units in a demonstration to industry and media at the GE Midrand offices today. Customers in the region with critical treated water needs will now benefit from an emergency service to avoid shutdowns.
The mobile water units are part of a global fleet, which are strategically located worldwide, to enable GE to provide a global emergency response. The units located in South Africa are hosted in Midrand for local and regional use. Customers can now be secure in the knowledge a unit is only a few hours away. Once on-site the treated water production can commence within a couple of hours.
Nellie Swanepoel, Managing Director for GE Water & Process Technologies in South Africa said, "These units are an excellent example of solutions GE can provide. With our portfolio of technologies and through our ecomagination philosophy sustainable water use and treatment is central to our vision. We understand the critical nature of water resources around the globe, particularly here in Africa, and therefore this service can support socio-economic and infrastructure development needs."
Swanepoel adds, "As a global market leader of outsourced industrial water treatment solutions, using mobile and fixed location solutions we can provide our customers with a sustainable security of supply, in quality and quantity."
Dirk Slabbert, Equipment Project Manager at GE Water & Process Technologies explains: "These mobile water units presented today would be deployed in cases where reliable, high quality water is required in a short period of time. Typically, we would provide these units to municipalities in cases where water supply has been interrupted and potable water needs to be returned to the public."
For industry, these units are invaluable as support during shutdowns, whether scheduled or unscheduled and where critical water supply must continue without compromising quality.
The mining and manufacturing industry sectors have benefited from use of these units. Recently a South American processor of Carbon Black required high purity water for a specialised product manufacturing process. With limited demineralisation (DI) capacity, a raw water supply high in total dissolved solids (TDS) and high in silica, GE provided a 90 cubic meter per hour (400 GPM) MobileRO (Reverse Osmosis) system with coagulation / filtration pre-treatment. These units allowed for a production expansion that went ahead without delay, without the need for capital expenditure and at a lower cost of treated water than with the customers own two-step DI system.
Slabbert adds: "Our global fleet has technologies to suit an array of possible applications, including brackish water treatment. The units on display today can treat seawater and have recently been in use in Namibia.
Using forward looking technologies to find more efficient ways of using and reusing water is part of GE's ecomagination commitment to industrial water footprint reduction and minimizing customer exposure to water scarcity, as well as reducing water costs. The mobile water units can assist in reusing water and help access -alternative sources of water resources in order to reduce impact on fresh water supplies.-
GE's ecomagination commitment is both a business strategy for growth at GE and a promise to contribute positively to the environment in the process. As part of that commitment, GE has pledged to reduce its own fresh water use by 20% by 2010. That is one of the world's most aggressive corporate water targets to date, and it is expected to free up 7.4 million cubic meters (two billion gallons) of fresh water a year - enough water to fill more than 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
About GE Water & Process Technologies
A world leader in membrane and filtration, diagnostic tools, specialty chemicals, mobile water, service, and financing, GE Water & Process Technologies offers the broadest portfolio of global expertise and local capabilities. We invest in forward-looking water and process technologies, leveraging the best practices of GE's ecomagination, to help customers balance environmental and economic goals. Our innovative team develops unique partnerships and delivers reliable, long-term solutions for communities, governments and industry that maximize water and energy resources. http://www.ge.com/water
PRESS CONTACTS
Kendal Hunt
+27 82 823 6533
kenh@mweb.co.za
Shiraz Butt
+44 1733 385427
+44 7919 327045 (mobile)
shiraz.butt@ge.com
