MINNEAPOLIS, MN, May 17, 2010 -- As Australia's largest desalination plant, Sydney now joins the ranks of other coastal cities in Australia to use seawater desalination as a sustainable and rainfall-independent route to providing drinking water for its metropolitan area.
Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, supplied approximately 36,000 DOW FILMTEC™ reverse osmosis (RO) elements to the new, efficient desalination facility which was officially inaugurated on April 19, 2010.
The energy demand of the Sydney plant is offset by wind-generated electricity and uses advanced water treatment technologies to reduce energy consumption. DOW FILMTEC™ elements will help to convert 250,000 cubic meters - or 250 million liters - of seawater per day into potable water thus providing approximately 15 percent of Sydney's water supply needs.
"This project confirms the growing interest in and support for desalination as a reliable and economically viable way to produce clean water in drought-prone, high-population areas," says Ian Barbour, general manager, Dow Water & Process Solutions. "For us at Dow, it's a validation of our ongoing efforts to advance water treatment technologies that allow people to solve issues critical to their well-being and needs."
The advanced membrane technology from Dow Water & Process Solutions helps communities worldwide to broaden their water sourcing options, and DOW FILMTEC™ components help desalination be an economically viable method of treating seawater to address global water shortages. Dow technology plays a key role in three of the world's five largest desalination projects, including the plants in Tampa Bay, Fla., USA; Ashkelon, Israel; and Perth, Australia.
For more information on DOW FILMTEC™ SWRO components, please visit our website www.dowwaterandprocess.com/sw.
About Dow Water & Process Solutions
Dow Water & Process Solutions has a 50 year legacy of providing innovative water and process solutions to both communities and industries alike. A differentiated business unit of The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries, Dow Water & Process Solutions offers a broad portfolio of ion exchange resins, reverse osmosis membranes, ultrafiltration membranes and electrodeionization products, with strong positions in a number of major application areas, including industrial and municipal water, chemical processes, pharmaceuticals, power, residential water and waste and water reuse. More information about Dow Water & Process Solutions can be found at www.dowwaterandprocess.com
About Dow
Dow combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element" to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
###
