EAST HILLS, N.Y., June 16, 2003 -- The cities of Bakersfield and Los Angeles are two of several cities that have turned to Pall Corp. to help them solve their water problems. Each selected Pall microfiltration systems, part of the family of Pall AriaSM Water Treatment Systems, to ensure an adequate supply of safe drinking water from new sources.
Bakersfield is tapping into the Kern River, fed from the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountain snow melt, as a new water source to produce an additional 20 million gallons of drinking water a day to meet current and future water demands of a growing city. A new water treatment plant, which includes one of the largest microfiltration facilities on the West Coast, was built by the California Water Service Company (Cal Water) to utilize surface water to increase the local water supply.
Water from the Kern River is pumped to the treatment plant where it is filtered through a Pall Aria Water Treatment System to produce high quality water that meets increasingly stringent water quality standards.
"Our results with the Pall microfiltration system have been outstanding. The plant is designed to meet current and future water quality regulations without extensive modification," said Tim Treloar, Cal Water District Manager. "The plant provides a new source of high quality drinking water that will augment existing supply and allow for growth in northeast Bakersfield."
The plant was designed for easy expansion to 40 million gallons a day, and then to ultimate build-out of 60 million gallons per day.
Pall Aria Water Treatment Systems protect against the passage of many waterborne pathogens and other contaminants, exceeding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) standards for removal of the parasites Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia. Membrane filtration is most effective for safe and cost-efficient reduction of disease-causing organisms to ensure quality drinking water.
In a semi-arid climate like Los Angeles, local groundwater provides only minimal amounts of drinking water. Most of the city's water is imported from other areas. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has implemented several programs to ensure an ample, high quality water supply for years to come.
LADWP selected Pall Aria Water Treatment Systems for two new 6.5 million gallons per day microfiltration plants to serve as supplemental sources of water. Open reservoirs are subject to potential contamination from storm water run-off and degradation due to algae, small aquatic organisms, microbes and airborne particles. The Pall systems will help LADWP comply with EPA's Surface Water Treatment Rule for drinking water.
"We chose the Pall microfiltration system to treat the Encino and Stone Canyon reservoir water because it produces superior water quality, takes up less space, and requires less chemicals than a conventional water treatment system," said Dr. Ali Karimi, LADWP's Water Quality Specialist. "These features helped us secure approval from the communities adjacent to the reservoirs that had opposed construction of conventional water treatment facilities because of the size, noise and potential chemical hazards. The people of Los Angeles will enjoy safe, better tasting, drinking water from a high quality source that meets the expanding needs of our growing city."
The Encino plant is expected to be operational by December 2004 and the Stone Canyon plant by November 2006.
The City of Clovis, California, also chose Pall Aria Water Treatment Systems for a 15 million gallons per day drinking water plant, as did Cal Water for a 0.8 million gallons per day drinking water plant in Lucerne County.
California is not alone in dealing with water shortage problems. Recently, Pall helped the drought-stricken city of Roanoke, Virginia to quickly open up a secondary water source that had been out of service since revised federal regulations mandated that a new filtration plant be built to treat the water. The Pall filtration system enabled the city to upgrade their existing infrastructure and provide up to 4 million more gallons of safe drinking water daily. Pall is also working with water companies around the world to supply the most cost effective filtration systems to meet quality standards and rising demand for this precious natural resource.
The Pall Aria Water Treatment System has a small footprint, is modular and filters more water at higher fluxes with less waste, significantly reducing the cost of ownership. Its modular design provides for simple installation, operation and service and is expandable to meet growing capacity. The demand for small, modular, and easy-to-operate systems has been increasing around the world, making Pall Aria Water Treatment Systems one of Pall Corporation's most successful products. The system is also used to provide highly purified water to a host of industries for the production of petrochemicals, power, food and beverages, biopharmaceuticals and medical products.
Water Processing is a multi-billion dollar market driven by both government regulations and the scarcity of water. It is Pall Corporation's fastest growing business.
According to the 2003 United Nations "World Water Development Report," there are presently 1.1 billion people worldwide who lack access to clean water. The International Water Management Institute predicts that by 2025, 2.7 billion people will face severe water scarcity.
About Pall Corporation
Pall Corporation is a player in the rapidly growing field of filtration, separations and purification. Pall's business is organized around two broad markets: Life Sciences and Industrial. The company provides leading-edge products to meet the demanding needs of customers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, transfusion medicine, semiconductors, municipal drinking water and aerospace. Total revenues in the last twelve months were about $1.5 billion. The company is headquartered in East Hills, New York. Further information can be found on its Web site at www.pall.com.
