HOUSTON, August 27, 2001 — Chemical producer Equistar has awarded USFilter a multi-million dollar, long-term contract to operate and maintain its water and wastewater systems and oversee the design, build and implementation of numerous capital improvements at its Clinton, Iowa, facility. The agreement is expected to provide Equistar with substantial savings in operating costs through more efficient processes and operations.
Equistar produces more than one billion pounds of ethylene and 500 million pounds of high and low-density polyethylene at its Clinton facility. Water and wastewater utilities at the facility include wells, fire water systems, cold lime softener, cooling water, boiler feedwater makeup system, wastewater treatment and a polishing pond.
"We're continually looking for ways to reduce our operating costs," said Phil Weckwerth, Equistar's project manager, "and this agreement with USFilter will give us a way to accomplish that while providing our plant with a reliable source of high-quality water. It also allows us to focus our operations, maintenance, and technical resources on Equistar's core business of manufacturing high-quality polymer resins."
The Equistar contract is the latest in a string of USFilter successes that includes the recently announced outsourcing partnership with another chemical manufacturer, Westlake Chemical Corporation. These wins exemplify USFilter's position as the premiere water outsourcing solutions partner in the business and industrial market, a segment where USFilter is recognized as the market leader according to the March 2001 annual outsourcing survey conducted by Public Works Financing.
"Our message to manufacturers is simple. Water is our core competency, and chemicals or computers or cars is yours," said Ron P. Davis, executive vice president and general manager, USFilter Operating Services. "The cost savings and consistent, guaranteed services that we provide to all our clients clearly demonstrate the value of such partnerships like the Equistar partnership."
The Equistar agreement includes more than $7 million in USFilter system installations including dewatering, chemical feed, control, softening, and reverse-osmosis boiler feedwater treatment. In addition, USFilter will design and construct a new 1.72-MGD capacity wastewater treatment plant using USFilter's DAVCO equipment. Complete terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Equistar Chemicals, LP (www.equistarchem.com) is a joint venture among Lyondell Chemical Company, Millennium Chemicals Inc. and Occidental Petroleum Corporation and combines their olefins, polymers and oxygenated chemicals businesses. Equistar is one of the world's largest producers of ethylene, propylene and polyethylene and a producer of ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, polypropylene, specialty polymers, wire and cable resins, and polyolefin powders. Equistar was formed in December 1997 and has 18 manufacturing sites located primarily along the U.S. Gulf Coast and in the Midwest. Company headquarters is in Houston, Texas.
USFilter Operating Services, which is part of USFilter, designs, builds, operates, owns and finances water, wastewater and related utility facilities and systems. USFilter is a Vivendi Water company, the global provider of commercial, industrial, municipal and residential water and wastewater treatment systems, products and services, with operations in more than 100 countries. Together, Vivendi Water, Onyx (solid waste and industrial services), Dalkia (energy management), and Connex (transportation and logistics) comprise Vivendi Environnement, the largest environmental services company in the world with annual revenues of more than $23 billion. Visit USFilter's web site at www.usfilter.com.
