by Brianna Crandall — March 31, 2014—As part of its commitment to reduce its own eco-footprint and help customers and societies around the world do the same, global science and technology company Dow has revealed its breakthrough DOW FILMTEC ECO Reverse Osmosis (RO) Elements technology. (See infographic on this page or click here.) Fighting global water scarcity by helping to deliver 40 percent better purification with 30 percent less energy, this innovative solution reportedly has the potential to impact millions of lives by revolutionizing water treatment.
“As this new Dow technology is fully adopted, we anticipate it will deliver trillions of metric tons of clean water, billions of kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy savings, and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than a million metric tons in its first 10 years of use alone,” said Neil Hawkins, corporate vice president of Sustainability at Dow. “This innovation will help deliver a more sustainable water supply to the world, addressing global water scarcity in a very tangible way.”
According to the 2030 Water Resources Group, global water demand is expected to grow exponentially by 2030, greatly outpacing supply. While consumers might experience limitations to water consumption as a result of drought conditions, they may have less visibility to significant opportunities for water efficiency in the production of the goods and services they use every day. For example, it takes 2,867 gallons of water to make just one pair of jeans, or 39,090 gallons of water to manufacture a new car, notes Dow.
This infographic demonstrates how DOW FILMTEC ECO Reverse Osmosis (RO) Elements can help manufacturers reduce water and energy use.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Dow says it is uniquely positioned to help solve this global challenge, as its freshwater solutions are already processing more than 15 million gallons of water per minute around the world. With this market understanding, Dow scientists developed a breakthrough polymer chemistry that surpasses the last three decades of incremental change in reverse osmosis technology and represents some of the most advanced water purification science available today. Launched in 2013 with more than 15 patents submitted, FILMTEC ECO RO Technology delivers significant water and energy savings when compared to standard reverse osmosis elements.
“To significantly impact water security, any solution needs to address both water purification and the energy required to treat the water, as energy and water requirements are intimately intertwined,” said Snehal Desai, global business director, Dow Water and Process Solutions. “By providing environmental, economic and societal benefits, this technology is a great example of sustainable innovation at Dow.”
According to Dow, this is the second of three “Breakthroughs to a World Challenge” that the company committed to deliver as part of its 2015 Sustainability Goals. Set in 2006, these Goals include a commitment to achieving at least three breakthroughs that will help solve world challenges in the areas of energy and climate change, water, food, housing and health. The first breakthrough technology, Omega-9 healthy oils, was announced in 2012.
