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Dow Water & Process Solutions Technology Specified for Southern Seawater Desalination Plant near Perth, Australia

  • 440 sq ft FILMTEC™ membranes will help produce 50 billion liters of drinking water annually.
  • Energy efficiency and affordability delivered by FILMTEC™ membrane technology make DW&PS partner of choice to supply 1.5 million residents with potable water.

Minneapolis, Minn. - November 06, 2009

Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW&PS), a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) announces today that the Company's FILMTEC™ reverse osmosis (RO) elements have been selected for the new Southern Seawater Desalination Plant (SSDP) outside Perth, Australia. The SSDP will use SWRO 440-series DOW™ FILMTEC™ elements in a two-pass RO system for seawater and brackish water, producing 50 billion liters of drinking water annually with the capacity to expand to 100 billion liters per year.

SSDP will be the second major seawater desalination plant in Western Australia, a state whose inland reservoirs today contain only one-quarter of the water available thirty years ago. By 2031, Perth expects to need an additional 150 billion liters of water to meet population demands.

"The new Southern Seawater Desalination Plant will utilize 440 square foot DOW™ FILMTEC™ membrane elements," said Kai-Uwe Hoehn, senior account manager for large projects, Dow Water & Process Solutions. "This project is also utilizing a combination of advanced design features—internally staged design and a permeate split—to maximize performance of the desalination technologies."

Currently, the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant located off the coast of Cockburn Sound provides 17 percent of Perth's water needs. At the completion of the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant project in late 2011, more than 30 percent of Western Australia's water supply will come from climate independent sources like desalination.

Construction of the plant began in July 2009, and upon completion, an intensive ocean monitoring program will analyze the plant's seawater discharge to ensure the ongoing health of marine environments.

For more information on DOW™ FILMTEC™ SWRO components, please visit our website www.dowwatersolutions.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, 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, industrial processes, pharmaceuticals, power, residential water and waste and water reuse. More information about Dow Water & Process Solutions can be found at www.dowwatersolutions.com.

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For Editorial Information:

Katya Chistik Hantel
GolinHarris for Dow Water & Process Solutions
+1-312-729-4219
khantel@golinharris.com

So-Jin Seibold
GolinHarris for Dow Water & Process Solutions
+1-312-729-4253
sseibold@golinharris.com