Clean drinking water, from Singapore to Germany

Industries and organisations worldwide are faced with increasing challenges in the purification of drinking water, process water and wastewater. The priority is to structurally reduce the impact on the (living) environment. In one of its Dutch facilities in Enschede, Pentair is a leading player in the area of purification techniques. Anaerobic membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are one of the technological solutions to solve purification problems structurally. MBRs from Pentair are used in many large projects around the world. One of the projects is located in Singapore. With 721 square kilometres (km2) of land and 5.6 million people, Singapore is among the most densely populated countries on Earth. The country's water resources are derived from its “Four National Taps” - local water catchments, imported water, high-grade, ultra-clean reclaimed water known as NEWater, and desalinated water. Pentair is contributing to the “30 mgd Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant (KMEDP)” project. Once completed in 2020, it will be Singapore's fourth desalination plant and the first large-scale dual-mode plant, able to treat both seawater and freshwater.

The project will present many “firsts” for Singapore. For a start, the KMEDP will be the first desalination plant located in the city, harmonising seamlessly with the surrounding parkland for the enjoyment of the public and maximising land use in land-scarce Singapore. The KMEDP will also be the first dual-mode desalination plant to be built in Singapore utilising either seawater or freshwater as its feed. The KMEDP will also be the first large-scale desalination plant in Singapore to use the Direct-Coupling UF-RO approach in its process design where the filtrate from the UF pre-treatment is fed directly to the downstream RO process. This design eliminates the need for a RO break tank and a pumping stage for the RO, resulting in significant cost, space and energy savings.

Highly trained specialists work in the R&D department of Pentair in Enschede. Various innovative applications are realised in close collaboration with colleagues from product management and product implementation as well as with process technologists. Pentair is active worldwide as a supplier of sustainable, energy-efficient and innovative solutions in the field of water and technical products. Pentair has gone through a major transition and is now focusing on the global water sector.

Not only does Pentair achieve its ambition in Singapore, but also Germany. The company contributed to reliable drinking water production. In Roetgen, Pentair X-Flow's Xiga 40 membrane modules have served twelve years in continuous operation, with only eight years expected. The German water company WAG Nordeifel was positively surprised and can confirm that the Pentair membranes truly are a major advancement in terms of safe, reliable and cost efficient drinking water production from surface water.

In Germany, membrane technology does not yet play a major role in the production of drinking water, but the technology is emerging. “Our membrane filtration plant is one of the largest and most advanced in Europe and by far the largest in Germany,” says Walter Dautzenberg, technical director at WAG Nordeifel. Using chemicals such as chlorine is not necessary, because the membranes retain germs. Dautzenberg opted membrane technology because of its considerably better cleaning performance compared to alternatives. He recommends the membranes because of the remarkably long lifespan. In short: Pentair is a global player in sustainable, future-proof and innovative water purification techniques.