• Advanced 100.4 million-gallons-per-day system to help region meet growing water demand and increasingly stringent regulations
TREVOSE, PA, Dec. 4, 2007 -- GE's ecomagination-certified ZeeWeed advanced membrane technology has been selected for a 100.4 million gallons per day (MGD) (380 ML/d) retrofit and expansion of the Lorne Park Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in the rapidly growing Region of Peel, Ontario, Canada. Once completed, the Lorne Park WTP, which is built largely beneath a community park on the shore of Lake Ontario, will be the world's largest municipal water treatment plant to use ZeeWeed ultrafiltration membranes and will provide water of sufficient quantity and quality to meet the Region's needs until 2031.
The membranes, manufactured by GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company will replace the original granular media filters installed when the plant was constructed in 1975. The expansion will increase the facility's water treatment capacity by 45% with minimal impact on the waterfront recreational area located above the underground facility. Existing settling tanks will be retrofitted to accommodate the membrane cassettes and a 16,000 ft² (1,500m²) extension to an existing building will house the permeate pumps and other ancillary equipment.
"Water plant upgrades and expansions are posing major challenges for municipalities that are coping with population growth and aging infrastructure," said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. "As regions around the globe face similar pressures, our advanced water treatment technologies will continue to bring communities common sense solutions that balance smart growth, reuse existing infrastructure through retrofits, and meet the increasing demand for safe, reliable water supplies."
The introduction of the Ontario Safe Drinking Water Act and the development of the Region of Peel's Water & Wastewater Servicing Master Plan were key factors influencing the Region's decision to expand and upgrade its water treatment capabilities. The region's evaluation of water quality and regulatory trends revealed that water quality issues in the Great Lakes may increase and regulations will become increasingly stringent in the future. In addition, demand for clean drinking water will increase, as the Region's rapid population growth is expected to continue.
"The advanced water treatment processes incorporated into our Lorne Park and Lakeview facilities put the Region of Peel at the forefront of municipal water treatment services," said Mark Schiller, Director, Water Division, Region of Peel. "The upgrades and capacity expansions will enable the Region to provide cost-effective delivery of high quality water that protects the public health and will meet all regulations well into the foreseeable future."
The Lorne Park WTP expansion is GE's second large-scale municipal project with the Region of Peel. Earlier this year, the Lakeview WTP began operations, a facility that also uses GE's ZeeWeed hollow-fiber ultrafiltration membranes to treat up to 96 million gallons per day (363 ML/d) and is currently the world's largest municipal WTP using this technology. Once completed, the Lorne Park WTP expansion project and Lakeview WTP facility will together provide water to more than a million residential and commercial users in the Region of Peel.
GE's innovative ZeeWeed membrane technology uses immersed hollow-fiber membranes to separate particles from water using microscopic pores. This technology produces high quality drinking water by removing virtually all harmful pathogens and suspended solids. ZeeWeed technology is certified under ecomagination, GE's corporate-wide initiative to solve tough environmental challenges such as abundant sources of clean water, cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
A world leader in water, water reuse, wastewater treatment and process solutions, GE Water & Process Technologies offers a broad portfolio of water and process technologies, including: separation equipment; membrane & filtration technology; diagnostic tools; specialty chemicals; mobile water capabilities; service; and financing.
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