The river acts as the main water source for more than 30 million people in Wuxi and the surrounding area. GE says the new Meicun wastewater treatment plant, will be China’s first large-scale application of its membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology and will demonstrate how the US$10 million advanced treatment system can protect water resources and benefit the nation’s economy.
As China’s third largest lake, Taihu suffers from an excessive accumulation of nutrients, and this condition continues to broaden as the population and industrial base grows and wastewater discharge to lakes and rivers increases. GE’s ecomagination-certified MBR system combines selected microorganisms and ZeeWeed ultrafiltration membranes to breakdown organic nutrients and filter solids from wastewater. The compnay says the systems will produce high quality effluent that can be safely discharged to Taihu Lake, or reused for industrial applications, irrigation, or aquifer recharge. Capable of treating up to 30,000 m3/day of water, the plant will play a key role in a province-wide effort to reduce the amount of chemical and organic wastes discharged to Taihu. Xue Yuanshui, general manager of Wuxi Gaoxin Water Co Ltd, commented: “GE’s advanced membrane system will ensure that this plant will consistently meet the strict new wastewater treatment standards established by the government and will help protect the water quality in Taihu Lake, an important source for millions of people.”
Taihu Lake is the nation’s first water body to come under powerful new regulations designed to remedy declining water quality.
In other company news, GE and water infrastructure and engineering firm, Septech, have announced a 20-year, multi-million dollar agreement to help the United Arab Emirates and Oman meet its growing water needs. Under the recently signed agreement, Septech, has purchased a fleet of GE mobile water treatment systems.
This Septech-GE collaboration will provide regional industrial, municipal and infrastructure customers with a range of solutions to meet virtually any water, wastewater and process water need. Housed in 12 m mobile containers, the GE units can treat brackish, salt and wastewater, and can produce up to 1,000 m3/day of pure water. GE’s local partner, Ideal Hydrotech Systems, will be responsible for system installation and operator training during the next 12 months.