PWN Technologies wins IWA Project Innovation Award 2012 with ceramic membranes and ion exchange

The demonstration installation of PWN Technologies at the drinking water treatment plant Andijk III has won the European edition of the Project Innovation Award 2012 - category applied research - of the International Water Association (IWA). This was announced by the IWA on April 4.

The pretreatment installation for the intake of surface water from Lake Ijssel (IJsselmeer) received the highest score based on the judging criteria of innovation, future value to the water engineering profession, and sustainability.

Follow on competition for the global award
The award will be handed out in Brussels on May 15. Together with the winners of other regional competitions the demo plant Andijk will compete for the PIA Global Grand Prize, which will be presented at the IWA World Water Congress in Busan, Korea on September 19.

Pretreatment with ceramic membranes and ion exchange
The demo installation is a pretreatment installation for the production of drinking water, integrating two technologies that PWN Technologies developed based on suspended ion exchange (SIX) and ceramic membranes (CeraMac). SIX and CeraMac result in higher water quality, lower energy consumption and a lower environmental burden.

Removal of organic material from surface water
For about 80 years coagulation in combination with filtration has been the mainstream approach for removing particles from drinking water. Coagulation's main aim was the removal of suspended matter. Over time the importance of organic removal has grown and it has been targeted to reduce disinfection, by-products and improve operation in new downstream processes.

There are however serious limitations to this approach of pretreatment: it produces a lot of sludge and the amount of organic material that can be removed is limited. As the water industry switches from conventional sand-filtration based to more efficient technologies such as membrane filtration and advanced oxidation, pre-treatment technologies are needed.

No fouling of RO-membranes
The demonstration pretreatment installation in Andijk, where SIX and CeraMac are integrated, was completed in 2011 and has operated very efficiently. The plant has a capacity of 50 m3/hr. SIX serves as a pre-treatment for the CeraMac system by removing organics that would normally stick to and foul the reverse osmosis membranes. The installation has been used to try various resins and optimize various operating conditions.

The main aim was to reduce cost, increase sustainability and improve water quality. All these objectives have been attained.

These technologies are also to be applied in the new water treatment plant Andijk III. The water supply company PWN has commissioned PWN Technologies to build this plant. which will be operational at the end of 2013.
(read also: PWN Technologies to build its largest SIX/CeraMac plant in Andijk, December 30, 2011)

Worldwide recognition
Says Mr. Pieter Spohr, CEO of PWN Technologies: "We are very honored to be receiving this award. It is a worldwide recognition of the technologies we have developed at PWN Technologies. PWN Water Supply Company North-Holland embraced the SIX and CeraMac technologies, and several water companies have shown keen interest. PUB has a CeraMac demonstration plant working at the CCK Waterworks in Singapore. We believe in our technologies. This award shows we are right. And above that: it is an incentive to continue to innovate."

More information
PWN Technologies
Velzerbroek, the Netherlands
+31 23 541 3740
www.pwntechnologies.nl
Debbie Middendorp, Global director of marketing & communications
E: dmiddendorp@pwntechnologies.com, M: +65 9171 2209
Daniel Chua, Press Relations Manager Asia
E: dchua@pwntechnologies.com, M: +65 9177 6348

and

IWA Project Innovation Award 2012
www.iwa-pia.org
gladys.ng@iwahq.org