Dow Water & Process Solutions’ (DW&PS) has made its first shipment of its Filmtech reverse osmosis (RO) elements from its new Jubail Operations manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia.
The new RO production facility came on-stream in December 2015. This first shipment is targeted to serve emerging markets. According to DW&PS the facility was built to serve better the local Saudi Arabian market and help meet growing demand for RO in the Middle East and Africa as well as Eastern Europe, India, China and Southeast Asia.
“Through rapid urban economic growth, annual domestic water demand in the Middle East and North Africa countries is estimated to more than triple over the next 20-30 years,” said business unit director for RO at DW&PS Yochai Gafni.
Dow Chemical’s wholly owned Jubail Operations is located in Jubail Industrial City II within the Sadara Chemical Company complex, a joint venture between Dow and Saudi Aramco. The plant manufactures Filmtech RO elements for seawater and brackish water desalination and for water reuse to provide potable, non-potable and industrial water.
President for Dow in Saudi Arabia, Chuck Swartz, said “The Jubail Operations replicates and builds on the state-of-the-art production technology employed in Edina, Minn, USA, and adds a high-technology investment to the Kingdom. It is also creating jobs for Saudi talents.”
Dow estimates that RO elements manufactured at DW&PS Jubail Operations would have the capability to reduce the energy used in the region to distill water by about 10 million barrels of oil equivalent a year.