Evoqua Water Technologies is to double its capacity to produce its range of water treatment products at one of its main production facilities in the US.
Evoqua has started building a new factory in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, to replace its existing manufacturing in the state at nearby Lowell. It will expand the Lowell centre into the vacated manufacturing space to accelerate commercialization of the company’s new technologies.
The Tewksbury facility will manufacture a range of water treatment products including Ionpure continuous electrodeionization (CEDI) modules; select new products based on its new electrochemical desalination technology; and Capac impressed current cathodic protection anodes.
The new research and development capabilities will include pilot production for new products prior to being placed into full manufacturing around the world. The Tewksbury and Lowell expansions are expected to be operational in the spring of 2015.
Evoqua said the expansion was largely prompted by global market demand for its CEDI technology. CEDI technology is used in process and product water treatment where reverse osmosis alone cannot provide the high degree of purity required the company explained. It said the technology is widely used in the power, electronics, and pharmaceutical industries as well as in specialty laboratories.
“The range of applications for our CEDI technology is widening and we are seeing the trend accelerate,” said Evoqua Water Technologies chief executive officer,Ron Keating. “There is a clear movement by OEMs and end users toward this purification method and we are expanding to meet that demand,” he added.
The Tewksbury facility – which employs some 50 production, operations support, engineering and procurement personnel – will be one of a dozen main production centres in the US.