A water treatment plant using suspended ion-exchange (SIX) and ceramic microfiltration is to be built by the UK’s South West Water using CeraMac technology from PWN Technologies of the Netherlands.
The installation, at Roborough, north of Plymouth, will be based on a 150 m³/d demonstration plant built at Crownhill. It is the first time that PWN technology has been used in the UK.
Over the next 18 months, a dedicated team will be testing the process with a variety of raw water sources. This will enable PWN and South West to fine‑tune the process and help with the design of the new treatment works, which is scheduled for operation in 2018.
Chris Rockey, South West’s science and water quality manager, said: “The processes required to produce high-quality drinking water have traditionally been both energy and chemical-intensive and produce a lot of waste. Advances in drinking water technology and new approaches to the management of raw water supplies are beginning to offer more cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to how drinking water is produced.”
“We have always been convinced of the advantages of our SIX and CeraMac technology,” said Jonathan Clement, CEO of PWN Technologies. We are very pleased that South West Water has recognized these advantages of our technology in a very early stage of the demoproject.”
“The results of our CeraMac demo plant in Singapore has already proved its potential. It exceed all expectations, and I am confident this will happen again,” he added.