Water recycling solutions earn Dow Prestigious Middle East Award for Innovation in Sustainability

Eng. Waleed Ali Ahmed Salman, Executive Vice President Strategy & Business Development with Dubai Water & Electricity Authority (DEWA) presented the award during the ceremony which took place at The Atlantis Palm Hotel, Dubai. Accepting the award on behalf of Dow, Dr. Ilham Kadri, Commercial Director, DW&PS Middle East and Africa, shared these remarks, "This part of the world has been blessed with oil and gas and less so with water. Winning this award is an honor and testament to our relentless focus on innovating solutions in the water arena. At Dow, we place sustainability at the heart everything we do and it's about making every decision today- keeping the future in mind."

DW&PS has been at the forefront of efforts to help promote wastewater recycling in the Middle East as a means of addressing the region's water concerns. The award, in the Commercial Enterprises and Government Institutions category, recognized the role of two Dow Integrated Technology products; DOW Ultrafiltration, and DOW FILMTEC Reverse Osmosis Elements, in unique water recycling projects at the Al Ain Dairy Farm and the Park Hyatt Dubai, both in the United Arab Emirates.

"The advanced, integrated membrane technology that we produce at Dow purifies the water to remove organics, suspended solids, viruses and other particles through the DOW Ultrafiltration technology and then rejects soluble species using the Dow innovation extra fouling resistance reverse osmosis (RO) membranes," said Rami Abu Amirah, Regional Commercial Manager, DW&PS Middle East and Africa. "The technology is integrated into a conventional plant easily, and it produces a final product which is ready to enter the cooling system, purified, with low salt and of high quality."

The Park Hyatt project involved recycling of wastewater to supply the hotel's Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) towers. These towers were then used to cool the hotel's 225 luxury rooms, helping it save 148,300 cubic meters of water annually. The Al Ain Dairy Farm utilizes the Dow integrated technology to treat wastewater that is reused to keep the Farm's 2,500 cows cool, and also for irrigation and cleaning purposes. This system helps the farm save as much as 300,000 cubic meters of water per day.

One of Dow's strategic corporate objectives is improving global access to clean water. In line with this, DW&PS has been involved with a series of water-related initiatives and investments in the region. In 2009, Dow established the Dow Middle East and Africa R&D Centre at the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, aiming to deliver innovation in water treatment technologies with immediate commercial application for the region. This was followed by announcement of plans to invest in a best-in-class manufacturing facility for DOW FILMTEC RO elements in the Kingdom. On Sept 16, Dow also signed a commercial agreement with Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) to collaborate on research, launching a pilot study that would test suitability of innovative desalination technologies in the Arabian Gulf.