One of the most important tasks facing the world in the future is to better utilize water resources through reclamation and reuse. “Water is the decisive factor for future growth and economic expansion,” explained Chuck Gordon, vice president of the Water Technologies division of the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S), to the international press in Mexico City.
In many Latin American countries, water shortages caused by population density, limited water reserves, and contamination caused by inadequate water and wastewater treatment will put the future development of urban areas and industrial production at risk. “Future investments must be concentrated on processing wastewater from municipalities and industry for reuse, as well as for conventional use.” Along with solutions for power supply and transport infrastructure, Gordon said Siemens also provides a broad range of products and services for the water industry that will contribute to the future development of cities, regions and industry today.
Following the acquisition of the American company USFilter Corp. in the summer of 2004, the Siemens I&S Group has now brought its wide range of products, systems, services and automation solutions for the water industry under one roof in a single division, Water Technologies.
“With the new organization, Siemens Water Technologies can better serve the heavily fragmented marketplace in more parts of the world than ever before,” explained Gordon. “We must realize that in the future, municipalities and industry will have to make greater investments in water and wastewater technologies,” continued Gordon, “but progress has to remain affordable in the municipal sector and cost-effective in the industrial sector, where the investment must pay for itself. Siemens’ global presence helps to provide industry and municipal authorities with reliable and advanced technologies to provide solutions to water and wastewater issues all over the world.”
With sales volumes of EUR 1.5 billion, Siemens is among the largest suppliers of water and wastewater treatment systems globally. Siemens benefits from its broad portfolio and its local presence in over 190 countries, Gordon said. He stressed, though, that success is not only determined by the range of Siemens Water Technologies’ portfolio with more than 1,100 patents, but that also process-related expertise and application knowledge in the water industry is essential to provide the reliable, cost-effective solutions. With process knowledge, the proper application of technology and services can provide the optimum solutions needed to satisfy the varying requirements that differ from region to region and from industry to industry.
With more than 200,000 installations in the water and wastewater treatment business, Siemens has the experience and expertise to meet the most stringent statutory requirements and the tightest industrial standards. By acquiring USFilter, I&S expanded its portfolio to include a whole range of products and systems.
As things stand today, almost two billion people do not have access to clean water. Experts anticipate that by 2025, demand for freshwater will be around 40% higher than in 1995. If, as expected, eight billion people populate the world by 2025, the annual quantity of precipitation falling on the earth will no longer be sufficient to meet humanity’s needs.
“Two thirds of the world’s population will then no longer have access to natural water resources,” Gordon said, “Wastewater treatment and reclamation, along with seawater desalination, will help in the future to reduce supply shortages and better manage this increasingly scarce resource.”
Siemens intends to contribute to expansion of the infrastructure for water and wastewater treatment in Latin America by providing the best available products and systems with local services. Specifically, Siemens is offering established product lines such as Envirex (municipal/industrial water and wastewater and reuse systems), Wallace&Tiernan (chemical feed and disinfection systems), Memcor (membrane filtration for water purification and reuse), and Zimpro (water and wastewater treatment for the oil and gas industry).
Apart from the breadth of the portfolio, Gordon sees the success factor for this business as being based on Siemens’ long history in South America. “Today we are represented at each country in Latin America, and are therefore very close to our customers,” Gordon said.” This enables Siemens to offer what cities and industry in Latin America need: reliable, cost-effective systems and services to ensure the optimal solution for water resource management.”
Source: USFilter
