Dow bares revolutionary water purification technology

As part of the Company’s 2015 Sustainability Goals, Dow has introduced its Filmtec ECO Reverse Osmosis (RO) Elements as its breakthrough water purification technology. Fighting global water scarcity by helping to deliver 40 percent better purification with 30 percent less energy, this innovative solution has the potential to impact millions of lives by revolutionizing water treatment.  

“As this new Dow technology is fully adopted, we anticipate it will deliver trillions of metric tons of clean water, billions of kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy savings, and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than a million metric tons in its first 10 years of use alone,” said Neil Hawkins, corporate vice president of Sustainability at Dow. “This innovation will help deliver a more sustainable water supply to the world, addressing global water scarcity in a very tangible way.”  

According to the 2030 Water Resources Group, global water demand is expected to grow exponentially by 2030, greatly outpacing supply. While consumers might experience limitations to household water consumption as a result of drought conditions, they may have less visibility to significant opportunities for water efficiency in the production of the goods and services they use every day. For example, it takes 2,867 gallons of water to make just one pair of jeans, or 39,090 gallons of water to manufacture a new car.  

This announcement marks another milestone in delivering three Breakthrough to a World Challenge solutions as part of the Company’s 2015 Sustainability Goals. Set in 2006, these Goals include a commitment to achieving at least three breakthroughs that will help solve world challenges in the areas of energy and climate change, water, food, housing and health. The first breakthrough technology, Omega-9 healthy oils, was announced in 2012.