VALENCIA, SPAIN – Dow Water Solutions, a business unit of DowDuPont Safety & Construction division, won the 2018 International Desalination Association (IDA) Award for Industry Technology and Innovation Leader in Water Reuse and Conservation. The award recognizes Minimal Liquid Discharge (MLD), an innovative wastewater management approach that helps industry move beyond a linear “take, make and dispose” model to a world in which raw materials are continuously recycled and reused. Transitioning to a circular economy is necessary for society to move to the next level of sustainable consumption.
“Advancing sustainable water management and a true circular economy requires more than industry-leading knowledge. It requires innovation in applying what we know,” said HP Nanda, global business director, Dow Water Solutions. “This humbling recognition from the IDA reinforces that our MLD approach is meaningfully disruptive and increasingly being embraced and adopted by industry to further improve efficiencies across the water value chain.”
The 2018 IDA Awards were presented at the IDA International Water Reuse and Recycling Conference on June 26. The award recognizes outstanding performance by private consulting firms and technology and equipment providers that have achieved disruptive advances in water reuse and conservation technologies, allowing for significant reduction in energy use, carbon footprint and costs of alternative water supplies. Award winners are chosen by the Water Reuse and Conservation Award Committee and are presented every two years.
The IDA is a nonprofit association that serves more than 2,600 core members in 60 countries and reaches an additional 4,000 affiliate members comprised of scientists, end-users, engineers, consultants and researchers from governments, corporations and academia.
MLD is a cost-effective and sustainable approach for companies looking to improve their water footprint. The MLD process helps municipal and industrial plants make substantial gains in minimizing liquid discharge by enabling recovery of up to 95 percent of discharge at a fraction of the cost compared to a Zero Liquid Discharge system.
“MLD is centered on meeting customer’s specific needs – identifying sources and types of wastewater, and matching integrated technology systems to their waste streams to enable it for reuse,” said Tina Arrowood, lead research scientist, Dow Water Solutions. “With this cutting-edge concept in hand, Dow has changed the conversation about water reuse and conservation and shown that businesses can do what is right for the bottom line, community and the environment.”
The term MLD might be new, but the process relies on a core set of proven, existing technologies – including ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration and ion exchange. Dow has developed a broad range of products to help reduce the cost and energy requirements of treating wastewater. The FILMTECTM FORTILIFETM Reverse Osmosis Elements product line for challenging waters helps customers reduce costly concentrate waste, lower operating expenses and move toward MLD. The newest elements include FORTILIFETM CR100, XC70 and XC80, which are equipped to tackle biological and organic fouling. The FORTILIFETM XCN ion-separation membrane can be used to further treat wastewater by enabling the recovery of a large fraction of salts.