GE Water & Process Technologies

GE Water & Process Technologies describes itself as "a leading global supplier of water treatment, wastewater treatment and process systems solutions."

GE Water's clients come from a wide range of industries, including the chemical, food / beverage, hydrocarbon processing, mining, metals, paper / pulp, pharmaceutical, power and manufacturing industries, along with local municipalities and governmental agencies. Several of GE Water's products were included in General Electric's Ecomagination Campaign, as announced during a General Electric event called "Green is Universal," held in Universal City, California in May 2007.

Water as big business
In June 2006, GE Water bought Zenon Environmental, a company that produced membranes for water purification. "General Electric, Dow Chemical Company, and other major businesses are citing a growing problem of water availability, both in the United States and internationally, as a trend that is creating an opportunity for businesses to provide products that address the problem," noted the trade press at the time. "Globally, the water market is $365 billion and offers a high growth potential for GE's water technology products."

In 2009, GE Water had "an estimated $2.5 billion in revenue," just "a sliver of the $156 billion in sales the world's largest maker of jet engines and electricity-producing turbines is expected to generate this year," according to Reuters. " But executives with Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE said water has the potential to become a major profit contributor. 'What GE tries to do is to align the company with some of the mega-trends, the mega-challenges of the world. Energy is one, healthcare is the other, and the third one is water,' said Heiner Markhoff, president and chief executive of GE Water & Process Technologies."

Tar sands involvement
In October 2008, GE Water signed an agreement with the Alberta Water Research Institute, launching "a $15-million effort focused on developing technologies to improve water usage in the oilsands, and an educational program intended to inform business executives on improved water management methods." Canada's tar sands are the dirtiest source of oil, emitting more greenhouse gases and contaminating large volumes of water.

"The initial priority of the agreement is to reduce the amounts of fresh water and energy used in treatment processes in the oilsands, while also reducing operating costs and capital expenditures," according to the oil trade press. "The water project will employ many technologies already used by GE in the oilsands, such as thermal evaporation systems, mobile filtration units, and advanced membranes."

GE has been increasing its tar sands investments for years. In 2007, GE Canada Oil & Gas manager Martin Campbell said, "It's not just [the oil and gas unit] that the light went on for the activity in the oilsands over the last three years, it's the overall GE -- the water, the financing and energy supply [units]. ... If you roll all those four into one, it has a big impact." At the time, GE Water had just won a tarsands-related contract from Suncor Energy.

Clients
In 2008, GE Water won a contract from the Government of Pakistan, to provide "GE ultrafiltration systems at over a thousand distribution sites," as part of a government program to increase access to clean drinking water.

Also in 2008, GE Water became "an equal coventurer in ConocoPhillips' Water Sustainability Center in Qatar, which will open later this year."

In 2007, GE Water joined Poseidon Resources Corp., American Water and Acciona Agua in investing in California's Carlsbad Seawater Desalination Plant. IN 1998, Poseidon and the city of Carlsbad began working on a "50-Million-Gallon-Per-Day (MGD) desalination plant," to "draw water from the Pacific Ocean," and help reduce San Diego County's "dependence on imported water from the Sacramento San Joaquin Bay Delta and the Colorado River." GE Water CEO Jeff Garwood said, "By combining this viable business investment with the strength of our ecomagination portfolio, we will be able to make a real difference for many San Diego County residents facing unprecedented water demands." At the time, GE Water said its "installed desalination systems process more than 2 billion gallons of water a day."

Public relations firms
GE Water has been represented by the international PR firm Edelman, including by Edelman Middle East affiliate ASDA'A Public Relations.

Other PR firms listed on GE Water press releases include Masto Public Relations.

Contact information
GE Water & Process Technologies Worldwide Headquarters 4636 Somerton Rd. Trevose, PA 19053-6783 U.S.A.

Phone: +1-215-355-3300 Website: http://www.gewater.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Alberta's tar sands
 * General Electric
 * General Electric's Ecomagination Campaign
 * Water Policy Institute