Asahi Kasei's Microza Hollow Fiber Filter Membrane Technology Chosen for US Waterworks
The Microza™ hollow-fiber membrane filtration system has been selected for a new waterworks facility to serve the metropolitan area of Minneapolis, Minnesota, with full-capacity operation scheduled to begin in January 2011. Located in Fridley, the plant will have a water treatment capacity of 360 thousand m3/day. This will make it one of the largest drinking water plants in the US, and among the largest plants anywhere to utilize a pressurized membrane filtration system for water purification. Selection was concluded after extensive testing and evaluation by the Minneapolis Water Works, confirming the outstanding performance of the Microza™ system.
Membrane filtration offers many advantages over conventional water treatment by sedimentation and sand filtration, notably the ability to efficiently and reliably achieve high rates of removal of pathogenic microorganisms such as cryptosporidium. With stringent regulations for removal of cryptosporidium from drinking water supplies scheduled to come into effect in the US, the adoption of large-scale membrane filtration systems for water treatment is projected to grow substantially.
