OREANDA-NEWS. October 16, 2012. The city of Verezegyhaz has selected GE’s (NYSE: GE) ZeeWeed 500D ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology to increase water reuse at its existing water treatment plant. Upcoming regulations governing water reuse prompted the upgrade, which will purify water used for irrigation, a recreational pond and industrial reuse.

Verezegyhaz, a suburb of the Hungarian capital city of Budapest, is known for its recreational lakes and parks but has been experiencing a freshwater shortage in recent years. In 2010, the water authority issued a permit that allowed the municipality to reuse the water treated by GE’s MBR technology. This helps ensure the region has increased access to fresh water.

“Water reuse and providing our community with high-quality water is essential as our fresh water supply persistently dwindles. The upgraded wastewater treatment plant will give us access to more water for both industrial and residential use,” said Mr. Pasztor Bela, mayor of the city of Veresegyhaz.

Under the contract, GE will supply the city of Verezegyhaz with MBR technology and equipment featuring ZeeWeed 500D reinforced, hollow-fiber membranes, which have been proven in more than two decades of wastewater treatment and water reuse. ZeeWeed 500 technology is an advanced filtration technology that separates particles, bacteria and viruses from water or wastewater. Nearly 1,000 plants worldwide use this technology to produce superior quality drinking water and to meet or exceed stringent wastewater treatment and water reuse standards.

The upgrade of the plant’s wastewater treatment processes with the GE MBR technology features four ZeeWeed 500D trains, eight cassettes and 288 modules. This will expand the plant’s treatment capacity to 5,000 cubic meters per day (m3/day) and improve the region’s water quality.

Ultrafiltration is the use of a pressure-driven barrier to the suspended solids, bacteria, viruses, endotoxins and other pathogens in water to produce treated water with very high purity and low silt density. It serves as a pretreatment for surface water, seawater and biologically treated municipal effluent before reverse osmosis and other membrane water-treatment systems. Ultrafiltration also is used in industry to separate suspended solids from solution. GE’s ZeeWeed ultrafiltration membranes offer an unmatched combination of ultrafiltration performance, energy efficiency, fast installation, ease of operation and reliability.

The project is financed by the EU Cohesion Fund and is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

“Around the world, we see a trend that more and more governments are enacting regulations for water reuse. The 25-year-old wastewater treatment plant in Veresegyhaz will now be upgraded with GE’s ZeeWeed technology, and the region will see an improvement in effluent water quality,” said Heiner Markhoff, president and CEO—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.