OREANDA-NEWS. GE (NYSE: GE) today announced new pressurized and submerged ultrafiltration (UF) membranes designed for pretreatment of feedwater for seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) systems. The new technology includes GE’s ZeeWeed* 1000 and ZeeWeed 1500 hollow-fiber membranes that provide a reduced plant footprint and lower installed cost versus previous generation ZeeWeed products. The new ZeeWeed seawater membranes offer a reduction in cost greater than 25 percent and a reduced footprint of 10 percent to 25 percent.

With fresh water scarcity a constant concern, desalination plants look for more efficient and lower cost options to purify water. Compared to conventional technologies, GE’s new pretreatment membranes decrease capital and operating costs with a reduced footprint, while improving performance through energy savings and increased SWRO membrane life.

“GE offers a wide range of products for the desalination industry, and these new technological advancements to our ZeeWeed family work in tandem to maintain a highly efficient water treatment process,” said Yuvbir Singh, general manager, engineered systems—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.

GE’s UF products are designed in such a way to work with other components in a SWRO facility for a more efficient co-working unit. In addition, the new ZeeWeed seawater products also save throughout the lifetime of the membrane via a more efficient design that equates to lower operating costs.