German Water Company Wins Major Pakistan Contract
UNICEF estimates that some 20 to 40 percent of hospital beds in Pakistan are occupied by patients suffering from illnesses caused by contaminated drinking water, a situation the government is hoping to address through its “Clean Drinking Water for All" (CDWA) initiative.
The first stage of the project involves building around 6,000 plants across the country, each of which will employ modern methods of ultrafiltration. This technique uses extremely small-pore filters to remove suspended solids, viruses, and bacteria from water using purely physical means.
In Punjab – Pakistan's most heavily populated province with 87.5 million inhabitants – 1,600 drinking water treatment plants have already been earmarked for installation as part of the project. The German global market leaders Siemens and KSB have been doing business in Pakistan through their subsidiaries for decades, which has led to them getting involved in the CDWA initiative. Each of them has ordered 800 ultrafiltration modules from the German company inge watertechnologies AG to equip the new treatment plants they have been commissioned to build. Based in Greifenberg near Munich, inge watertechnologies AG has already equipped hundreds of plants around the globe with its patented, German-made technology.
Operating at a capacity of either 2,000 or 4,000 liters of water per hour, the modules enable a treatment plant to convert a total of approximately 50,000 m³ of water into clean drinking water each day.
Bruno Steis, chief executive officer of inge watertechnologies AG, explained: “We are the only UF supplier in the world that is capable of offering a five-year warranty against fiber breakage. Our membranes and modules are manufactured in Germany according to the strictest quality standards, making them extremely stable and reliable over the long term. We are delighted to have this opportunity to help provide people in Pakistan with access to clean drinking water and the possibility of a better life.”