GE Water & Process Technologies on November 19 held an opening ceremony for its newly expanded manufacturing facility in Wuxi New Zone, China, that will enable manufacturing and assembly of advanced water filtration technologies for use by industry and municipalities.

The 10,000-square-meters expansion represents an investment of nearly US $9 million, and further strengthens GE’s ability to provide solutions that support China’s need for cost-effective, environmentally conscience technologies.

In China, GE Water & Process Technologies has created a broad solutions portfolio for water purification, utilities optimization and protection, wastewater treatment and reuse. The expansion will enable local manufacturing and assembling of reverse osmosis filtration systems and ultra-filtration equipment. These products support a wide-range of industries including steel, power, chemicals, petrochemicals, general manufacturing, food and beverage and oil and gas, as well as municipalities and governmental agencies.

“We are committed to developing and manufacturing technology in China that best supports China’s growth, and the expansion at our Wuxi facility demonstrates this long-term commitment," said Weifang Zhou, President of GE Water & Process Technologies for Greater China. “Our products, integrated solutions and world-class team allow GE to meet its growing needs while being both economically and environmentally conscience.” Partnering with GE’s China Technology Center in Shanghai, the GE facility in Wuxi will manufacture and assemble products that meet the unique requirements for China. Current products in development include packaged wastewater membrane bioreactor systems that allow for rapid deployment and ultra-low energy reverse-osmosis systems that require less energy for operation.

This year’s Olympic Games incorporated several GE ecomagination solutions, including China's first advanced membrane rainwater recycling system at Beijing's National Stadium to help maintain a sustainable supply of water for landscape irrigation, facility maintenance and a fire-suppression system; and an energy-efficient nanofiltration system that provides up to 16 cubic meters of drinking water per hour—equal to 32,000 bottles of water—for the National Stadium. GE Water & Process Technologies has several other successful applications in China including the Qinghe Wastewater Reuse Plant and Wuxi Meicun Wastewater Treatment Plant.

On November 18, GE announced the transfer of ownership of two advanced drinking water treatment systems that were donated to Dongguang County to provide clean drinking water for more than 60,000 residents in Dongguang City and surrounding villages. Earlier this year, GE donated more than 60 water purification systems as part of its overall efforts totaling more than US $4.3 million to help support people and towns in the earthquake-affected region.

The opening ceremony for this expansion was attended by GE executives and government leaders, including Wu Jianxuan, Vice Mayor of Wuxi, Wayne Hewett, Vice President of GE Supply Chain & Operations, and Zhou Weifang, President of GE Water & Process Technologies for Greater China.

GE Water & Process Technologies Wuxi manufacturing facility opened in 2004 to supply specialty chemicals to customers in China. The new expansion will enable a comprehensive offering of solutions manufactured in China for China. The Wuxi facility currently employs 55 workers, and the expansion is expected to create additional jobs in 2009.