New SEAMAXX Reverse Osmosis Elements Provide High Efficiency, Low Energy Seawater Desalination

Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, is helping power plants, municipalities and manufacturers put the ocean to work with the new SEAMAXX Reverse Osmosis Elements, which help reduce the high amount of energy typically needed to create freshwater from saltwater.

While reverse osmosis is the most widely practiced desalination technology, The Pacific Institute estimates that seawater desalination averages about 15,000 kilowatts per hour per million gallons (3.96 kWh/m3) of water produced, making it one of the most energy-intensive, and therefore one of the most cost-intensive, water treatment processes available.

The enhanced membrane chemistry of SEAMAXX helps minimize pressure and energy consumption below any other existing seawater reverse osmosis product, and provides reliable, long-term permeate quality for single, double pass and interstaged desalination systems.

“SEAMAXX Seawater Reverse Osmosis Elements are designed to provide end-users with the lowest energy consumption in the industry, facilitating desalination at lower operating and capital costs,” said Andreas Gorenflo, global marketing manager, desalination for Dow Water & Process Solutions.

SEAMAXX has an optimized module design, with 440ft2 of active membrane surface and interlocking technology that will maximize the productivity of a desalination system with low differential pressure, low cleaning frequency and high cleaning efficiency.

“Compared to generic low energy elements, SEAMAXX consumes up to 10 percent less energy and has less fouling at high operating flux,” said Veronica Garcia Molina, global desalination application development leader for Dow Water & Process Solutions. “SEAMAXX has typically demonstrated success in producing 99.7 percent water purity, and is an excellent choice for applications treating medium to high total dissolved solids, brine treatment and high salinity brackish water.”

About Dow Water & Process Solutions
The global leader in sustainable separation and purification technology, Dow Water & Process Solutions is making a clear impact in the world. We’re helping to make water safer and more accessible, food taste better, pharmaceuticals more effective and industries more efficient and spearheading the development of sustainable technologies that integrate water and energy requirements. Dow Water & Process Solutions offers a broad portfolio of ion exchange resins, reverse osmosis membranes, ultrafiltration membranes and electrodeionization products, with strong positions in a number of major application areas, including industrial and municipal water, industrial processes, pharmaceuticals, power, residential water and waste and water reuse. For more information, visit www.dowwaterandprocess.com.

About Dow
Dow combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2012, Dow had annual sales of approximately $57B and employed approximately 54,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. For more information, visit www.dow.com.