DuPont Wins Edie Award for Sustainability Benefits of Closed Circuit Reverse Osmosis Technology

Recognition Celebrates CCRO for Innovation in Water, Waste and Resource Recovery

WILMINGTON, Del., May 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPont (NYSE:DD) recently received an Edie Award honoring the benefits of its Closed Circuit Reverse Osmosis (CCRO) technology in supporting industrial and commercial customers' sustainability goals. DuPont's CCRO technology received the top award in the Water, Waste and Resource Recovery category. The Edie Awards celebrate business sustainability.

The team was specifically recognized for an exemplary project conducted in the City of San Francisco, which mutually solved multiple sustainability challenge being faced by the City's transit system and Cordia, a local producer of steam.

For nearly 60 years, San Francisco had been pumping tens of millions of gallons of water from an underground creek out of the transit system's Powell Street Station.  Meanwhile, Cordia had been purchasing municipal drinking water to generate steam for customers and buildings in downtown San Francisco.

To ease pressure on municipal water supplies and help alleviate regional water scarcity, Cordia implemented DuPont's DesaliTec™ CCRO technology to purify the transit system's drainage water to be repurposed for the creation of steam. The solution reduced the volume of water demanded from municipal supplies by 30 percent, saving 30 million gallons of drinking water per year and meeting the City of San Francisco's 2025 water reuse goal in one step.

"To solve our global water challenges, we need to shift our mindsets to realize that all water has value. As demonstrated with Cordia and the City of San Francisco, even the most challenging water can be transformed into an opportunity," said Alan Chan, Vice President and General Manager, DuPont Water Solutions. "We thank the Edie Awards for recognizing our DesaliTec™ CCRO technology as critical to a future where we sustainably optimize the circular nature of water."

"A critical consideration for water producers and water consumers investing in new infrastructure is to balance the needs of today with potential future changes in water availability and regulations," said Kevin Clarke, DuPont's technical leader for CCRO. "In the San Francisco project, the water feeding the DesaliTec™ CCRO is comprised of a variable blend of the transit waters supplemented with additional water sources—so the feed water today could be different from the feed water a year from now. In cases like this, a purification system able to accommodate variations in temperature, feed concentration, water consumption flow rates, and fouling and scaling conditions is necessary."

Whereas traditional RO systems are typically designed to purify water for specific, set conditions, Closed Circuit Reverse Osmosis (CCRO) is inherently designed to embrace these changes. With its flexible independent control over recovery, crossflow and flux, and its data-driven intelligence, CCRO systems can operate from 42 percent to 98 percent recovery on a wide variety of water sources and applications. 

DuPont's water technologies help purify more than 50 million gallons of water every minute around the world, enable water reuse and recycling, desalination, and the safe access of both ground and surface water. DuPont offers solutions to a variety of water and sustainability challenges through a broad portfolio of water purification and separation technologies including reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, ion exchange resins (IEX), ultrafiltration (UF), electrodeionization (EDI), nanofiltration (NF), membrane bioreactor systems (MBR), membrane aerated biofilm reactors (MABR), and closed circuit reverse osmosis (CCRO) systems. To learn more: https://www.dupont.com/water.html.

To learn more about the use of CCRO in San Francisco, a video and case study are available.

The Edie Awards, now in its 16^th year, are the world's largest sustainable business awards program. Formerly known as the Sustainability Leaders Awards, the Edie Awards champion bold and brilliant climate leadership – from the most ambitious net-zero carbon programs through to cutting-edge green innovations; from impactful climate partnerships and social sustainability initiatives to the heroes on the ground who are driving positive change.

About DuPont Water & Protection
DuPont Water and Protection is a global leader in creating water, shelter and safety solutions for a more sustainable world; enabling its customers to win through unique capabilities, global scale and iconic brands including Kevlar^®, Nomex^®, Tyvek^®, Corian^® Design, GreatStuff™, Styrofoam™, and FilmTec™.

About DuPont
DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a global innovation leader with technology-based materials and solutions that help transform industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics, transportation, construction, water, healthcare and worker safety. More information about the company, its businesses and solutions can be found at www.dupont.com. Investors can access information included on the Investor Relations section of the website at investors.dupont.com.

DuPont™, the DuPont Oval Logo, and all trademarks and service marks denoted with ™, ^SM or ^® are owned by affiliates of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. unless otherwise noted.

Note: Cordia, a sustainability-driven energy solutions provider, launched in October 2022 and includes assets from former Clearway Community Energy, including the plant where this project was implemented.

SOURCE DuPont