Dow Names Breakthrough to Global Water Challenges

MIDLAND, Mich., March 20, 2014 /3BL Media/ - Water covers two-thirds of the earth’s surface, yet fresh water is a scarce and limited resource. With just one planet and a growing population, Dow is committed to minimizing our own footprint and to delivering solutions that help customers and society do the same. As part of the Company’s 2015 Sustainability Goals, Dow has set targets to introduce three “breakthroughs to world challenges.” With large-scale, positive sustainability impact, the Company has named DOW FILMTEC™ ECO Reverse Osmosis (RO) Elements as its second breakthrough technology. Fighting global water scarcity by helping to deliver 40 percent better purification with 30 percent less energy, this innovative solution has the potential to impact millions of lives by revolutionizing water treatment.

“As this new Dow technology is fully adopted, we anticipate it will deliver trillions of metric tons of clean water, billions of kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy savings, and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than a million metric tons in its first 10 years of use alone,” said Neil Hawkins, corporate vice president of Sustainability at Dow. “This innovation will help deliver a more sustainable water supply to the world, addressing global water scarcity in a very tangible way.”

According to the 2030 Water Resources Group, global water demand is expected to grow exponentially by 2030, greatly outpacing supply. While consumers might experience limitations to household water consumption as a result of drought conditions, they may have less visibility to significant opportunities for water efficiency in the production of the goods and services they use every day. For example, it takes 2,867 gallons of water to make just one pair of jeans, or 39,090 gallons of water to manufacture a new car.

See how Dow is bringing freshwater to the world

What is a Breakthrough?

Dow is uniquely positioned to help solve this global challenge, as its solutions are already processing more than 15 million gallons of water per minute around the world. With this market understanding, Dow scientists developed a breakthrough polymer chemistry that surpasses the last three decades of incremental change in RO technology and represents one of the most advanced water purification science available today. Launched in 2013 with more than 15 patents submitted, FILMTEC™ ECO RO Technology delivers significant water and energy savings when compared to standard RO elements.

“To significantly impact water security, any solution needs to address both water purification and the energy required to treat the water, as energy and water requirements are intimately intertwined,” said Snehal Desai, global business director, Dow Water & Process Solutions. “By providing environmental, economic and societal benefits, this technology is a great example of sustainable innovation at Dow.”

This announcement marks another milestone in delivering three Breakthrough to a World Challenge solutions as part of the Company’s 2015 Sustainability Goals. Set in 2006, these Goals include a commitment to achieving at least three breakthroughs that will help solve world challenges in the areas of energy and climate change, water, food, housing and health. The first breakthrough technology, Omega-9 healthy oils, was announced in 2012.

About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven, 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 180 countries and in high growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2013, Dow had annual sales of more than $57 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 products are manufactured at 201 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. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.