Membrane Technology 37
World Water January/February 2010
must walk to the closest water
source to procure drinking water.
According to Gr�nbeck's Project
Manager, J�rgen H�ssler, the
individual components of the
combined pre-treatment,
ultrafiltration (UF), and reverse
osmosis (RO) process are installed
in two 10-feet-long containers.
Initially, an immersion pump
delivers raw water to a pre-
treatment step that may be applied
subject to the degree of impurities.
Here, a drum filter, a tilted plate
separator, or a hydrocyclone
separates coarse impurities. Then
the water flows into the UF system
where ultra-fine impurities,
including bacteria and viruses, are
removed. Following predefined
work cycles, the UF system is
backwashed with clean water or
regenerated by a Cleaning-in-Place
(CIP) unit. Downstream of the UF, a
buffer station is installed, which
stores the backwash water for the
UF and serves as supply for the RO
system. The RO system deminer-
alizes the water and thus generates
drinking water quality. In order to
prevent renewed bacterial growth
in the ready-to-use, high-quality
drinking water, chlorine is dosed
into the outlet of the RO system.
The system produces
approximately one cubic meter of
drinking water per hour. "Taking
into consideration the local
standards of the remote test areas,
this output could provide 200 to
250 people with clean water every
day," calculated Wolfgang K.
Walter, graduate engineer at the
University of the German Federal
Armed Forces in Munich. Its
Institute of Hydro Sciences supports
the project scientifically. Another
consulting partner is the Dr.
Kraetzig Ingenieurgesellschaft
(engineering company), based in
Aachen, Germany, with 30 years
of project experience in Brazil.
Launched in Germany in October
2008, the project was ready to ship
containers in mid-November 2009
to Brazil to be tested with various
kinds of raw water from rivers and
wells at several locations in Minas
Gerais. Walter emphasized "a
particularly important challenge in
order to operate the system with
little personnel and consumables is
the installation of a remote control
by which the system may be
monitored and controlled from a
central facility."
Gr�nbeck is financing most of
the project, with some grant funds
awarded from the Federal Ministry
for Economic Cooperation and
Development through the Deutsche
Investitions- und Entwicklungs-
gesellschaft mbH (DEG, Cologne)/
German Association for Investment
and Development. No financial
gains are expected during the
two-year projected, reports certified
biologist J�rgen H�ssler, "however,
thanks to the contacts and results
gained during our research, we look
forward to a well-directed market
entry in Latin America."
In 1949 Loni and Josef Gr�nbeck
founded the company Wasserchemie
und Apparatebau in H�chst�dt,
Germany, located along the Danube
River. This company grew into
Gr�nbeck Wasseraufbereitung
GmbH with a yearly turnover of
approximately US$155.4 million
and 700 employees. A market
leader for small water softeners in
Germany, the global company also
provides equipment and services
in drinking and process water
treatment, disinfection, and
wastewater technology (www.
gruenbeck.de).
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UmweltCluster awards Beacon
Project rating
In coming decades, decentralized solutions for water supply shortages
in remote areas of the world will gain in importance, according to Dr.
Manuela Wimmer, general manager of the UmweltCluster Bayern, an
initiative of public authorities, private corporations, and investors that
facilitate collaboration between environmental technology developers
in Bavaria.
"Gr�nbeck's project in Minas Gerais has a good chance � not least
due to its positive social, health, and economic effects � to serve as a
template for many additional applications," Wimmer said.
Recognizing the global potential of the project, the UmweltCluster
awarded the project with the rating "Beacon Project" in September
2009. With this rating, the Institute for the Promotion of Economic
Development of the Bavarian Ministry of Economics honors visionary
projects that contribute to the development of environmental
technologies in Bavaria that combine economics and science.
ForfurtherinformationpleaseseetheAdvertiserContactListonpage50

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