Dow Water building $1bn clean water production plant in Azerbaijan

Dow Water and Process Solutions is building a $1bn clean water production plant in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the country’s national water operator Azersu.

The plant will have the capacity to produce about 520,000m³ of clean water a day, and is able to increase its production capacity by another 20% if required.

Upon completion, the plant is expected to provide improved-quality clean water to about 1.5 million customers in the region.

Dow Water is building the plant using its ultrafiltration technology, which uses a double-walled, hollow fibre, polyvinylidene difluoride membrane to remove a range of particulate matters from the water via its evenly sized pores and outside-in flow.

The NSF61-certified drinking water application also facilitates higher solids, higher flow area and easy cleaning.

The application also consumes less electricity and reduces operational costs and green house emissions.

Dow Water and Process Solutions CIS countries, Russia, Central Eastern Europe, and Turkey general manager Ihsan Nejipoglu was quoted by Azerbaijan Business Centre as saying that the new water plant will be the largest project in the world, while Dow Water & Process Solutions has plans to cooperate with Azerbaijan not only in water, but also in chemical and energy sectors.

Dow Water & Process Solutions Central Asia and Turkey commerce director Gergeli Nagi said the company is constructing the plant and is planning to install 257km of water lines as part of the project.

"At primary stage the new plant will start operating in parallel with the existing plant, which is owned by Azersu, but in the future due to the new plant project, Azersu may decide to close its plant," Nagi added.

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Image: Dow Water is constructing a clean water production plant, worth $1bn, in Azerbaijan. Photo: Courtesy of Alex Anlicker.