The technology group Wärtsilä introduces the latest addition to its range of freshwater generators. The company now offers Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants, as well as its existing line of Evaporators, thereby enabling all specifications and project requirements to be met. Having both technologies puts Wärtsilä in the unique position of being able to support customers on an impartial basis, thereby further strengthening its position as one of the marine industry’s top solution providers.

Reverse Osmosis is a water purification technology that uses a semi-permeable membrane to remove salts and ions from seawater to provide fresh water. Semi-permeable membrane is a porous sheet barrier, which blocks the flow of salts and other solutes but allows only water to flow through. Seawater under pressure is forced through microscopic pores in the membrane while larger dissolved solids and heavy molecular weight contaminants are continually flushed away as reject water. Customers are now able to source both RO and Evaporator systems from the same supplier, while the two technologies can be combined into a Wärtsilä developed Smart Fresh Water Generation System to secure a cost-effective and fully automatic solution.

The Wärtsilä RO systems deliver between 10 and 1500 m3 per day of fresh water. They feature a modular and flexible design, and are customized to meet the operational and space requirements of the vessel. The system is applicable to virtually all vessel types.

“This is an important addition to our offering, which further extends our portfolio and strengthens Wärtsilä’s position as the marine industry’s only true total solutions provider. We are striving to create greater efficiencies and better environmental performance through our Smart Marine initiatives, and this is just one more step along that road,” says Arto Lehtinen, Director Water & Waste, Wärtsilä Marine.