GE Water & Process Technologies has launched the next generation of Electrodialysis Reversal solutions, enhancing its portfolio of advanced water and wastewater treatment solutions designed to address the world's growing water demands.

"With over 50 years of experience and thousands of installations, the next generation of our EDR technology leverages our expertise in the water industry — bringing to market an advanced water treatment solution that has one of the highest water recovery rates available," said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. "Our EDR technology will expand our capabilities in regions — like China, Australia, Spain and the U.S. — where the demand for robust solutions to tackle water scarcity and water quality challenges continue to rapidly grow."

In a prepared statement, GE says over 1.1 billion people lack adequate access to a safe water source, and symptoms of water scarcity like groundwater depletion and water source contamination only continue to place stress on limited fresh water supplies.

GE EDR desalination technology removes salt, radium, arsenic, perchlorates and other potentially harmful contaminants from tough-to-treat well and surface waters. Using an electrochemical separation process that allows selective passage of ions in solutions, GE EDR technology produces high-quality water for a variety of industrial applications, such as cooling and boiler make-up water, and its rugged membranes and high chlorine tolerance make it ideal for a variety of wastewater reuse projects. The most common EDR applications include municipal drinking water, industrial process water, and wastewater reuse.