Unique Teaming Arrangement on Largest North American Seawater Desalination Project; GE ecomagination Advanced Membrane Technology Selected for Carlsbad Plant

Universal City, CA — GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company, has announced its participation in what will be the largest seawater desalination facility in North America, the Carlsbad Seawater Desalination Plant. GE Water & Process Technologies, Poseidon Resources Corporation, American Water and Acciona Agua have joined together to invest in the final stage of the desalination project to bring a long-term, drought-proof, safe and affordable supply of drinking water to the water-scarce region. Financial details were not disclosed.

“Our business is committed to bringing holistic and sustainable water management solutions, like desalination and water reuse, to regions facing water shortages,” commented Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies, while attending GE’s “Green is Universal” event in Universal City, Calif. “By combining this viable business investment with the strength of our ecomagination portfolio, we will be able to make a real difference for many San Diego County residents facing unprecedented water demands.”

Since 1998, Poseidon Resources has been working in a public-private partnership with the City of Carlsbad to construct the 50-Million-Gallon-Per-Day (MGD) desalination plant. The facility, which will draw water from the Pacific Ocean to create a cost-certain, drought-proof supply of fresh water for San Diego County, will dramatically reduce the area’s dependence on imported water from the Sacramento San Joaquin Bay Delta and the Colorado River.

At the ecomagination event, Poseidon Resources also announced the selection of GE’s ecomagination-certified, ZeeWeed® ultrafiltration (UF) technology for the Carlsbad Seawater Desalination Plant. The selection followed a successful 16-month pilot of the UF technology at the facility. Slated to become operational as early as 2010, the Carlsbad facility will also be the largest seawater desalination plant in the world to use UF membranes as the pretreatment step.

“GE Water & Process Technologies’ participation in the Carlsbad desalination team reflects our commitment to enlisting the brightest minds available and incorporating cutting-edge technology,” said Jim Donnell, CEO of Poseidon Resources. “GE’s ZeeWeed® membranes represent the pinnacle in desalination pretreatment technology. GE’s ecomagination solution will result in lower energy consumption and higher-quality water. An environmentally-sound, affordable water supply that California can count on…that is what this project is all about.”

The Carlsbad Seawater Desalination Plant will be located alongside the Encina Power Station and use its existing intake and discharge infrastructure. Over 100 MGD of seawater can be diverted from the circulating water system to supply the desalination facility. The plant’s source water will be pretreated by the GE ZeeWeed® membranes, and then processed through reverse osmosis membranes to produce high-quality potable water.

Acciona Agua has been named the preferred engineering, procurement and construction contractor while American Water is the preferred operations and maintenance supplier for the Carlsbad Seawater Desalination Plant. American Water has been providing quality, reliable service to Southern California communities for the past 40 years.