The Times They Are A-Changin in the MF/UF Market!

Some significant projects awarded in the past few weeks are really going to shake up the status quo in the North American municipal Microfiltration/Ultrafiltration market.

First Contractor Bid Universal MF/UF Skid System
The 3 MGD Universal MF/UF Skid system for the City of SantaBarbara’s El Estero WWTP that first bid in late January, then rebid in early April after protests from contractors on technicalities on filling out the bid forms, has finally been awarded. To my knowledge, this is the first direct contractor bid for a Universal MF/UF Skid system. Several MF/UF OEMs were prequalified (Pall, GE, Wigen and H2O Innovation) and there were five MF/UF membrane modules listed from which the OEMs had to offer a MF/UF skid design that could accommodate three of these modules. The initial inventory of one of these modules was to be included in the equipment price and this module was to be listed in the bid form as well as two other modules that the rack was designed to accommodate.

The owner’s engineer, CDM Smith, predesigned and specified the backwash and CIP systems so that these would be suitable for all listed modules, allowing contractors to provide this ancillary equipment directly if desired. The winning bidder did choose to provide this ancillary equipment while selecting Wigen Water Technologies to provide the three 1 MGD UF skids, membranes and control system. The UF skids will be supplied with Dow’s IntegraFlo IW102-1100 UF modules (1103 ft2/module). This system is to be installed and running during the first quarter of 2015.
 
Inge Lands 30 MGD UF Project
And just when you thought the MF/UF module market was converging towards pressurized outside-in PVDF hollow fiber membranes, Inge/BASF is selected for a 30 MGD project with San Jose Water Company using its multi-bore inside-out, PESM UF membrane… After OEMs using Toray and Dow membranes have been steadily chipping away at the market share of the Big Three the past few years working their way up to system sizes of about 10 MGD, all of a sudden Inge comes out of virtually nowhere and lands a 30 MGD project at San Jose’s Montevina WTP. Inge has been prominent at the AMTA/AWWA Membrane shows the past few years and has now set up local offices on each coast so they did need to gain some traction in the US market soon, and with the Montevina WTP order they certainly have done that!
Inga’s multi-bore membrane looks like a very robust membrane that will have no integrity issues. How this membrane will fit in the emerging Universal Skid market is yet to be seen where the modules on universal skids have been outside-in. The integrator for the system using Inge membranes at Montevina is H2O Innovation who beat Pall for this project. I believe this was a preprocurement bid and only Inge and Pall/Microza membranes were considered, so well done to Inge in getting a seat at the table here.

With all of these changes in the MF/UF market, Bob Dylan’s song is certainly appropriate...

“Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.”