Freudenberg invests in water and membrane filtration business

Weinheim, March 12. 2013. The Freudenberg Group has acquired the British company Aquabio Limited, with effect from March 1, 2013. Based in Hallow, Worcestershire, UK, Aquabio is a leading specialist in water and wastewater reuse for large-scale industrial applications. Founded in 1997, the company has 16 employees, and designs and supplies turnkey membrane filtration systems for water and wastewater recycling. “With the acquisition of Aquabio, the Freudenberg Group now has additional know-how in water filtration. This represents a further strategic step in the development of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies,” stresses Dr. Mohsen Sohi, Speaker of the Freudenberg Group Management Board. Customers include well-known companies such as Alpro, Müller, Procter&Gamble or Unilever.

“The aim of the Freudenberg Group is to expand our portfolio in the rapidly growing market of industrial water filtration,” explains Dr. Sohi.  Steve Goodwin, Managing Director of Aquabio Ltd., who will continue to lead the UK based water treatment specialist, sees considerable market opportunities for Aquabio. As a global company, the Freudenberg Group will provide Aquabio with the opportunity to expand, especially internationally, in the food, beverage, paper, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Dr. Andreas Kreuter, Speaker of the Management Board of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, explains: “Industrial companies are increasing their investment in water and wastewater filtration to preserve scarce resources and to fulfill exacting environmental regulations. Aquabio provides excellent cutting-edge filtration technology particularly for industrial wastewater recycling and reuse. The company fits perfectly to the portfolio of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies which has been offering technically demanding filtration solutions for more than sixty years.”

Leading Supplier of Industrial Membrane Bioreactors (MBR)
Micro and ultrafiltration membranes, which form part of Aquabio’s product portfolio, guarantee the removal of bacteria and solid particles. With MBR filtration technology, effluent of high enough quality can then be reused in industrial processes. Furthermore wastewater can even be reused as drinking water through the application of high-performance membranes in combination with tertiary hyperfiltration and disinfection technologies. Further advantages of MBR filtration over conventional processes include a small footprint, easy retrofit and upgrade of existing wastewater treatment plants.