Grundfos ensures clean water in the Maldives

Grundfos ensures clean water in the Maldives 

Few places on our tiny planet can compare with the natural beauty found in the Republic of Maldives. Located in the Indian Ocean, this collection of almost 1,200 coral islands is blessed with luxurious beaches, clear, warm water, and an average year-round temperature of 27oC. Spend some time there, and you may be hard pressed to find a reason to return home.
But while sunshine and warm tropical breezes are abundant, potable water is not. Like so many other island nations, the Maldives suffer from a lack of clean drinking water. Removing the salt from the seawater surrounding the islands through desalination is however a sustainable method used to overcome this problem.

Grundfos solutions help provide the residents of the capital island of Male’ with clean drinking water through responsibility, foresight, and innovation.

Being responsible is our foundation Thinking ahead makes it possible Innovation is the essence

THE SITUATION

In the early 1980s, a series of projects started by the Govern¬ment of the Maldives had the task of identifying the best possible way of assuring a reliable, continuous and safe supply of drinking water to the population of the capital island, Male’.
The quality of the groundwater had deteriorated over the past decade, mainly due to increased demand from the growing population. The newly-formed Water & Sewage Company was made responsible for the production and distribution of drinking water. They were posed with the task of installing and maintaining reverse osmosis plants for desalination and ensuring the production capacity could be expanded as the population rose.

THE SOLUTION

Created with partner HOH Water Technology, the extensive reverse osmosis (RO) solution features six individual RO units. These Grundfos BMEX Boosters each feature two BME and four BM booster pumps, thus employing a total of 36 Grundfos pumps. They deliver over 350 m3 of clean water per hour.
The innovative pressure exchange system in the Grundfos BMEX re-uses excess system pressure, instead of discharging it back into the environment. The main Grundfos high-pressure pump therefore uses less energy to create the same amount of clean water. The price per produced m3 of clean water is therefore reduced.

THE OUTCOME

The approximately 100,000 residents of Male´ benefit from the cool, clear drinking water supplied by the RO installations. From public utilities, hospitals, apartments, and schools, marked improvements have been made. Grundfos-pumped water is delivered all over the 4 square-km island.
On top of this, the Grundfos BMEX solutions operate in an ex¬ceptionally energy-efficient manner. Each cubic metre of water requires around 3 kWh of power consumption; other solutions use up to 8 kW hours. This keeps operating costs down, which in turn allows the Maldives Water and Sewerage Company to sell the water at affordable customer prices.

This sustainable solution represents yet another step Grund¬fos takes in our efforts to protect the environment.
Approximately 100,000 people receive drinking water from the large desalination solution.

The innovative Grundfos BMEX system saves energy by re-using excess system pressure.