Pictures of the Future       Spring 2005

In Brief

^? By 2015, the U.N. plans to reduce by half the number of people who don’t have access to clean drinking water (currently 1.2 billion) and live without adequate sewage systems (2.4 billion). The EU is also working toward this goal by investing more than 1 bn. € per year in water treatment projects worldwide. EU estimates indicate the condition of groundwater and surface water in Europe will be greatly improved, thanks to comprehensive water management  ^more

^? Membrane filters for water purification are becoming increasingly important. These filters are cost-efficient and take up very little space, and they can even deal with particles in the nanometer range without requiring chemicals. Another system developed by Siemens purifies water using an environment-friendly process involving pulsed electrical fields. The fields destroy all bacteria in the water. In the future, autonomous analytic devices will be able to gage water quality and transmit the results of their tests to an operator via text messaging, for example  ^more

^? The "cannibal process" and a membrane bioreactor from Siemens business unit Water Technologies improve wastewater processing in sewage treatment plants by keeping sewage sludge to a minimum. That saves disposal costs and helps to protect the environment. In the U.S., the trend is toward small, decentralized sewage treatment plants built where water can be immediately reused  ^more

^? High-quality pharmaceuticals require strict monitoring of production pro­cesses. With a new Siemens solution, these products can be produced in a faster process that’s monitored online from start to finish. Bottlenecks in pharmaceutical production will soon be a thing of the past    ^more

^? Toxic materials in consumer products and the environment are being reduced thanks to new technologies that produce no hazardous waste. For example, Osram has developed fluorescent lamps that operate without mercury. And a new diesel filter from Siemens company Emitec reduces emissions of nitrogen oxide and soot particles without significantly affecting fuel efficiency. Another trend is conservation of resources. Siemens, for example, recycles up to 95 % of materials in its medical equipment and sells used equipment that is as good as new    
^{see Conserving Resources and Fighting Soot}