SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Yonhap) — LG Chem Ltd. announced Monday that it will invest 124.6 billion won (US$94.1 million) over the next two years to expand its manufacturing facility for its reverse osmosis (RO) membrane product, which is used in water desalination.
The facility, located in the city of Cheongju, will have an annual production capacity of 400,000 RO membranes, which is sufficient to desalinate approximately 1.57 billion tons of seawater a year. This amount of water is enough to meet the needs of 16 million people in South Korea, or one-third of the population, daily.
RO membranes are similar to the filters found in water purifiers, but are made with a polymer that can filter out salt and other chemicals down to the molecular level. LG Chem’s RO membranes have a removal rate of 99.89 percent.
The Cheongju plant will be completed by July 2025, and LG Chem is aiming to double its growth in the water treatment industry in the next five years. In addition, the factory will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.
LG Chem entered the water treatment sector in 2014 after it acquired NanoH20, a U.S.-based water treatment company. In May, the company won a contract to provide its RO membranes exclusively for a joint desalination project in Israel.