South Korean chemical firm LG Chem said Wednesday that it had completed the construction of its plant for reverse osmosis water filters in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

The LG Group affiliate broke ground on the plant in August last year and has poured around 40 billion won ($33.7 million) into the construction. The plant will begin to produce the filters next month.

“LG Chem has been making all-out efforts with all its research and development capabilities to increase its foothold in the emerging market for water treatment,” Park Jin-soo, chief executive of LG Chem, said in a press release.

“With the newly built RO water filter plant, the company will try to tap into global markets and take the leadership in the global market for water filters,” he added.

The company acquired NanoH2O, a U.S.-based company that develops desalination technology, in April last year.

After the acquisition, the company successfully developed commercial and industrial water filter technologies, and plans to expand its sales channels from two ― in Korea and the U.S. ― to five.

The company, which has installed water treatment filters at around 400 desalination facilities in around 50 nations, will also supply its advanced water filters for its global partners, which LG Chem declined to name.

The firm says that the reverse osmosis water filters to be rolled out at the Cheongju plant will have 30 percent improved performance compared to the existing water filtering technology.

LG Chem’s filters for seawater, in particular, boast the industry’s highest salt rejection rate, at 99.85 percent, meaning only 0.15 percent of seawater constituents pass through the RO membranes.


By Kim Young-won
(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)