31 October 2022 – RWO, a leading supplier of intelligent water management solutions, has successfully completed two installations of its next generation advanced water treatment system (AWTS) – the CleanSewage Membrane Reactor (CS-MBR) for Celebrity Cruises. The sewage treatment plant on the Celebrity Solstice-class vessels, Celebrity Silhouette and Celebrity Reflection, have been upgraded to the CS-MBR system, with an additional three orders placed to complete the fleet-wide upgrade.
RWO’s CS-MBR is a sustainable biological treatment technology that has been designed specifically to minimise a vessel’s impact on the environment, achieve the highest standards for effluent discharge and perform well ahead of regulatory requirements.
The installations upgrade existing RWO MEMROD sewage treatment plants on board the Celebrity Cruises ships, reflecting new regulations for existing vessels operating in Special Areas and anticipate the expansion in regulatory parameters for such vessels from 1 June 2023*. The CS-MBR is fully type approved as conforming with IMO MEPC.227(64) including the standards of section 4.2 which addresses nitrogen and phosphorus removal.
Nikolaos Kolyvakis, Senior Ship Manager, Celebrity Cruises commented: “Sustainability is a top priority for Celebrity Cruises and we seek out every opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the highest possible standards in environmental stewardship.”
Lars Nupnau, Business Development Manager, at RWO said: “RWO has developed a strong working relationship with Celebrity Cruises over the last 10 years and we are delighted that the RWO CS-MBR has been selected as part of its Solstice-class upgrade strategy.”
Unique among shipboard AWTS solutions, the CS-MBR treatment process features submerged membranes in its final stage and can remove more than 99% of solids and bacteria, including microplastics and viruses.
“By using membranes in this way, the resulting water is pure enough to be re-used in other ship functions such as laundry or as technical water. The automated cleaning-in-place (CIP) control also makes the system far easier for the crew to operate and extends the membrane lifecycle significantly,” said Nupnau. “If that wasn’t enough, the CS-MBR also has a smaller footprint and uses less energy than comparable systems.”
“The new CS-MBR goes beyond regulatory compliance to minimise environmental impacts and maximise operational efficiency,” added Kolyvakis. “It strongly aligns with Celebrity’s commitment to investing in technologies which help protect the world’s oceans and the communities where we operate.”
*Note for Editors The Baltic Sea has been designated as a Special Area as defined under IMO MARPOL Annex IV resolution MEPC.227(64), imposing specific performance standards for nitrogen and phosphorus removal for effluent discharges from ships. Applying to new and existing passenger ships operating in the Baltic Sea from 1 June 2021, regulatory parameters are set to expand. From 1 June 2023, the provisions will include existing passenger ships enroute directly to/from ports located outside the Special Area and to/from ports east of longitude 28”10’E within the Special Area that do not make any other calls within the Special Area.
About RWO:
For over 45 years, RWO has been supplying future-proof solutions for marine water treatment – made in Germany. The product portfolio includes equipment for the treatment of drinking and process water as well as systems for pollution prevention such as oily water separators or sewage treatment plants. Today RWO is recognized as a technological leader in the field of oil/water-separation with over 16,000 units delivered worldwide. More than 40 sales and service stations ensure short communication links and local availability of trained service engineers. The intelligent spare parts supply enables the rapid delivery of customized kits, which minimizes maintenance intervals as well as freight and operating costs. RWO offers an individually designed range of services: around the world, around the clock, 365 days a year. Following the completion of acquisition proceedings in 2021, RWO is now part of the Erma First group of companies alongside Metis Cyberspace Technology and oneTANK.www.rwo.de
