Press Release

Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (HQ: Shinjuku, Tokyo; President: Hiroshi Fujino) has set up a production base for water treatment equipment by converting its Yamaguchi Factory (located in Yamaguchi-shi, Yamaguchi) that was formally a production base for water treatment chemicals. The new setup will ensure an increase in production capacity of water treatment equipment.

The Yamaguchi Factory engages in manufacturing modular systems and compact standardized systems for water treatment. The modular system is a compact and integrated equipment unit, and the spatial arrangement allows various standardized equipment to be embedded in the system: water treatment equipment, including a reverse osmosis (RO), and ion-exchange equipment, pumps, heat exchanger, and control panel. Installation space for the modular system can be reduced 30%. In addition, past water treatment equipment such as ultra-pure water production systems were assembled at customers' plants. However, the modular system is assembled in our factories and then undergoes thorough testing before it is delivered. This minimizes on-site work and contributes to cost reductions and quick deliveries. Kurita Water Industries launched the development and production of the modular system in FY2000 and remains strong in the expansion of its production. Specifically, in FY2004, we adopted the modular system for all of our water treatment equipment used in the domestic pharmaceutical industry, and expanded to approx. 85% (percentage of sales) in the domestic electronic industry. With the establishment of the Yamaguchi Factory, Kurita Water Industries secures two production bases for modular systems including the Shizuoka Factory (located in Yoshida-cho, Haibara-gun, Shizuoka), which enables us to respond to growth in demand for modular systems.

The water treatment chemicals manufacturing facility, which became a non-operating plant this February due to the reorganization of our production framework for water treatment chemicals, was effectively utilized to open the Yamaguchi Factory. Our new production base, the Yamaguchi Factory, is composed of one building for modular system skid assembly (880m²), and another building for standard system standardized assembly (650m²). A large crane, ultra-pure water production system for test run, and a clean room for the assembly of a Functional Water Production Equipment(*) for semiconductor and liquid-crystal manufacturing plants, are also assigned in the factory. The Shizuoka Factory mainly serves as a base for large modular systems production, and the Yamaguchi Factory engages in the production of not only standardized units, including functional cleansing water units, but modular systems destined for western Japan. The shipment of the standardized units has been effective since this August, and the manufacturing of the modular systems came into service this September.

The Functional Water Production Equipment is a system that is capable of producing "functional water" through the dissolution of hydrogen gas and ozone gas in ultra-pure water. Functional cleansing water possesses a high capability for eliminating particles and metal from the surface of a semiconductor substrate and liquid-crystal glass panel. The utilization of this water, to be substituted for the current chemical cleaning agents, is presumed to yield a significant outcome in cost reduction and reduction in environmental loads.