A unique marine water purification system – designed and developed by Hydro Industries in Wales – is en route to the USA for use by one of the world’s largest and most successful salvage companies.
The hi-tech system designed for T&T Salvage will be used in major marine salvage and oil spill operations throughout the USA. It has the capacity to purify contaminated sea water at a rate of up to 500 tonnes of water an hour – Hydro believe this is 6 times faster than their nearest global competitor.
This first consignment follows the signing of a joint venture in February this year between Hydro Industries, which is based in Llangennech, and T&T Salvage during a trade mission led by First Minister Carwyn Jones to San Francisco.
This new small, lightweight system – which can be easily flown by helicopter to rescue vessels working on marine disaster recovery operations – has been designed and developed specifically for Marine Salvage operations.
First Minister Carwyn Jones congratulated Hydro Industries and said: ”I was delighted to be present when this joint venture was signed and it’s excellent news to hear that now – just a few months later – they have shipped out their first order.
“ It’s always good to hear of Welsh companies investing in research and development to create highly advanced products and processes and making their mark internationally and I wish Hydro Industries every success. This joint venture has the potential to create real economic benefits for Wales while also bringing environmental benefits through mitigating the damaging effects of marine disasters.”
Wayne Preece, CEO of Hydro Industries, said: “ T&T Salvage has contracts with the US government and works on major disaster recovery programmes. The new Hydro system is designed to be the most reliable and advanced available to provide T&T Salvage with a significant competitive advantage.
“We hope that this will be the first of many orders that will enable us to ramp up production and create new jobs, anticipating employing up to 100 people within three years. We have also redesigned our system using high strength plastics to specifically grow this export market and secure Hydro’s future in Carmarthenshire.”
Hydro Industries, which currently employs 25 people, is a high-tech company specialising in the design, manufacture and operation of electro-based water treatment products.
Under the joint venture with T&T Salvage, Hydro Industries will supply some of their highly specialised patent protected products and undertake research and development on new bespoke products.