GE Announces World Water Tour

GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), today announced its upcoming World Water Tour, a series of seminars, which will bring water industry experts and industrial water users together to discuss best practices and solutions capable of meeting industry’s growing need to minimize operational costs, create sustainable supplies of quality water, decrease energy consumption and meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements. The 14-city tour will focus on best practices proven in balancing the competitive business and environmental demands that often face industrial water users, especially those located in regions confronting water quality and scarcity challenges. "Some of industries costliest mandates are regulatory compliancy, as well as water and energy use,” said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. "Experts will discuss ways industries can better meet business demands and improve productivity through solutions that can cut operational costs. And in competitive marketplaces, this can be an invaluable asset.” Currently, industries consume as much as 22% of the world’s water. In developed countries, industrial water use is as high as 59% -- and rising. For industrial water users in areas that lack access to adequate supplies of quality water, and often infrastructure too, creating a sustainable and dependable source of water can offer security, independence and increased opportunity for growth. In addition, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development there are also environmental benefits to be reaped, "Through more efficient production processes, preventive strategies, cleaner production technologies and procedures throughout the product life cycle (…) the policies and operations of business and industry (...) can play a major role in reducing impacts on resource use and the environment." GE Water & Process Technologies’ World Water Tour will touch on challenges that can often arise during industrial processes, such as: washing, diluting, cooling, transporting, processing, fabricating products, sanitizing facilities, and producing commodities such as, refined petroleum, chemicals, food, paper and primary metals. 2007 World Water Tour Locations and Schedule Las Vegas, NV, USA May 2-4 Houston, TX, USA May 9-11 Monterrey, Mexico May 16-18 Chicago, IL, USA June 6-8 Atlanta, GA, USA June 13-15 Edmonton, Canada June 20-22 Santiago, Chile August 8-10 Melbourne, Australia August 22-24 Barcelona, Spain September 5-7 Mumbai, India Fall 2007 Bangalore, India Fall 2007 Shanghai, China Fall 2007 Beijing, China Fall 2007 Dubai, UAE Winter 2007 GE Water & Process Technologies has one of the broadest offerings of industrial water, water reuse, water scarcity, and process treatment solutions available. GE’s portfolio improves productivity; optimizes critical plant life and performance; increases process uptime; cuts costs and reduces waste. For more information on GE’s World Water Tour, please visit www.gewater.com. ABOUT GE WATER & PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company, is solving some of the world’s most pressing water challenges by providing industrial, agricultural and potable water, while lessening our dependence on fresh water sources. Technologies to accomplish this include desalination, advanced membrane, separation solutions, and water reuse and wastewater management and process technologies. GE delivers value to customers by improving performance and product quality, reducing operating costs and extending equipment life. For more information on GE Water & Process Technologies, visit www.gewater.com.