Energy Recovery and Seawater Desalination

SAN LEANDRO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2008--Energy Recovery, Inc. ("ERI") (NASDAQ:ERII), a global leader of ultra-high-efficiency energy recovery products and technology for desalination, announces that the Spanish joint venture of FCC / AQUALIA / BEFESA group of companies awarded the contract for energy recovery equipment for its Bajo Almanzora seawater desalination project to ERI. The plant will supply 60,000 m3/day (15.9 MGD) of fresh water to the region.

The design, build and operate seawater desalination project was awarded to the partnership of FCC/AQUALIA and BEFESA in August 2007 by Acuamed, the Spanish governmental water authority. Spanish companies have played a leadership role in designing and building desalination plants world-wide. The plant is located in the province of Almeria, Andalucia region, along the southeastern border of Spain. It is currently under construction and is scheduled to produce water in 2009. The Bajo Almanzora seawater desalination plant will supply water to one of the warmest provinces in the country where the level of rainfall is one of the lowest in Europe, with much of the area containing semi-arid and desert-like landscapes.

ERI PX(R) technology was specified for the project. ERI will supply 50 PX-220 energy recovery devices to operate in the first-stage of the reverse osmosis process. It is estimated that this technology will save the project over 5 mega-watts of high-pressure pump power. Last year, Befesa and ERI teamed to provide and energy recovery solution to India's largest desalination plant located in Chennai.

ERI's Vice President, of the Mega Projects Division stated, "As with all our projects, we feel very satisfied when our customers build desalination plants that consider energy recovery as a key component of the overall solution."

About ERI(R)

Energy Recovery, Inc. (ERI) is a leading manufacturer of energy recovery devices, which by significantly reducing energy consumption is helping make desalination affordable. ERI's PX Pressure Exchanger(R) technology (PX(R)) is a rotary positive displacement pump that recovers energy from the high pressure waste stream of sea water reverse osmosis systems at up to 98% efficiency with no downtime or scheduled maintenance.

The company has research, development and manufacturing facilities in the San Francisco technology corridor as well as direct sales offices and technical support centers in key desalination hubs such as Madrid, UAE, Shanghai and Florida. ERI service representatives are based in Algeria, Australia, China, India, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan and the Caribbean.

As the demand for clean, potable water increases; ERI is poised to face the global challenges ahead. For more information on ERI and PX technology, please visit www.energyrecovery.com.