Fast growing ballast water equipment manufacturer ERMA FIRST has acquired German marine water specialist RWO GmbH.

Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Bremen, RWO provides water and wastewater treatment systems for ships, ports and offshore installations and is a market leader in bilge water separation systems. RWO’s product portfolio includes the treatment of drinking and process water, oily waters, ballast, wastewater as well as a comprehensive range of after sales spare parts and services. Over 16,000 ships have been equipped with RWO’s oil water separators since 1975.

ERMA FIRST Managing Director Konstantinos Stampedakis said:

“This is a win for ERMA FIRST and a win for RWO’s customers and staff. We have acquired a world leader in water treatment systems for the shipping industry with a strong customer base and a reputation for excellence and reliability. We ourselves have a track record of innovation with our ballast water technologies and are well known for our high-quality engineering and customer first ethos. We are committed to building on the past 46 years of RWO experience and help take the company, its products and people to the next level of international success.”

He added:

“All RWO products will continue to be made and engineered in Germany and there will be no changes to RWO’s engineering workforce or global aftersales network. Service agreements with all current customers remain unchanged.”

RWO’s product range includes systems and monitoring for:

• Bilge water treatment
• Sewage treatment
• Desalinisation
• Ballast water treatment
• Process water treatment

Since its launch in 2009, ERMA FIRST has installed its ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) on more than 2,500 ships. Over the last 14 years, ERMA FIRST has set the standard for effective ballast water treatment with superior operational readiness, build quality and ease of use. ERMA FIRST is widely recognised as one of the top BWTS makers worldwide.