RWO, a leading supplier of intelligent water management solutions, has successfully completed two installations of its next generation advanced water treatment system (AWTS) – the CleanSewage Membrane Reactor (CS-MBR) for Celebrity Cruises. The sewage treatment plant on the Celebrity Solstice-class vessels, Celebrity Silhouette and Celebrity Reflection, have been upgraded to the CS-MBR system, with an additional three orders placed to complete the fleet-wide upgrade.

RWO’s CS-MBR is a sustainable biological treatment technology that has been designed specifically to minimise a vessel’s impact on the environment, achieve the highest standards for effluent discharge and perform well ahead of regulatory requirements.

The installations upgrade existing RWO MEMROD sewage treatment plants on board the Celebrity Cruises ships, reflecting new regulations for existing vessels operating in Special Areas and anticipate the expansion in regulatory parameters for such vessels from 1 June 2023*. The CS-MBR is fully type approved as conforming with IMO MEPC.227(64) including the standards of section 4.2 which addresses nitrogen and phosphorus removal.

Nikolaos Kolyvakis, Senior Ship Manager, Celebrity Cruises commented: “Sustainability is a top priority for Celebrity Cruises and we seek out every opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the highest possible standards in environmental stewardship.”

Lars Nupnau, Business Development Manager, at RWO said: “RWO has developed a strong working relationship with Celebrity Cruises over the last 10 years and we are delighted that the RWO CS-MBR has been selected as part of its Solstice-class upgrade strategy.”

Unique among shipboard AWTS solutions, the CS-MBR treatment process features submerged membranes in its final stage and can remove more than 99% of solids and bacteria, including microplastics and viruses.

“By using membranes in this way, the resulting water is pure enough to be re-used in other ship functions such as laundry or as technical water. The automated cleaning-in-place (CIP) control also makes the system far easier for the crew to operate and extends the membrane lifecycle significantly,” said Nupnau. “If that wasn’t enough, the CS-MBR also has a smaller footprint and uses less energy than comparable systems.”

“The new CS-MBR goes beyond regulatory compliance to minimise environmental impacts and maximise operational efficiency,” added Kolyvakis. “It strongly aligns with Celebrity’s commitment to investing in technologies which help protect the world’s oceans and the communities where we operate.”