BWT, registered name BWT AG, is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n manufacturing company of

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the Water quality, quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking water, drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recrea ...

systems with its headquarters in Mondsee.

Production sites and subsidiaries

The company has four main production sites at Mondsee (Austria),

Schriesheim Schriesheim (South Franconian: ''Schriese'') is a town located in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis and the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. Geography Schriesheim lies on the Bergstraße, at the western edge o ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), and Aesch (

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

), as well as numerous

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a sa ...

and affiliated companies, and a global distribution network.

History

BWT was founded as Benckiser Wassertechnik in 1823 by

Johann Adam Benckiser Johann, typically a male given name, is the German language, German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin language, Latin form of the Greek language, Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew language, Hebrew name ''Johanan (name ...

. Following several acquisitions and mergers, the company was purchased in 1990 by Andreas Weißenbacher in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

. The company was floated on the

Vienna Stock Exchange en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1992. The WAB Group is the principal

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

of BWT, with around 20% of

shares In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of an ...

owned by diverse

s and roughly 6% owned by the company (as of February 2014).

Products

BWT provides products, water treatment systems and services for: * filtering and

desalination Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

and process water (pure water,

ultrapure water Ultrapure water (UPW), high-purity water or highly purified water (HPW) is water that has been purified to uncommonly stringent specifications. Ultrapure water is a term commonly used in manufacturing to emphasize the fact that the water is treated ...

water for injection Water for injection is water of extra high quality without significant contamination. A sterile version is used for making solutions that will be given by injection. Before such use other substances generally must be added to make the solution ...

, et cetera), and

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

water. The pharmaceutical water division, BWT Pharma & Biotech, is headquartered in Germany near

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. * Fuel cell and battery

membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. B ...

s * Heating, boiling, and cooling water *

Ion exchange Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one kind of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid with the reaction being used especially for softening or making water demineralised, ...

systems for demineralisation (including

water softening Water softening is the removal of calcium, magnesium, and certain other metal cations in hard water. The resulting soft water requires less soap for the same cleaning effort, as soap is not wasted bonding with calcium ions. Soft water also extend ...

) * Metering technology *

Electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...

electrodialysis Electrodialysis (ED) is used to transport salt ions from one solution through ion-exchange membranes to another solution under the influence of an applied electric potential difference. This is done in a configuration called an electrodialysis c ...

, and electrodeionisation

Awards and prizes

The company's filter cartridge for table water received the National Award for Innovation for

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

in 2011. The same year, the Rondomat Duo S series of water softeners won the Austrian national design prize in the Capital Goods category awarded by the Federal Ministry of the Economy Family and Youth (German: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Familie und Jugend). BWT’s products for private households have been winners of the Plus X Award on two occasions. In 2012, the AQA perla water softening system was voted "Best Product of the Year 2013", and the E1 Single Lever filter received the same accolade in 2013. In 2014, the "black penguin" BWT table water filter won the

Red Dot Design Award The Red Dot Design Award is a German international design prize awarded by Red Dot GmbH & Co. KG. There are prize categories for product design, brands and communication design, and design concept. Since 1955, designers and producers can apply ...

Sponsorship

Mazepin Force India VJM11 Testing Barcelona

BWT has a wide range of sponsorship deals with various motorsport teams, such as

Mücke Motorsport Mücke Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Germany, which is also known as ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg. History Single-seaters Mücke Motorsport was formed by Peter Mücke in 1998 to run his son Stefan Mücke in the German Formula BMW ADAC ...

in DTM, Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing (a student racing team from the

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

making hydrogen-powered race cars),

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

Formula 4 FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of r ...

, and

Walter Lechner Racing Lechner Racing, formerly known as Walter Lechner Racing is an auto racing team based in Austria. It is also known as the Lechner Racing School. Lechner Racing has established the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East and organizes the series as a ...

in the high-profile

Porsche Carrera Cup Germany The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, ...

and

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

. Most notably, in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

, the company was the title sponsor of the

Racing Point F1 Team Racing Point F1 Team, which competed as BWT Racing Point F1 Team and commonly known as Racing Point, was a British motor racing team and constructor that Racing Point UK entered into the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. The team w ...

(previously

Racing Point Force India Racing Point Force India Formula One Team was the title under which Racing Point UK made a late entry into the 2018 Formula One World Championship. The team used the constructor name "Force India", competed under a British licence and was base ...

and Force India Formula One) from

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

through

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

as the BWT Racing Point F1 Team, up until its rebranding as the

Aston Martin F1 Team Aston Martin is a British car manufacturer that has participated in Formula One in various forms. The company first participated in Formula One during the 1959 season where they debuted the DBR4 chassis using their own engine but it failed t ...

for the 2021 season. The F1 sponsorship was continued with the new Aston Martin team for 2021, with BWT assuming the role of a "Global Partner". In 2021, Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver

Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...

signed on to become a BWT Ambassador. In 2022,

Alpine F1 Team Alpine F1 Team, competing as BWT Alpine F1 Team, is a Formula One constructor which made its debut at the start of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. Formerly named Renault F1 Team and owned by the French automotive company Groupe Renault ...

signed a title sponsorship contract with BWT, with the team renamed as the BWT Alpine F1 Team. In 2023, BWT's deal with Alpine was extended to the

Alpine Academy The Alpine Academy – formerly known as the RF1 Driver Programme, Renault Driver Development and Renault Sport Academy – is a program to support young racing drivers through their careers. The programme was created by Renault F1 in 2002. In ...

's young driver lineup.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.bwt.com/ Manufacturing companies of Austria Manufacturing companies established in 1823 Economy of Upper Austria 1823 establishments in Germany 1990 mergers and acquisitions