BKT announced on the 30th that it has signed a contract with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) in Wisconsin, United States, to supply wastewater treatment technology. MMSD is regarded as the first entity in the United States to introduce a biological treatment process for wastewater about 100 years ago and is evaluated as a leader in the adoption of new water treatment technologies and the establishment of long-term infrastructure strategies.

The core of this contract, concluded between MMSD and BKT’s U.S. subsidiary Tomorrow Water, is the supply of Proteus, a technology independently developed by BKT. Proteus is a high‑speed filtration technology that rapidly removes solids and organic matter in wastewater without the use of chemicals. It is currently applied to initial stormwater treatment at the Jungnang and Seonam Water Reclamation Centers in Seoul and at the Daejeon wastewater treatment plant.

According to BKT, when the Proteus technology is used, wastewater treatment facilities can be operated on just 15% of the land area required by conventional systems. This is a major advantage for expanding initial stormwater treatment facilities at urban wastewater treatment plants where land is in short supply. Initial stormwater treatment facilities are systems that prevent heavy metals accumulated on road surfaces and pollutants emitted from various means of transportation from being washed into rivers when it rains.

Prior to the signing of this contract, MMSD is known to have visited Korea to directly verify the operational performance of facilities where Proteus technology has been applied. A BKT official said, “As heavy downpours have increased recently due to climate change, initial stormwater treatment has emerged as a key task in the global wastewater treatment sector,” adding, “The decisive factor in concluding this contract was that facilities using Proteus achieved leading results in environmental administration.”

The U.S. public sector market is known as a market where only proven technologies can gain entry. Industry observers say that this contract simultaneously demonstrates BKT’s technological competitiveness and its capability to conduct global business. Kim Dong-woo, CEO of BKT, said, “With extreme rainfall events becoming routine due to climate change, the need for technologies that can secure treatment capacity without expanding existing infrastructure has grown,” adding, “We aim to establish ourselves as the new global standard for initial stormwater response.”

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