Filtralite®’s Performance Allows to Reduce the Size and Thus the Cost of New Water Treatment Plants
Introduction
As the MENA region’s water market embraces innovation, Filtralite® — a high-performance filter media — is gaining momentum. Mohammed Kastawy, Area Sales Manager – MENA region, shares insights on Filtrate’s impact, challenges, and growth potential in the Middle East. Filtralite®, the filter media made of expanded clay, started its journey in Europe, 45 years ago. After strengthening its presence in Europe, such as in France, United Kingdom, Norway and Spain, Filtralite is expanding further in the Middle East.
Filtralite has recently made its debut in the MENA market, supported by Saint-Gobain, a company with 360 years of industrial experience. Filtralite is more than just a product; it’s a proven solution with a successful track record in over 750 plants worldwide. It is designed to replace traditional materials like sand and anthracite in water treatment facilities, providing numerous benefits for sectors such as desalination, wastewater and drinking water production.
In MENA region, Filtrate’s benefits include enhanced filtration efficiency, reduced energy consumption, and better water quality. Its porous structure allows for higher water flow rates and longer filtration cycles while reducing the need for backwashing, which saves up to 75% in energy costs and cuts water loss by 60%. Additionally, Filtralite has a lower carbon footprint compared to traditional methods and can last twice as long as sand, up to 30 years in some cases. Filtralite is well adapted to the MENA market, due to the rapid urbanization which entails a need for more production capacity without building new facilities. Furthermore, when new facilities need to be built, Filtralite allows the size of the plant to be reduced to deliver the same amount of water. Filtralite is well adapted to reduce operation costs and improve production capacity and the efficiency of water treatment plants, all over the globe.
We had the opportunity to interview Mohammed Kastawy, Area Sales Manager – MENA region, whose commitment has been crucial to advancing Filtrate’s development in Middle East.
Can you describe your career, your current role, and your level of involvement within Saint-Gobain?
With over 20 years of experience in sales and development with several International Organizations, I currently serve as the Area Sales Manager for the MENA region at Saint-Gobain. Saint-Gobain is an exceptional company with a global presence, offering excellent opportunities to enhance skills and knowledge in a positive work environment.
I achieve goals through strategic business planning and innovative sales initiatives. I enjoy collaborating with my colleagues and harnessing our collective energy to reach our objectives year after year. The new challenge with Filtralite presents a valuable opportunity for me to expand my expertise in the water sector, particularly in filtration.
How long have you been involved in the development of Filtralite in Middle East?
My team and I have dedicated years to developing the market for Filtralite, an expanded clay solution used in filtration. Increasingly, various stakeholders are recognizing this innovative solution for its ability to reduce operating costs in drinking water and wastewater treatment plants.
Filtralite, a high-performance filter media, has been optimizing water treatment for over 40 years—delivering efficiency, sustainability, and long-term cost savings
I thrive on challenges, and it’s rewarding to be part of the journey with such an outstanding product that meets the needs of the MENA market.
Each year, we have seen a rise in satisfied customers in the Middle East. To build on this success, we are now distributing Filtralite throughout the region in collaboration with Al-Mousa Trading, which brings over twenty years of expertise in providing innovative engineering solutions in water, energy, and infrastructure.
We look forward to driving significant growth and expanding Filtralite’s presence in KSA. This is just the beginning of what promises to be a successful and impactful 2025.
With such a strong and capable team on board, I’m confident that this partnership will drive significant growth and expand Filtralite’s footprint in KSA.
How would you describe the water market in MENA region? What is the most common filter media?
The MENA water market is growing very fast. Compared to other areas in the world, we do not lack raw water resources, but the need for desalination, wastewater and drinking water is rising alongside the country’s increasing urbanization. More people are going to live in cities, and this puts additional pressure on water resources in these areas. This is why we need to rethink and enhance our approach to filtration in urban regions.
As cities expand quickly, the size of water treatment plants becomes small for the growing demand. This is where Filtralite can play a great role, by increasing the water production capacity and thus reducing the need to build new facilities. In addition, with its superior performance, Filtralite allows to reduce the size and thus the cost of new water treatment plants.
The most common filter media in MENA region are sand, and sand combined with anthracite. In the past, the priority in MENA was to have enough water treatment plants, both for drinking water and wastewater, but more and more the performance of those plants is also being considered. Again, Filtralite can have a major impact here: compared to sand, we can increase the production capacity and decrease the operation costs, keeping the same output qualities. The same happens with the combination of sand and anthracite; we are outperforming this dual-layer solution, with better production capacity, and fewer backwashes needed; this means a significant decrease in operating costs, but with the same water quality as the output of the filters. The lifetime of our products is more than double that of Anthracite, and it is 4 to 6 times longer than sand.
How did the MENA markets react to the introduction of Filtralite filter media?
A common point with the rest of the world is that the water market is conservative. Sand has been used for thousands of years to filter water, dating back to ancient Egypt, so it is a well-known solution, and it can be difficult to change this established mindset. Also, in engineering schools specializing in water treatment, Filtralite is not mentioned, traditional solutions like sand and anthracite are most frequently discussed. We have an outsider position for now. So it is very important for us to educate and reassure customers and to clearly convey how easy it is to implement Filtralite.
Filtralite outperforms the combination of sand and anthracite solution, with better production capacity, and fewer backwashes needed
Filtralite has been used for more than 40 years now, and we have a strong reference list of more than 750 references in drinking water and wastewater, and many case studies around the world. For sure, every water plant is different with different characteristics and needs, but the market is reacting very positively to Filtrate’s deployment. Of course, we need time to be well known in a big country such as KSA and even more in the whole of Middle East, but the economy is stable in the country and the market has an appetite for innovation and high-performance products. It is a very good moment for Filtralite to be implemented in the whole of Middle East.
We started to have several references in MENA with very positive results, which has increased market interest in Filtralite. Also, we have presented Filtralite at several exhibitions in Middle East, and we can feel the public’s interest in the product, which motivates us even more.
What synergies can you find between Al-Mousa Trading and the Filtralite area?
Al-Mousa Trading is specialized in water distribution and Filtralite focuses on the production side. The great synergy we have is that often we can share our contacts. It was the starting point for combining our strengths to be even better, together. Also, we share the same processes, the same values, and the same goals, aligned with Saint-Gobain policies. This helps us to focus on the most important questions, and to respond to the needs of our customers.
Filtralite has been used for more than 40 years, with a strong reference list of more than 750 references in desalination, drinking water and wastewater.
As you may know, Saint-Gobain Group is one of the leading companies in building materials. This way, we focus on high-performance materials to offer our customers comfort and security.
With Al-Mousa Trading, which specializes in Water Pumps, Boilers, Media Filter and Piping Systems Solutions, we are following the same preference for high-performance products to bring the best solution to our customers. I am proud to work for a company that delivers good solutions to meet our customers’ needs.
Filtralite fits perfectly with our goals. It is a high-performance filter media designed to reduce operating costs during the filtration stage and is made to last.
What are the main challenges you are facing when presenting Filtrate’s advantages?
As I mentioned earlier the water market around the world is conservative, especially concerning drinking water, but MENA is keen to experiment with new solutions in water treatment. The high number of case studies we have around the world, and now in MENA, have provided us with extensive results and performance tests.
We need time to be well known in a big country such as KSA, but the market has an appetite for innovation and high-performance products
When plant managers, plant designers, and even consultants look at our case studies around the world, they want to conduct a trial – either in a column or directly in one of their filters – to see if this new generation solution can apply to their plant.
When the set-up is correctly established in the pilot, they can replicate in local settings the same results as in our case studies, and want to proceed with a deployment. The stock we have in MENA helps us to answer quickly to customer needs.
How do you see the future with Filtralite and what are the next steps in its development?
I see a bright future with Filtralite. Sand and anthracite are still the most commonly used products, but Filtralite has significant growth potential in MENA. We still have work ahead to make Filtralite as well-known as our two competitors, but given the performance results we’re achieving, we’re confident in Filtrate’s expansion.
In the next steps of our development, we want all actors in the water market to be aware of Filtralite and mainly about its advantages – the benefits they can gain with Filtralite, and what they miss out on by not using it. We hope our example can support our colleagues in Middle East and all around the world.
Mohammed Kastawy Area Sales Manager – MENA Region Mobile: +971565503535 Email : mohammed.kastawy@saint-gobain.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com
