MECO, a leading manufacturer of engineered products for water purification, is to open its European headquarters in the National Technology Park in Limerick, creating 44 jobs. The new office is a reflection of MECO’s mission to provide the most reliable and responsive service to customers across the globe. “Europe continues to enjoy positive growth in the biopharmaceutical markets and represents opportunities for our other focus industries,” said MECO president George Gsell. “Our fully staffed, strategically located office in Ireland will service our existing customers as well as support our planned expansion of new customers throughout Europe.” Over the past 10 years MECO has grown its portfolio of drug manufacturers, oil and gas producers and food and beverage companies in Europe. They tap MECO for water purification systems that produce pure water critical to their operations. From highly purified water used for injectable drugs to potable water serving workforce on oil rigs to distilled water in bottles on grocery shelves, MECO’s sole focus is engineered products for water purification. The company holds 27 patents for a variety of water purification technologies and continuously develops and enhances those technologies to meet the growing demands of industries they serve. Take vapour compression, for example. In 1939, MECO patented the vapour compression process for desalinating seawater. Since then, the company has developed its vapour compression technology to serve the growing global demand for highly pure, energy efficient water production in the pharmaceutical industry. “Drug manufacturers throughout Europe are quickly embracing vapour compression distillation as the process of choice for production of purified water and water for injection,” said Michael Smith-Palmer, general manager of MECO Europe. “We’re well positioned to support our customers as our vapour compression technology, featuring the GII Centurbo Compressor, is arguably the market’s superior solution.” MECO has successfully installed more than 700 vapour compression stills worldwide with production capacity ranging from 600 to 8,000 gallons per hour.