Microelectronics
Ultrapure water, wastewater and reuse solutions designed to keep microelectronics production flowing
The microelectronics industry depends on a consistent supply of ultrapure water (UPW) for critical processes, such as wafer cleaning, etching, and rinsing. Even trace impurities can affect throughput, delay production schedules, and compromise yield—making effective water management essential to maintaining production continuity.
Microelectronics water management encompasses the full cycle of water use in semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturing—from UPW that meets tight purity specifications, to complex wastewater streams, to water recovery and reuse. Effective water management protects yield, supports compliance, reduces water consumption and ensures that critical water infrastructure performs consistently under changing production demands.
Key water challenges in microelectronics
- Production continuity under pressure. A water system delay can stall start-up or halt production, costing millions per day. Infrastructure must perform consistently regardless of changing demands.
- Growing water complexity. Stricter discharge rules, changing chemistries, emerging contaminants, and hard-to-treat streams complicate compliance, risking penalties and operational restrictions.
- Resource efficiency and sustainability commitments. Manufacturers are facing increased pressure to improve efficiency, reduce consumption, reduce water and meet sustainability goals.
- Scaling UPW capacity. As fabs increase output and geometries shrink, demand for UPW grows in volume and purity.
How Xylem helps
We help you keep production flowing with ultrapure water, wastewater and water reuse solutions designed to support reliable operations, simplify water management, enable future growth and improve resource efficiency.
Backed by deep industry expertise, responsive service, and operational insight, Xylem helps manufacturers reduce risk, improve performance, and confidently meet the demands of a rapidly evolving industry. By combining the strengths of Xylem and Evoqua Water Technologies in 2023, we now offer one of the industry's most comprehensive portfolios of water and wastewater solutions, helping microelectronics manufacturers manage water across the entire facility lifecycle.
Keeping microelectronics production flowing
Protect production continuity
Xylem helps fabs maintain reliable operations through proven water and wastewater solutions, digital monitoring, and lifecycle expertise that reduce operational risk and support system reliability. By helping ensure water systems perform as expected, Xylem enables plant teams to stay focused on production priorities, not infrastructure challenges.
Simplify water management
Xylem helps customers reduce complexity through integrated technologies, operational expertise, and responsive service across the water cycle. By bringing together treatment, reuse, monitoring, and service capabilities, we help simplify decision-making, streamline operations, and reduce the burden on internal teams.
Maximize resource efficiency
We help manufacturers recover, reuse and optimize water usage throughout the facility—improving the productivity of both water and infrastructure assets. Through advanced treatment, reuse strategies, digital optimization and operational expertise, we enable you to improve efficiency, reduce waste and make better use of critical resources without compromising performance.
Scale with confidence
We help you scale with confidence through adaptable water and wastewater solutions, lifecycle expertise and operational support that evolve alongside manufacturing requirements. Whether increasing capacity, improving water quality, upgrading processes or pursuing more aggressive water reuse goals, we help ensure critical water infrastructure keeps pace with manufacturing demands.
Proven results in microelectronics water management
Silanna Semiconductor turns to Xylem for world-class water solution
Silanna Semiconductor is an Australian company specialised in the design and manufacture of advanced semiconductors. It has established itself as a market leader, providing power control and UVC LED semiconductors to the communications, space, defence, medical, and consumer markets. With dedicated offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, the company maintains a global presence and ready access to a range of markets and industries.
Water One® WX services improves operational efficiency for microelectronics manufacturing
At a Midwest printed circuits manufacturer, achieving optimal water treatment efficiency became a critical concern. The 80,000 square foot facility faced the constant challenge of promptly detecting disruptions in their treatment processes, while also striving to streamline operations, reduce costs, and maintain high product quality.
FAQs for microelectronics customers
Microelectronics manufacturing requires ultrapure water that meets tight purity specifications—typically 18 megohm-centimeters of electrical resistivity at 25°C, with very low levels of total organic carbon (TOC) and particles. Wastewater streams from processes like chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) and acid washing require specialized treatment, including neutralization and metals removal, before discharge.
Fabs reduce consumption through a combination of UPW system optimization, DI rinse water reclaim, cooling tower management and closed-loop recycling. The IRDS has set long-term targets for fab water recycling and reclamation rates exceeding 75 percent of total water use. We help you design and implement reuse strategies that reduce freshwater withdrawal while maintaining the purity specifications production demands.
Ultrapure water (UPW) is water that has been treated to remove virtually all impurities—minerals, organics, particles and bacteria—to meet the purity requirements of semiconductor fabrication. UPW is used for wafer rinsing, chemical dilution and cleaning throughout the manufacturing process. Even trace contamination can affect yield, making consistent UPW quality and system uptime essential to production continuity.
Semiconductor fabs generate complex wastewater streams containing acids, heavy metals, CMP slurries and fluorides. These streams require specialized treatment—including acid waste neutralization, metals precipitation, fluoride removal and solids management—to meet discharge permits and avoid violations. As production scales and process chemistries change, wastewater treatment systems must adapt to handle new contaminants and volumes.
We work alongside microelectronics manufacturers across the full water cycle—from UPW production and wastewater treatment to water reuse, digital monitoring and lifecycle service. By bringing together treatment, reuse, monitoring and service capabilities, we help fabs reduce operational risk, simplify water management, improve resource efficiency and scale with confidence as manufacturing requirements evolve.