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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, May 30, 2008 -- GE Water & Process Technologies and Pennant Hills Golf Club officially opened Australia's first commercial sewer mining water reuse plant today. The system will use GE ecomagination-certified technology to conserve approximately 100 million litres (25 million gallons) of Australia's fresh water a year — enough water to sustain over 280 households.

Sewer mining is a process that harvests wastewater from municipal sewers and treats it to a high quality suitable for non-potable reuse applications such as irrigation. At Pennant Hills, wastewater is treated with GE's advanced membrane bioreactor technology. The system produces 650 kilolitres (172,000 gallons) of high quality water per day which is used to irrigate the 22 hectares (55 acres) of greens, tees and fairways.

"With water supplies in question and prices rising, we needed a cost-effective way to minimise our water footprint while protecting the natural beauty of our course," said Steve Walker, president, Pennant Hills Golf Club. "We are proud to be the first to embrace this innovative approach. It is bringing us a drought-proof supply of water that minimises impact on Australia's fresh water reserves."

Sewer mining, when combined with GE's advanced water reuse technologies, can also help municipalities offset or even cancel centralised wastewater treatment plant expenditures by reducing flow to downstream facilities that are at capacity. A secondary benefit is that the highly treated water becomes a valuable asset that can be sold.

"Pennant Hills is a great example of how this solution provides both economic and environmental benefits, we are proud to hounor them for their forward looking vision." said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. "At GE, our plan is to bring these reuse systems to golf courses and commercial water users around the world."

To honour Pennant Hills Golf Course for their pioneering environmental efforts, GE awarded the golf course with a 2008 ecomagination Leadership Award — an award given to the top one percent of GE Water & Process Technologies' customers who demonstrate significant environmental and business leadership. To celebrate Pennant Hills' environmental leadership, GE also supplied over 1,800 Pennant Hills Golf Club members with a compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulb. Using up to 75% less energy and lasting up to 10 times longer than regular bulbs, the annual energy savings that can be reaped from the supplied CFL bulbs equals the approximate energy consumption of the new plant -- making the Pennant Hills Water Reclamation Plant virtually carbon neutral.

This week, GE also announced its own commitment to reduce its own fresh water use by 20% by 2012. The new initiative is one of the world's most aggressive corporate water targets to date and is expected to free up 7.4 million cubic meters (2 billion U.S. gallons) of fresh water a year — enough water to fill over 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. GE expects to implement water reuse technologies and/or process efficiencies at over 100 company facilities to meet the absolute water reduction target. GE is using the same portfolio of water-saving solutions to help reduce municipal, industrial and agriculture customers' water footprints.

GE offers a broad portfolio of advanced water reuse solutions, capable of meeting the most stringent standards. The systems can be either custom built or pre-engineered depending on customer needs. In many cases, on-site water reuse systems are allowing development to proceed for shopping centres, resorts, sub-divisions, office buildings and residential towers in an environmentally friendly manner.

Advanced GE reuse technologies are at the core of several major sewer mining facilities around the globe, including the Randolph Park Water Reclamation Facility in Tucson, Arizona, USA where 11 million litres (3 million gallons) of highly treated water are produced and sold to surrounding golf courses each day.

Water Technology at Work in Australia Watch the new online video ad about GE's water purification and re-use technologies at work in Sydney, Australia.

For more information on GE water reuse or ecomagination technologies, please visit www.ge.com/water.

About GE Water & Process TechnologiesA world leader in membrane and filtration, diagnostic tools, specialty chemicals, mobile water, service, and financing, GE Water and Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), offers the broadest portfolio of global expertise and local capabilities. We invest in forward looking water and process technologies, leveraging the best practices of GE's ecomagination, to help customers balance environmental and economic goals. Our innovative team develops unique partnerships and delivers reliable, long-term solutions for communities, governments and industry that maximize water and energy resources. www.ge.com/water.

About Pennant Hills Golf Club
Formed in 1923, Pennant Hills Golf Club is one of Sydney's premier private golf clubs, holding both Championship and Group One status. It is located only 25 minutes from the Sydney central business district. The club's par 71-championship course is a commanding test of golf for players of all standards. The strength of the course lies in its magnificent tree-lined fairways, dominated by tall eucalyptus and some of the last remnants of the Sydney Turpentine Ironbark forest community. In addition, the beautiful flower beds surrounding the tees and the newly renovated clubhouse often have Pennant Hills described as the most picturesque course in Sydney. For more information on Pennant Hills Golf Course, please visit http://www.phillsgolf.com.au/guests/welcome.mhtml

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Contacts:

Keith Ritchie
Corporate Affairs Manager
GE Australia and New Zealand
03 9921 6309
0416099975
keith.ritchie@ge.com

Kieran Semple
Pennant Hills Golf Club
Acting General Manager
02 9484 1358
Kieran.semple@pennanthillsgolfclub.com.au