Among OriginWater's competitors are foreign giants such as GE, Veolia Water and domestic veterans including Shenzhen Water Investment Co Ltd and Tongfang Water Service Co. These companies offer a wide range of water treatment technologies including MBR.
MBR is a mature high-end technology first developed in the late 1960s and widely used in developed countries.
OriginWater is not the first to introduce the technology but it has managed to make MBR water treatment projects bigger and more affordable.
"We focus on MBR," said He, "It is relatively new in China and the competition is less fierce. We have established a home factory and local engineering team, which reduces the costs by 20 to 30 percent and adds to our competitive advantage."
OriginWater expects to raise 300 to 500 million yuan by listing on the GEB. The move will enable it to tap into the lucrative water treatment market.
The company will use the cash to expand its manufacturing base and set up branches in Northeast China, East China and Yunnan province in Southwest China.
To strengthen its research and development capacity, OriginWater and Tsinghua University, China's top science and technology university, have set up a joint venture laboratory on MBR research and application.
Yunnan International Trust Co Ltd and Shanghai Xinlian Venture Investment Co Ltd invested 20 million yuan for a 7.5-percent stake in OriginWater respectively in 2007. The remaining 85-percent stake is owned by five of its management, including CEO Wen Jianping and vice-president He Yuanping.