RPT-FACTBOX-Five facts about GE's water business

Aug 11 (Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N) sees big potential in the water-purification business, with demand rising as businesses and municipalities around the world face scarce supplies and rising purity standards.

Below are five facts about GE's water business:

* GE's water business employs about 7,900 people worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in 50 countries

* The unit generates the majority of its revenue -- 63 percent -- outside the United States, with some of the strongest growth coming in the Middle East, Africa and Australia

* GE technologies focus on the quality of water being released from industrial processes and municipal treatment plants as well as allowing industrial users to improve the quality of the water they are bringing into processes to prevent it from harming high-tech equipment

* The largest U.S. conglomerate has set a goal of cutting its own water usage 20 percent by 2010, a move that it said will cut its annual operating costs by $15 million to $20 million.

* GE and the National University of Singapore in June opened a joint research center to focus on water, which employs 30 scientists and engineers from GE. (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Mary Milliken and Cynthia Osterman)