Nalco Announces Price Increases in Europe, Africa and the Middle East

NAPERVILLE, Illinois, January 28, 2011 - Nalco (NYSE: NLC), providing essential expertise for water, energy and
air, is implementing a price increase for customers across the Europe, Africa
and Middle East (EAME) region, effective Feb. 1 or as contracts permit.
Increases will average from 5 to 15 percent, in line with those recently
announced globally. They are focused on the specific situation Nalco and its
customers face in the EAME region. The level of increase will depend on the
country and the specific Nalco program.

(Logo: photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101231/NALCOLOGO)

"We have experienced significant raw material cost increases and some raw
material availability shortages," said David Johnson, Nalco Executive Vice
President and President, EAME. "We are also affected by REACH legislation
costs impacting a relevant part of the EAME product line. By increasing our
prices as our costs increase, we can continue to invest in research,
manufacturing process improvements and development of our field engineers to
enhance the sustainable solutions we provide and the value we create for our
customers."

Nalco's sales engineers and key account managers will discuss the
particular impacts of these increases with individual customers.

About Nalco

Nalco is the world's largest sustainability services company focused on
industrial water, energy and air applications; delivering significant
environmental, social and economic performance benefits to our customers. We
help our customers reduce energy, water and other natural resource
consumption, enhance air quality, minimize environmental releases and improve
productivity and end products while boosting the bottom line. Together our
comprehensive solutions contribute to the sustainable development of customer
operations. Nalco is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. More
than 11,500 Nalco employees operate in 150 countries supported by a
comprehensive network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and research
centers to serve a broad range of end markets. In 2009, Nalco achieved sales
of more than $3.7 billion. For more information visit www.nalco.com.

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Media, Charlie Pajor, +1-630-305-1556, cpajor at nalco.com, or Investors, Lisa Curran, +1-630-305-1475, llcurran at nalco.com, both of Nalco