It’s not always big companies that come up with new and potentially game-changing technologies. Once again in 2023, start-up companies are offering innovations that can help drive the industry forward. Here are several promising technologies recently showcased.
Membrane chemical removal. Mempure offers leading-edge hollow-fiber nanofiltration for removal of impurities like heavy metals, hardness and organic chemicals while allowing the water to retain a certain portion of minerals and ions required for healthy water. The low-pressure filtration membrane is suitable for municipal, industrial, commercial and household water purification. Visit www.mempure.com.sg.
Intelligent monitoring. Fluid Analytics uses artificial intelligence for sewer and manhole inspections, helping to prevent sanitary sewer overflows, avoid permit violations, reduce CCTV inspections costs, prioritize pipes for replacement and maintenance, and Cpture more CCTV footage per day. Visit www.fluidanalytics.ai.
Managing water networks. SpaceAge Labs offers Hydroeye 2.0, described as a digital twin for water and wastewater network management. Designed for operations and maintenance teams, the technology offers benefits that include monitoring of digging equipment to prevent accidental damage to pipes. Users can easily import underground pipe GIS data, create geofences or no-dig zones around buried assets, and provide alerts if digging is being done within a geofence. Visit www.spaceagelabs.com.sg.
Drying biosolids efficiently. ELODE USA presents an electro-osmosis dehydrator for biosolids. The company says this non-thermal dryer works on 95% of biosolids cake from municipal wastewater treatment facilities and can reduce cake volume by 60% in three minutes. As a second-stage dewatering technology, the system rolls the cake between two electrically charged surfaces that pull water out of the material, resulting in water content far lower that any mechanical process along can achieve. Visit www.elodeusa.com.
Destroying PFAS. Revive Environmental offers PFAS Annihilator, a mobile solution powered by supercritical water oxidation. This technology breaks the extremely durable carbon-fluoride bonds in PFAS molecules, reducing the chemicals to undetectable levels. The company calls it a scalable solution that can operate alone or in combination with other treatments. Visit www.revive-environmental.com.
Going digital. Ainwater works across industries from paper mills and utilities to breweries and food processing plants to digitize operations using artificial intelligence. It provides predictive monitoring and optimization of every unitary operation in a facility, integrating data from multiple sources. Benefits include up to 30% energy and chemical cost reduction, and automated generation of quick and straightforward reports for supervisors and regulatory authorities. Visit www.ainwater.com.
Lower-cost water treatment. NEAT uses chemistry that sharply increases turnover rate and accelerates oxidative reactions in water treatment systems. It deploys hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorite, ozone, electrochemical oxidation and permanganate I low doses with a wide operable pH range. It makes water treatment systems more chemically efficient and less energy intensive. It provides a bolt-on advantage to existing oxidation systems without any proprietary equipment. Visit www.neath2o.com.
Robotic sensing for water networks. ACWA Robotics presents Clean Water Pathfinder technology, a robotic and digital system for improving water supply network performance. The robot is a sensor carrier that collects mapping and wear and tear information as it travels through pipes. At the end of a session that data is processed, merged and analyzed, enabling utility staff to decide where and when to renew the most at risk pipe sections. Visit www.acwarobotics.com.
Water plant condition monitoring. 8Power’s monitoring system keeps watch on equipment such as motors, pumps and gear boxes. It consists of self-powered wireless sensors that report condition and convey alarms by way of the cloud. The information enables operators and engineers to track assets’ condition over time and decide when to service, repair or replace. Early intervention reduces operating costs and minimizes costly unplanned downtime. It is easy to install and maintenance-free with a 10-year life. Visit www.8power.com.
