Company: Salinity Solutions
Founder: Tim Naughton
Website: http://www.salinitysolutions.co.uk/
About Salinity Solutions
Salinity Solutions addresses two of the biggest challenges in sustaining human life on earth – water and energy. The company has developed a game-changing batch reverse osmosis water purification technology, which uses half the energy of traditional reverse osmosis methods. Its patented solution has been described as the biggest step forward in water treatment in 50 years and has the potential to benefit every corner of the globe – from wastewater clean-up and high value mineral extraction to rural drinking water supply.
Salinity Solutions was formed as a spin-out from the University of Birmingham in April 2021 by Tim Naughton, following 10 years of research and development at Aston University and University of Birmingham under the supervision of Professor Philip Davies.
Tim’s breakthrough patented technology is called HyBatch(TM) Reverse Osmosis (HyBatch RO). It extracts fresh water from wastewater and generates a highly concentrated brine. It’s the most efficient reverse osmosis technology available today, reducing energy consumption by 50% compared to competing technologies, while delivering up to 98% freshwater recovery and reducing waste by up to 80% versus comparative processes. The first of Salinity Solutions’ five registered patents has been approved in the European Union, China and the United States.
Tim’s passion for water treatment is founded in a very real concern: the demand for freshwater is on the increase while the world’s supply is steadily decreasing. Only 0.5% of the earth’s water is in the form of available fresh water, the kind we need to survive. He was committed to developing a more sustainable, energy-efficient solution for water treatment, in a world where 80% of wastewater is released untreated.
At the outset, finding start-up funding to commercialise the technology was hard. Most professional investors are wary of early-stage technology, so Tim decided to look at crowdfunding. Alongside family, friends and the University of Birmingham, the Crowdcube platform has provided the company with a shareholder base of over 2,000 passionate private investors. They have recently been joined by SQM, one of the world’s largest lithium producers.
After a string of successful field trials over the last 18 months in vertical farming, municipal water recycling, lithium extraction and phosphate removal, this year sees the first installations of HyBatch systems. In Germany one will treat industrial wastewater, extracting freshwater while capturing precious minerals for reuse. In France, a long-term pilot will recycle wastewater into potable water, and in UK a pilot system will remove nutrient contaminants from municipal wastewater. The potential for the technology huge – from recycling water, removing toxins from the environment, capturing mineral resources for reuse and improving the efficiency of industrial processes around the globe.
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