Turning water into wine, Aquatech’s water treatment and reuse adds value for biofuels industry

Q: What was the reason for founding your organization – what was the open niche you saw that could be addressed with a new product or service? What was the problem, or gap, or opportunity?

Wastewater treatment and reuse – Whatever is the carbonaceous feedstock, carbon recycling projects play a paramount role in reducing GHGs and improve energy sustainability. However, their water footprint should be also considered as a critical part of the environmental impact which they aim to minimize.

Depending on the chemical process and the nature of the original feedstock, most of the carbon-recycling facilities generate wastewater that needs to be handled. Although it is hard to generalize about such a large and diverse industry with a wide range of processes and feedstocks, typically these wastewater stream pose technical challenging in a context that can be always diverse and complex.

Aquatech has the capabilities to:

– identify the most beneficial wastewater treatment

– design and execute the project

– operate the plant

– provide an outsourcing solution, Aquatech self-finances the plant under a DBOOM contract

Q: Tell us about your organization. What do you do?

Since 1981, Aquatech has been designing and supplying water and wastewater treatment plants across several industries.

We have in-house technologies that cover the whole spectrum of treatments available and we can provide simple as well as integrated solutions.

Q: What stage of development are you?

Commercial stage – have mature products or services on the market.

Q: What do your technologies, products or services do and accomplish – how does it (they) work, who is it (they) aimed for?

TECHNOLOGY

Specifically suited for the Carbon-recycling industry, we propose treatments that turn the wastewater in value:

– biogas – energy

– struvite (fertilizer)

– biological sludge(fertilizer)

– water to reuse

BUSINESS MODEL

We offer to customers the possibility to outsource the whole Water/wastewater cycle. Through its AQUIOS (Aquatech – Upwell Infrastructure Outsourcing) platform, will provide a spectrum of outsourced solutions, from water and energy purchase agreements to the leasing and rental of mobile and decentralized treatment plants, with the ultimate objective of (i) lowering the initial Capital Investment, (ii) reducing the cost and risk of water operations (iii) helping customers meet their sustainability targets.

Q: Competitively, what gives your technology, product or service set an edge in cost or performance, sustainability, or any other aspect, that makes it stand out from the crowd, In short, what makes it transformative?

Aquatech is:

– a one-stop shop for Water/Wastewater Treatment projects

– Easy to approach and ideal partner to develop a project from the beginning when water/wastewater treatment is still to be explored and its value unlocked

That will result in

– Reliability (best technical solution developed along with the project and crafted on the specific requirements)

– Capital Costs (Aquatech uses only in-house technologies, we can propose self-financed options)

– Time (working from the beginning of a project with an expert technology provider saves months)

Q: What are some of the top milestones you have accomplished in the past 3 years?

1. 1. 2020, Executed a full Zero Liquid Discharge project in Nevada i a facility that turns MSW into SynCrude. We treat and completely recover back to the process around 180,000 Gal/day.
2. 2. 2021, full feasibility phase to treat WW coming from HVO to Renewable Diesel Process. System to recover Biogas, Fertilizer and Water to reuse.
3. 3. 2021, finalized contract to treat Wastewater from Corn to alcohol processing to produce Biogas and meet compliance.

Q: What are some of the top milestones you will accomplish in the next 3 years?

1. 1. The first Design-Build-Own-Operate-Manage contract for Aquatech in the Carbon-Recycling Industry.
2. 2. Deploy our most advanced and efficient Biogas Generation Technology (Anaerobic MBR).

Q. Where can I learn more about Aquatech?

Click here to visit Aquatech’s website and check out “The Value of Wastewater for Biofuels: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Aquatech” here.