Water Technology Company of the Year
Shortlisted Nominees
DuPont Water Solutions
What is it?
Formed after the merger of Dow and DuPont in 2017, DuPont Water Solutions offers a portfolio of separation solutions to the water industry. The company also owns a number of subsidiary brands, including OxyMem and Memcor.
What has it done?
In 2022, the company leveraged its scale and insight to release a new range of reverse osmosis membranes for industrial applications which promise to rewrite the rules of desalting efficiency. The company claims the membranes allow up to 20% less energy use while improving permeate quality by up to 60%.
What makes it special?
DuPont’s array of unique proprietary solutions saw a huge upsurge of interest in 2022, with technology being snapped up by some of the world’s most advanced facilities. In December 2022, its Closed Circuit Reverse Osmosis offering through Desalitech was taken on to further improve the world’s most water-efficient brewery, with the sale of a system to Carlsberg Group for its site in Fredericia, Denmark.
After merging with OxyMem in 2019, the company has grown to become one of the world’s leading membrane-aerated bioreactor providers. The MABR technology requires 75% less energy than traditional systems and a ‘drop -in’ integration avoids additional down-time. Successes for the technology included Gansu province in China, where the company provided a low-carbon and high-performing technology for biological treatment to improve the quality of the Yellow River.
The supply of DuPont membranes for drinking water treatment in Jiaxing, China – a landmark project for the country – puts the company’s membranes at the heart of the largest nanofiltration drinking water installation in the world. Construction on a further expansion of the plant is set to start this year, bringing the plant’s total capacity to 550,000m3/d.
Nijhuis Saur Industries
What is it?
A subsidiary of French group Saur since 2020, Nijhuis Saur Industries provides water and wastewater technologies to mainly industrial clients, covering sectors including food & beverage, cooling water, oil & gas, and agriculture.
What has it done?
Nijhuis conducted a wealth of acquisitions in 2022 that significantly strengthened its place in the water technology market. Its entry into the North American market was facilitated with the purchase of Aqua-Chem in March, and its presence in the Scandinavian industrial market was boosted with the acquisition of Flootech in April.
What makes it special?
Nijhuis has built up a dazzling array of unique technologies in its suite – a notable example being those for the recovery of ammonia. Its offering was strengthened in 2022 through the acquisition of Byosis Group and its associated ammonia stripping technology, ByoFlex. Although the ammonia recovery market using wastewater as a feedstock is in its infancy, Nijhuis is armed and one of the few players ready to take advantage.
Through its PWNT subsidiary – also acquired in 2022 – the company is now breaking new ground providing ceramic membranes to the drinking water space. In July it was announced that PWNT technology would be installed in the world’s largest ceramic membrane-based water treatment plant at Hampton Loade Water Treatment Works, UK.
Nijhuis launched its #MissionWater initiative last year, laying out the company’s aspirations for the environment and solidifying its desire to help customers close their water loop. The initiative is designed to help customers to “reduce, remove, reuse and recover” in their water-related activities.
NX Filtration
What is it?
A Euronext-listed specialist in hollow fibre direct nanofiltration membranes from the Netherlands, working with both industrial and municipal clients.
What has it done?
NX Filtration widened its truly global reach in 2022, with the installation of 167 pilot projects (an increase from 87 in 2021), as well as securing five demonstrations and 22 full-scale projects. The company continued its technology strategy towards the elimination of micropollutants, working with KWR in the Netherlands to test its membranes for the retention of PFAS – showing promising results. In October, the company joined Acciona on the LIFE PRISTINE project – a European initiative aimed at eliminating emerging contaminants. Elsewhere, the construction of a megafactory for its nanofiltration models also started last year in the Netherlands.
What makes it special?
NX Filtration last year cemented a truly global reach thanks to a wealth of regional partners that facilitate the distribution of its technology. In 2022 the company secured projects through Hydroflux (Australia), Greentech (China), DelcoWater and BI Pure Water (Canada).
The company saw a significant size-up in its installed capacity in 2022 by investing heavily in its pilot fleet during the year, nearly doubling the number of projects installed in 2021. It is now working its way towards its medium-term goal of 200 systems.
NX stretched its expertise into several new parts of the market: A pilot in Lausanne was initiated for the removal of chlorothalonil (an agricultural fungicide), and another project was started with Dutch drinking water utility Vitens. Activities also moved into the indirect potable reuse market, with a pilot project starting in Mexico alongside SAPAL (Sistema de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Leon) for the regeneration of a groundwater reservoir that is used for drinking water production.
Royal HaskoningDHV
What is it?
Dutch engineering company and wastewater treatment technology provider, best known for its patented aerobic granular sludge technology.
What has it done?
Royal Haskoning started 2022 with a bang with the acquisition of Helea – an advanced anaerobic digestion technology – from UK utility Anglian Water. This expansion bolstered the company’s ability to provide technologies to reach net-zero. The company’s 100th Nereda granular sludge installation was also sold last year, cementing its position as a key ally in the nutrient removal race – having now sold systems across 21 countries.
What makes it special?
The company capitalised on the emerging digital twin market, by offering its Aquasuite technology for a project alongside Waterschapsbedrijf Limburg in the Netherlands. It has spread its eggs across multiple baskets, with its portfolio representing both treatment technologies and the digital realm – its proprietary Twinn branded system is a key focus in the company’s technology strategy.
It led the way in the monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater, with a first-of-its-kind project in the Netherlands looking into nitrous oxide using the company’s digital suite.
It made significant headway last year in scaling its bioresource technologies. Alongside breaking into the US market with its Nereda technology, projects using the company’s proprietary digestion technology Epyra were also sold into the UK, Ireland, Canada and Israel in 2022.