Hydreatio | World Engineering Day

Hydreatio

PARTNER STORY

“We need to return clean water to the planet, to have it available for people, production and prosperity.”

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Water comes first

Circular thinking

Water is fundamental to the natural world and flows throughout all human activity, so if we want a sustainable future, we need to clean and reuse every drop of water we consume. This is the ethos of Hydreatio, set up in 2020 to help to preserve the planet’s most precious, finite resource.

Hydreatio’s Rotreat membrane filtration plants and Voigtlaender water disinfection solutions empower civil and industrial clients to change the way they use and recycle water. At the same time, clients reduce their costs and shrink their carbon footprint.

“If we want the products and prosperity that only industry can deliver, then we need water to ensure that industry remains sustainable,” says David Schwager, CEO of Rotreat, a Hydreatio company.

The case for industry change

Across the globe, pressure on scarce water supplies is relentless. Industry accounts for a huge amount of water use: in Europe alone, between 40% and 80% of water is consumed by industrial users, but these users are only recycling about 7% of that water.

The way Hydreatio sees it, if industry is the problem, then industry must also be the solution. That’s why the company is determined to make sustainability an easy and profitable choice for industrial clients.

“We need to do what nature does, only faster and better. We need to return clean water to the planet, to have it available for people, production and prosperity,” says Janette Santon, Hydreatio CCO.

Where in the world?

Hydreatio is based in southern Germany, where environmental change and water scarcity is degrading the region’s beautiful forests. Appalled by this damage, Hydreatio’s founders were inspired to help clients and communities worldwide make real changes to their water treatment processes.

Today, Hydreatio operates across five continents, tackling water challenges in sectors including industry, agriculture, civil infrastructure, oil and gas, mining, healthcare, hospitality and waste management.

Combating contamination

The accidental contamination of rainwater is a serious problem for commercial organizations and civil authorities alike. When Hydreatio called in its Rotreat team to help a waste management company in Austria tackle polluted rain runoff, challenges included high levels of organic and inorganic contamination, alternating periods of heavy rain and drought, and sub-zero winter temperatures.

Rotreat’s membrane filtration system treated the recycling plant’s contaminated water quickly at a molecular level. This resulted in water clean enough to return to the local municipal water network – even clean enough to drink. As the plant now complied with national emission regulations, it was able to continue operating, which saved jobs and preserved a much-needed local facility.

What does a sustainable future look like?

There is no future on this planet without sustainability, and there can be no sustainability without water. For Hydreatio, water always comes first, as does a commitment to SDG 6 – ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Did you know?

Rotreat’s system at the Austrian plant employs 800 sq m of sophisticated membrane to return highly contaminated water to its natural state, while the company’s filtration technology at a Spanish copper mine uses 10,000 sq m – and is one of the largest reverse osmosis facilities in Europe.