Portfolio of innovation

SKion Water is a global provider of water and wastewater treatment solutions for the municipal sector as well as various industrial sectors.

Since 2011, the business has been building a portfolio of companies that leverage diverse technological expertise in water treatment – ranging from data-driven catchment management to plant construction and maintenance, and digital services.

SKion Water invests in water technology companies if their respective technology is a fit with the portfolio’s goals and values: delivering resource-efficient solutions that help customers reduce their water footprint and achieve their sustainability goals.

“It’s important that individual sectors or challenges shouldn’t be considered in isolation,” says Lea Hennemann, Process Engineer at SKion Water.

Modular and mobile water filtration

A collaborative, cross-company approach to problem-solving has propelled SKion Water’s latest pilot project forward. Drawing on the expertise of three of the 14 companies in the group – up2e!, Cembrane, and EnviroChemie – SKion Water has developed an innovative method to purify water from the Rhine in Germany.

The modular solution efficiently and cost-effectively treats river water to meet drinking water standards. At the core of the process is the plant’s membrane chamber, where ozone-treated water is filtered through silicon caribide (SiC) ceramic membranes.

“Cembrane’s ceramic membranes are very stable and chemically resistant – in combination with ozone, they remove contaminants and retain viruses, bacteria, and microplastic,” says Klaus Dickhoff, Senior Process Engineer at SKion Water.

The demonstration plant can be easily relocated to different sites or regions to test concepts before full-scale implementation. It is also well-suited for rapid deployment in situations where emergency water purification is required.