Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
In a world facing critical water stress, industry consumes almost twice as much water as human consumption. With the world’s industrial hubs located in areas with dense populations and high levels of water risk, the capacity for industry to tackle this global water challenge is immense.
“If we look at it with an open mind, it’s an opportunity, a hidden piece of the water-crisis puzzle, and a powerful lever to deliver clean water and sanitation for all,” says Devesh Sharma, Aquatech CEO.
Aquatech’s technologies make it possible to turn any wastewater, no matter how complex, into water of the highest purity and for 45 years the company has thrived on solving water and process engineering challenges. Aquatech enables its customers to reduce their impact on local freshwater resources with seawater desalination, to give fresh water back to their local environment with advanced water reuse, and to find new sources of valuable minerals and nutrients in hard-to-treat wastewater streams.
Established in 1981 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Aquatech now operates globally, with more than 2,000 projects and service contracts completed in over 60 countries.
Aquatech’s Director of Project Development, Celine Delabi, explains that the last decade has seen water transformed from an afterthought to a core element of business resilience and performance. “When industrial companies give water the attention it deserves, they can quickly see how it can become a powerful competitive advantage,” she says.
At Stegra’s pioneering green steel facility in Boden, Sweden, Aquatech is reimagining the future of industrial water. Aquatech’s technology and operations expertise will deliver the high-purity process water, large-scale cooling capacity and robust wastewater management needed for 5 million tons per year of hydrogen-based steel production, ensuring that every drop of liquid wastewater at the site is reused and recycled.
At Intrepid Potash’s facility in Wendover, Utah, Aquatech is proving that industrial brine by-products can be transformed into valuable resources. High-purity lithium produced at this site will power a new generation of battery technology for electric vehicles and utility-scale energy storage in the USA. Meanwhile in Homer City, Pennsylvania, Aquatech’s water technology will underpin the largest power plant ever envisioned in the USA, enabling a new generation of AI technology.
Aquatech’s work, from seawater desalination to industrial wastewater treatment and brine mining, shows that industrial water management can underpin equitable use of scarce water resources. This aligns with SDG 6, ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
““Water can no longer be recognized as a commodity or utility. It’s a strategic resource and an enabler of industrial output. If we shift our thinking to look not at the cost of water but its value, we’ll more effectively address the challenges ahead,” says Sharma.
The Hell’s Kitchen site in California is set to produce some 27,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year – enough to power 500,000 electric vehicles.
