The agreement with a leading manufacturer is a pivotal moment for Salinity Solutions.
Salinity’s game-changing water treatment technology is to become commercially available across the world
Birmingham spinout Salinity Solutions has signed an agreement with a leading water process solutions manufacturer, Te-Tech Process Solutions to start production of bespoke water treatment units containing its revolutionary water purification technology, which has been described as “the biggest advance in water treatment for 50 years”.
Te-Tech will manufacture and market Salinity Solutions’ patented, batch reverse osmosis technology, which delivers significant advantages over conventional reverse osmosis technology and could potentially benefit more than 20 sectors across the globe, ranging from municipal wastewater treatment to high-value mineral extraction, healthcare, food processing and industrial waste, to agriculture and rural drinking water.
We at Te-Tech are always looking to expand our portfolio of cutting-edge technologies and this agreement is a significant, exciting, positive milestone as we introduce a new and innovative product to our customers.
Water treatment consumes 4% of the world’s total electricity production and conventional reverse osmosis* systems are traditionally energy intensive. However, Salinity Solutions has developed a more sustainable, low energy and environmentally friendly approach that reduces both carbon footprint and operating costs to make drinking water more affordable and accessible. Its game-changing, batch reverse osmosis technology, uses 50% less energy, purifies up to 98% of the water and generates 80% less waste than conventional methods, while it is also compact and easily transportable. Salinity Solutions’ SAM50 is the first batch RO product in the world to be manufactured commercially.
Tim Naughton (27), co-founder of Salinity Solutions, said: “Signing this agreement with Te-Tech is a pivotal moment for us on our path to commercialisation. After over ten years of research and development of our pioneering, low-carbon technology, we’re excited to now be able to start taking orders and producing systems for our customers’ needs.”
Te-Tech COO, Ashton Dewey, said: “We at Te-Tech are always looking to expand our portfolio of cutting-edge technologies and this agreement is a significant, exciting, positive milestone as we introduce a new and innovative product to our customers.”
Salinity Solutions’ game-changing technology was co-developed by Tim Naughton (age 27), while studying mechanical engineering at Aston University and later at the University of Birmingham, working alongside Professor Philip Davies, Head of Water Technology Research.
Tim co-founded Salinity Solutions in 2021 to commercialise a more sustainable, energy-efficient solution for water treatment, in a world where 80% of wastewater is released untreated. His passion for water treatment is founded in a very real concern: only 0.5% of the earth’s water is in the form of available fresh water, the kind we need to survive and the demand for freshwater is on the increase while the world’s supply is steadily decreasing. 40% of the world’s population live in water stressed areas.
Salinity Solutions’ CEO, Richard Bruges said: “We are excited to be working with Te-Tech as we scale up production to meet the demands of customers across a wide range of municipal and industrial water treatment applications including water re-use, ultrapure water production, mineral extraction, brine minimisation and effluent treatment. Te-Tech’s reputation and expertise in the municipal and industrial wastewater markets will provide us with the support and resources to grow our manufacturing and distribution and to rapidly accelerate the growth of the business that we started just two years ago.”
Since it was founded, Salinity Solutions has raised over £1.5m from private sources and two rounds of funding on Crowdcube, where it smashed its target for fundraising. The University of Birmingham is an investor and shareholder, and the two parties continue to work closely together. One patent has already been granted and four more are in the pipeline. The company has held successful field trials with eco-mining company, Cornish Lithium and forthcoming customer field trials include municipal water, food processing and seawater desalination.
For media information contact Ruth Ashton, University of Birmingham Enterprise, email: r.c.ashton@bham.ac.uk
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries.University of Birmingham Enterprise helps researchers turn their ideas into new services, products and enterprises that meet real-world needs. We also support innovators and entrepreneurs with mentoring, advice, and training and manage the University’s Academic Consultancy Service. View our portfolio of technologies available for licensing.
Notes to Editors:
* Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a process where water purified by pumping it through a semi-permeable membrane. Conventional RO uses a lot of energy as the pumping energy is lost when the water passes through the membrane. Salinity Solutions’ technology more than halves the energy used through a patented combination of a pressure exchange vessel and advanced recirculation control, developed from theory to reality over 10 years of research at the Universities of Birmingham and Aston.
About Salinity Solutions
Salinity Solutions addresses the two biggest challenges in sustaining human life on earth – water and energy. The University of Birmingham spin-out, established in 2021, has developed a game-changing batch reverse osmosis water purification technology, which uses half the energy of traditional methods. Its patented, commercially viable solution is believed to be the biggest step forward in water treatment in 50 years and has the potential to benefit every corner of the globe - from industrial wastewater clean-up and high value mineral extraction to rural drinking water.
About Te-Tech Process Solutions
Te-Tech Process Solutions, as part of the Trant Group, is a fast-growing company providing innovative products using advanced process technologies for water and wastewater treatment. Te-Tech’s products are designed, manufactured and assembled off-site for rapid delivery, installation and commissioning. With in-house capability including process, mechanical and electrical design, digital engineering, operational optimisation and real-time control, Te-Tech has the flexibility to engineer bespoke systems to meet the exacting needs of clients in the municipal, industrial and commercial water and wastewater sectors.
Professor of Water Technology
Staff profile for Professor Philip A. Davies, Professor of Water Technology at the University of Birmingham
