20% of water goes up in smoke – Swedish innovators have solved the problem
Only 80% of the water leaving process industries is discharged through sewage; 20% escapes through chimneys. Now, a Swedish innovation company has managed to solve an environmental issue while extracting a valuable resource: water. This Swedish technology is being installed for the first time at full scale in Peru.
Who can reclaim our airborne wastewater? This question was posed in 2022 by water strategists from major companies like Meta, Intel, and L’Oréal at a large water conference. According to them, as much as 20% of the water from their industries escapes through the chimney, and there were no effective technologies to recover it.
At the same time, the company Drupps in Sweden had developed an incredible innovation: a machine that produces clean drinking water from thin air. All that was missing were customers. What if the same technology could help industrial firms? This sparked a new business idea to use the same technology to reclaim exhaust steam. One of the founders, Jonas Wamstad, shares:
– I remember sitting in the audience thinking, this is where we should be. What’s the difference between producing atmospheric water and reclaiming exhaust steam? Exhaust steam is even better because it always has the same moisture level, leading to a more stable water supply. If the industry also sees value in all the heat generated from condensing moisture, we have a fantastic business case.
The analysis showed that selling water-efficient technology purely on economic grounds is challenging since tap water is so cheap. However, if we can also recover the heat released, the technology becomes profitable for customers, who can then reduce fossil fuel use in various drying processes.
In recent years, the technology has been tested by different industries on three continents with successful results. Now, the world’s first full-scale facility is being installed at a tile factory in Peru. Grupo Lamosa, one of the largest ceramic producers globally, has purchased Drupps' solution. They expect to reclaim 40% of the factory’s total water usage, equivalent to 50,000 tons of water each year. Currently, the factory has all its water transported by truck, which will result in significant savings.
What does the future hold for the technology? Jonas Wamstad responds: – The strategy is to highlight the potential of airborne wastewater, as we call it. Drupps' mission is to lead the way in creating a new market where it becomes profitable for industries to reclaim both water and heat from the “forgotten twenty percent.”
Now, several interested customers around the world are eager to use the technology. Dialogues are ongoing with all the major companies in each segment they are targeting—malt, snacks, and ceramic tile production. But the first one to use the technology industrially will be the factory in Peru, expected to be operational by November 2024."
More information:
https://drupps.com
Jonas Wamstad, jonas.wamstad@drupps.com
Tel +46-70- 8671138
Company Facts
Drupps is an innovation company in water technology, founded in 2019. They offer a unique, world-leading technology to capture water from air, smoke, and steam. The company focuses on reclaiming airborne wastewater for industrial customers internationally. As of 2024, Drupps has 13 employees at its headquarters in Uppsala, Sweden.