Waterwhelm

Waterwhelm is a UK water technology company developing a breakthrough membrane-based process for converting wastewater and saline water into clean freshwater. Founded in Edinburgh in 2018, the company has built a proprietary forward osmosis technology that uses low-grade thermal energy — including industrial waste heat, solar thermal, and geothermal sources — to drive water treatment at significantly lower energy intensity than conventional reverse osmosis and thermal desalination processes.

Water scarcity is one of the most pressing resource challenges of the coming decades. More than two billion people live in water-stressed regions, and demand from agriculture, industry, and growing urban populations continues to outpace available freshwater supply. In the UK, the Environment Agency has identified water supply stress — particularly in the South East — as a significant infrastructure risk by the 2050s. For energy-intensive industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, food and beverage production, and pharmaceutical processing, secure access to high-quality water is both an operational and strategic concern.

Waterwhelm's process addresses this challenge by enabling water reuse and desalination at an energy consumption rate the company claims is the lowest ever achieved for scalable water treatment. Unlike reverse osmosis, which requires high pressure to force water through semi-permeable membranes, Waterwhelm's forward osmosis system is driven by osmotic pressure differentials and thermal energy, reducing both capital and operating costs. The company has demonstrated its technology through pilot programmes with Northumbrian Water and Anglian Water, and is scaling toward industrial deployment through the UK government-backed Net Water PostiHyve project.

Waterwhelm has received funding and support from the UK Government, the Department for Transport, TechX Clean Energy Accelerator, Scottish Enterprise, Innovate UK, and the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2019, the company was recognised as the top enterprise emerging from the University of Edinburgh, and in 2023, founder Dr Alireza Abbassi Monjezi was listed among the UK Royal Academy of Engineering's 274 engineering icons of all time. The company raised £1.3 million to validate its technology at bench and pilot scale and develop commercial partnerships with water utilities and industrial users.