As the warming planet contributes to water insecurity worldwide, innovative water technology startups that can recover and recycle freshwater are becoming increasingly vital.
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One such startup, Capture6, is tackling two major environmental challenges: water security and carbon removal. Founded in 2021, the Berkeley-based company repurposes water treatment waste to deliver clean water while simultaneously removing carbon from the atmosphere–effectively killing two birds with one stone.
The advanced process involves a series of steps, starting with the treatment of the brine waste stream generated during water treatment. Instead of paying treatment facilities to dispose of this waste, Capture6 treats the brine — a highly concentrated saline water solution — to recover fresh water and produce a sodium chloride solution that serves as a feedstock for its electrochemical processes. The feedstock is then converted into a solvent for direct air capture (DAC), ultimately trapping CO2 as stable carbonates and permanently sequestering it, according to the company’s website.
The technology is not only a boon for the environment but an economically viable solution for managing brine. According to data from the United Nations, global demand for fresh water is projected to outstrip supply by 40 percent by 2030, prompting heavy industry from agriculture to mining and manufacturing to decarbonize their operations. Water facilities that can do so while producing valuable chemical co-products for profit will have a competitive advantage.
“Numerous businesses and industries face wastewater disposal and freshwater acquisition challenges to their growth and long-term success,” a spokesperson for Tetrad, who led the March funding raise, said in a press release. “In Capture6, we see a company committed to addressing these challenges head-on. Their solution decreases the financial burden for businesses and builds momentum around environmentally beneficial methods of water production and waste treatment.”
Capture6 has projects planned in South Korea, the Middle East, and the Midwestern United States. It is also in talks with Frontier, which committed to a pre-purchase of 1,000 tons of carbon credits in September 2024 for Shopify and Stripe.
In March, the water-positive carbon removal company secured $27.5 million in a highly successful Series A funding round. The capital will be used to advance Capture6’s brine-to-value technology.
According to the latest data from Crunchbase, Capture6 has raised a total of $42.2 million in funding. As demand for sustainable water and carbon solutions grows, Capture6’s dual-purpose technology could prove to be a game-changer for both industries and the environment.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.