LiqTech: Pioneering and Sustainable Innovation in a Time of Crisis

Amid the turmoil and unpredictability caused by the Corona crisis, the filtration organization LiqTech chose to focus even more on product development. After several years of development, it is now ready to launch a new groundbreaking water filtration technology, which is to be a key player in recycling water and contributing positively to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

They run at a high pace in Ballerup, Denmark, where the Danish Nasdaq-listed company operates. Wearing face masks, hand sanitizer, and with a good safety distance, a group of adaptable and innovative engineers works hard to develop and test a new, patented product, which is to be a part of a green transition and which marks Denmark as a pioneering country, when it comes to the development of sustainable greentech solutions.

The new product is a unique filter membrane, which is based on a new hybrid technology where multiple ceramic materials are combined in one membrane. The technology is denoted Hybrid Technology Membrane (HTM), and it has the potential to be an essential part of water and liquid filtration of the future. And water is absolutely pivotal to treat according to Sune Mathiesen, LiqTech’s CEO, as he explains: “Untreated wastewater can contain heavy metals and other pollutants. It pollutes our environment, damages our ecosystems, can spread viruses, and limits our possibilities to safely and efficiently recycle our water, which is a scarce resource.”

By combining its own silicon carbide technology with another ceramic material, LiqTech has developed an ultrafiltration membrane with a pore size of 60 nanometers, which can filter liquids much more precisely than before. And water filtration is becoming more and more important for us and the green transition, says Haris Kadrispahic, LiqTech’s Head of Innovation: “It is increasingly becoming important to filter liquids more precisely so that more industries can make use of and reuse unexploited resources. Here, we can make a significant impact in the food and beverage industry and the pharmaceutical industry, but many other industries can also improve their production. Industries ought to be better at reusing water, as well as the untapped resources that may be in industrial wastewater.”

Next goal: More green industries worldwide

LiqTech already exports more than 90 % of its products and has great ambitions to distribute the new water filtration membranes to industrial customers all over the world. The hope is to contribute to a greener future where water is reused and recycled, to a greater extent. Companies play a crucial role in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, says Mathiesen and elaborates: “Innovative thinking and green technology are the levers to a green transition. And this is a transition which we are all bound to actively contribute to – including companies. Our new membrane can help highlight optimization areas of several industries’ production. We have the technology to secure sustainability by reusing and recycling water and by treating their discharged wastewater.”

Water filtration in the sustainable debate

The idea of water filtration and a sustainable future is utterly essential to the Danish company, which has developed innovative filtration technologies for both water and air since its foundation in 2000. And it is precisely these technologies that should receive more attention in the public debate on sustainability if you ask Mathiesen, who elaborates:
“Recycling is crucial in a green transition and directly connected to several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. I hope that we will see a greater focus on water in both political and public debates in the future.”