Water desalination company OceanWell has received $11 million in Series A funding. The company will use the funds to scale its water treatment solution and launch a pilot with Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) in California.
Founded in 2019, OceanWell is developing a system to remove salts, bacteria, viruses, pesticides and PFAS–also known as “forever chemicals”–from ocean water using modular pods in the deep sea. The company calls its technology water farms and said its reverse osmosis desalination uses 40% less energy than other desalination systems while protecting marine life and producing only “benign” brine outfall.
Each pod can produce up to one million gallons of fresh water daily, and the modular design allows for scalable projects based on demand.
Experts project that 5 billion people could be without clean drinking water by 2050. The problem is driven by rising demand for water in key economic sectors like agriculture, industry and manufacturing and compounded by the effects of climate change such as drought and flooding. Since 1970 water demand has increased by 1.7x, while global supply has dropped by 50%. Reducing water consumption is the most important step to responding to the water crisis but solutions such as OceanWell’s may be essential to providing clean drinking water.
The funding round was led by Kobuta Corporation with the family office of Jon Hemingway of Carrix Ports, and Charles McGarraugh, participating.
“One of Kubota’s goals is to provide comprehensive solutions for the entire ‘water circulation loop’ from water production and supply to wastewater treatment and reclamation. OceanWell’s innovative technology, which can provide a stable long-term supply of potable water to water utilities in water-scarce regions, is indispensable for achieving this goal,” said Eiji Yoshioka, Director and GM of the Water and Environment Infrastructure Consolidated Division of Kubota.
OceanWell is supported by a working group of 24 state water authorities in California and aims to build 15 water farms across the globe.
