Aqwise signs cooperation agreement with Mekorot to field-test biological treatment system for drinking water

Aqwise, a Herzliya, Israel-based provider of advanced solutions for wastewater treatment, has signed a cooperation agreement with Mekorot, Israel's national water company, for field-testing an innovative technology for biological treatment of nitrate contamination in drinking water.

The agreement was signed in the framework of WaTech, Mekorot’s entrepreneurship and partnership center for water technologies.

Aqwise has recently begun developing innovative solutions for contaminants removal from drinking water. According to the company, these solutions are based on the unique technology and extensive knowledge that were achieved in the company in the field of biological treatment of wastewater, through the development and implementation of its moving-bed technology, AGAR (Attached Growth Airlift Reactor) process, utilizing biomass carriers.

Nitrate is one of the most common contaminants of groundwater in the world and originates in agricultural fertilization, cesspits and dairy farming. Tens of thousands of wells in the US and in Europe contain Nitrate concentrations that exceed permitted standards. As a result, a significant part of the wells is closed and millions of cubes of potential drinking water are not being used.

Elad Frenkel, CEO of Aqwise, commented “The company engages in constant research and development of innovative technologies for wastewater treatment and is glad to penetrate the drinking water treatment field, thus significantly expending its potential target market. Cost-effective groundwater contamination treatment has a great importance, especially nowadays, when the global water crisis becomes severe. The cooperation with 'Mekorot' is strategic for the company”.

Mekorot CEO Ido Rosilio said, "The collaboration with Aqwise will help Mekorot find an effective and environmentally friendly solution for treating contaminants in drinking water. This solution can help return tens of thousands of cubic meters of clean water to Israel's water reservoirs."

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AqWise wins EU Eureka grant to develop wastewater treatment system

AqWise, a Herzliya, Israel-based wastewater treatment company, has won a €2 million grant from the European Union Eureka R&D program.

The funds, to be shared with AqWise's Dutch partners Agriton B.V., Westt, Aquaexplorer, and Noordelijke Hogeschool Leeuwarden, will be used to develop a combined anaerobic and aerobic reactor system for treating wastewater

AqWise will develop a dynamic anaerobic aerobic reactor ("DANA") that will allow the integration of anaerobic and aerobic processes in one vertical configuration. Under the terms of the agreement, Aqwise will develop the system and its Dutch partners will integrate it.

The system is designed to help sewage treatment companies reduce the number of treatment tanks in a wastewater treatment plant.

Details of the grant are available here on the Eureka web site.

AqWise was founded by Eytan Levy and Ronen Shechter, now the CEO and CTO, respectively, of microbial fuel cell startup Emefcy.

Aqwise's investors include Israel Cleantech Ventures, Elron Electronic Industries Ltd., and Mexico-based steel company (and AqWise customer) AHMSA.

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Emefcy signs collaboration agreements, raising Series A funds

Emefcy, a microbial fuel cell startup based in Caesarea, Israel, recently signed collaboration agreements with several potential clients. The companies will participate in Emefcy's pilot program in 2009 and will potentially have Emefcy's system installed in their plants in 2010, according to reports by the company.

Emefcy, co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Eytan Levy and Ronen Shechter, is developing the MEGAWATTER™ technology. This technology produces low cost electricity (at $0.10/kWhr) and hydrogen in a bio-electro-chemical process from wastewater treatment by leveraging Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology. Emefcy's technological breakthrough is focused on the development of electrode materials and structure that feature durability, high power output and low cost.



Levy and Shechter, who previously founded wastewater treatment company AqWise, have already received venture funding from Israel Cleantech Ventures, and Greentech Media has detailed Levy's efforts to raise $3.5-5.0m in a Series A funding round. CEO Eytan Levy plans to be on the East Coast in February and March for meetings with potential investors. On February 26th, Levy will speak at a public event at MIT organized by the Boston Israel Cleantech Alliance.

Emefcy's Scientific Advisory Board includes Prof. Bruce Logan of Pennsylvania State University, Prof. Derek Lovely of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and Prof. Bruce Rittmann, Director of the Biodesign Institute at the University of Arizona.

More information about Emefcy's MEGAWATTER™ system and Emefcy's business plan is available in this online video, in this company presentation, and in past reports by the Jerusalem Post and Israel21c.

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AqWise to supply technology to wastewater treatment facility in Israel

Israeli wastewater treatment company AqWise - Wise Water Technologies Ltd. will integrate its AGAR® technology into a major wastewater treatment facility to be built in the Golan Heights.

Situated near Kibbutz Meitzar, the new wastewater treatment plant is designed to serve 13 rural communities, many of them with special farming and live-stock enterprises, requiring treatment capacity for highly polluted wastewater.

According to a company press release, the AqWise solution will enable the new plant to effectively address the challenge of inflow peaks, associated with regional conditions, and allow gradual project scalability so as to adapt wastewater treatment capacities to the anticipated regional growth.

AqWise reportedly beat out other companies from Scandinavia and the United States that are developing similar biofilm process technologies to treat wastewater.

AqWise CEO Elad Frenkel said, "What is singularly important here is the fact that AqWise's technology enables the facility to be built with a certain capacity now, in response to existing needs, and then upgraded at a later stage without having to carry out further engineering work. The facility will have an initial capacity of 2,500 cubic meters of treated water a day, and this will be increased to 5,000 cubic meters of treated water a day, as required."

AqWise marketing manager Ud Shani added, "This project is important, not just technologically and environmentally, but also politically. Until now, the Jordan River was exposed to contamination through sewage, and this brought us and the Jordanians to the brink of a crisis. The new facility will solve this problem."

Following a secondary transaction in January that valued the AqWise at $10 million, Mexican mining conglomerate Altos Hornos de Mexico SA de CV, owns 55% of the company, Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. owns 34%, and Israel Cleantech Ventures owns 11%.

Last year, "The Cleantech Revolution" named AqWise as one of the top 10 companies to watch in the field of water filtration.

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Israeli water technology in the news

What follows are links to a few recently published articles related to Israeli water companies and technologies.

Interview with AqWise CEO Elad Frenkel

AqWise last month raised $3.6 million to support its growth plans, which center on its AGAR (Attached Growth Airlift Reactor) technology and ecological water sanitation process for municipal, industrial and aquaculture wastewater treatment. In this interview, CEO Elad Frenkel discusses the global wastewater market and Aqwise's prospects.

"Stream Control" takes the pressure off water pipes

Stream Control, a graduate of the Yozmot HaEmek technological incubator, has developed a device called the Aquaguard Smart Pressure Reduction Controller, designed to ensure proper flow of water through municipal pipes, thus preventing leaks and saving both water and money.

CEO Shlomo Avitbul discusses the company in this article on Israel21c. "We just finished a major project in Jerusalem's old city, where our installations reduced leakage by 35%," Avitbul says, adding that the product is set to be deployed in a number of other cities in Israel in the coming months. The company is also working on several deals in Europe - specifically Spain, Germany, and Italy.

New technique adds magnesium to desalinated water

Technion researcher Dr. Ori Lahav has developed a new technique that cheaply introduces healthful magnesium ions to desalinated water. In a few months, a semi-industrial plant will be set up adjacent to the small desalination plant at Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael to try out the process in the field. It is expected to supply 400 to 1,000 cubic meters of mineral-enriched desalinated water per day. The new process will be presented at the upcoming conference of the Israel Water Association.

Dr. Lahav is a scientific adviser to AquaPure Technologies.

Cleantech Israel group featured in Globes

The Cleantech Israel meetup group was recently featured in "Globes", and I am re-posting the article below. Highlights and a photo from the group's first event are also available on this blog.

Cleantech Israel enables people (including entrepreneurs, investors, academic researchers and government officials) to meet and exchange ideas about the renewable energy, water, and environmental sectors.

The group's next event, on April 29, will include a presentation by Alon Tamari, Co-CEO of SolarPower Ltd., followed by time for networking. You can join the group and RSVP for the next event at our web page.

"Globes": Cleantech industry networks in Israel

About 50 representatives from various parts of Israel's cleantech industry recently met in Herzliya Pituach to launch a networking initiative. They included venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, Ronit Golovaty from the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute and even Jaclyn Marcus from the California Public Utilities Commission. The meet-up was organized by Jonathan Shapira, from Boston, and Gene Dolgin from Tel Aviv. The Cleantech Israel group currently has 134 members.

Jonathan Shapira is a law student from Boston who is currently serving an internship with Israel Cleantech Ventures, where Gene Dolgin is an analyst. The US law firm of Goodwin Procter LLP, which has an extensive Clean Technology Practice, sponsored the meet-up. Shapira says that he will soon be working for the firm.

Shapira and Dolgin, aware that there are similar cleantech networking groups in places like Boston and Silicon Valley, decided to organize the group to enable key players in the industry in Israel - entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and government officials - to meet and exchange ideas. Shapira notes that while Israel has many strengths when it comes to cleantech, the lack of government support, especially when compared to what is happening in other countries, may hold the industry back. He hopes that members of the Cleantech Israel group, together with other organizations such as Waterfronts - Israel Water Alliance, and the newly created Israel Energy Forum, might be able to persuade the government to implement better policies related to renewable energy, clean water, and the environment.

Shapira told "Globes", "Gene and I decided to organize the network together, and we received a strong response, especially from entrepreneurs and investors. Other parties quickly joined, including academics and a few government officials.

The participants at the Cleantech Israel meet-up included former Gemini Israel Funds partner Tali Aben; Genesis Partners principle Gil Dibner; Terra Venture Partners LP general partner Dr. Harold Weiner; and Israel Cleantech managing partner Jack Levy. Levy noted, "Although Israel entered cleantech late, great things have emerged here within only three years, on both the entrepreneurs and the funds side."

Participating entrepreneurs included low-cost regenerative fuel-cell developer Enstorage Ltd. CEO Eran Yarkoni, wastewater treatment solutions developer AqWise Ltd. VP business development Udi Leshem; Emefcy Bioenergy Systems CEO Eytan Levy, who previously co-founded AqWise; Phoebus Energy Ltd. CEO Yoav Ben-Yaacov; Ashkelon Technological Industries (ATI) cleantech director Rafi Nevo; and Noam Ilan, who is the project manager of the alternative energy park under construction at the Eilot Regional Council in the southern Negev.

Israel Cleantech buys 11% of AqWise

"Globes" reports that Israel Cleantech Ventures has acquired an 11% stake in sewage treatment solutions developer AqWise - Wise Water Technologies Ltd. from its founders, Ronen Shechter and Eytan Levy, in a secondary transaction in a deal that valued the company at $10 million.

AqWise CEO Elad Frenkel said, "This investment means that three institutional investors now stand behind the company: AHMSA, Elron, and Israel Cleantech." Mexican mining conglomerate Altos Hornos de Mexico SA de CV, owns 55% of AqWise, Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. owns 34%, and Israel Cleantech now owns 11%.

Globes says that this will not be Israel Cleantech's final investment in AqWise, which is in the late stages of an internal financial financing round amounting to a few million dollars from its current investors. The company is also close to signing contracts worth several million dollars with customers in Israel, Europe, the US, and Latin America.

"Globes": Do you plan to raise capital from external sources?

Frenkel: "Elron is a strategic investor, not merely a financial one. Israel Cleantech and AHMSA are also both strategic investors. That's why we don’t need outside money right now. They want to stand behind the company and make it succeed."

AqWise was founded in 2000. It specializes in the upgrading of wastewater treatment plants through the Attached Growth Airlift Reactor (AGAR) process, a method for biologically increasing water treatment capacity using biofilm carriers. The company posted a fourth quarter loss after posting profits in the preceding quarters, but the company has installed dozens of commercial units around the world, and its global target market is estimated at more than a $1 billion a year, and it is growing.

In 2007, AqWise was named in "The Cleantech Revolution" as one of the top 10 companies to watch in the field of water filtration

Ronen Shechter and Eytan Levy recently founded a new microbial fuel cell company, EMEFCY Bioenergy Systems, which will focus on the production of electricity and fuel from heavy duty industrial waste. Levy is also a venture partner at Israel Cleantech Ventures.

AqWise founders start new cleantech venture

The entrepreneurial team behind AqWise Water Technologies Ltd., which was selected by Clean Edge as one of the ten most promising companies in water filtration, is setting up a new venture which will focus on the production of electricity and fuel from heavy duty industrial waste.

Eytan Levy and Ronen Shechter, the founders of this new venture, called EMEFCY Bioenergy Systems, explain their technology in an interview published in Globes. Levy is currently a venture partner at Israel Cleantech Ventures.