Water scarcity is no longer a distant risk. It is a structural challenge that is reshaping how industry thinks about discharge, reuse, and resource recovery. As regulations tighten and the true cost of water becomes visible, Zero Liquid Discharge is moving from ambition to necessity.
SideStroem Water Technologies Pte. Ltd. is developing a smarter path to ZLD through nano selective forward osmosis, known as FOns in collaboration with The Separation Technologies Applied Research and Translation (START) Centre in Singapore. Instead of relying on energy heavy evaporators and crystallizers, FOns enables selective recovery of both water and valuable salts while operating without external pressure. The result is dramatically lower energy demand and simpler plant design.
From theory to proven performance
In the first large scale on site pilot, delivered with LEXCRU Water Tech Pvt. Ltd., a 4 inch FOns element treated dye laden industrial effluent under real operating conditions. The system achieved an expected water flux of 10 LMH and laboratory analysis confirmed 99.5 percent dye rejection.
The treated stream was clear and colourless, demonstrating that forward osmosis can move beyond lab environments and into practical industrial deployment.
Why this matters?
Tertiary treatment is typically the most expensive and energy intensive part of ZLD. By replacing or downsizing evaporators, FOns can unlock major reductions in both CAPEX and OPEX while improving sustainability, footprint, and scalability.
While textiles are an important starting point, the same platform has strong potential in food and beverage concentration, pharmaceutical processing, and fermentation where gentle, selective separation is critical.
What comes next?
Following the pilot success, SideStroem is working toward localization and broader commercialization to make nano selective FO accessible at industrial scale.
If you operate a facility where water recovery, brine management, or selective separation drives your economics, we would love to explore what FOns can do for you.
Get in touch to discuss a pilot, partnership, or feasibility assessment:
👉 https://sidestroem.com
📩 sidestroem@sidestroem.com
