KitoFlokk™ eco-friendly biopolymer enables sustainable water treatment

The world is facing a freshwater crisis. One in three people globally do not have access to clean drinking water. By 2030, 700 million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity, yet 80 per cent of wastewater flows back into the environment without being treated or reused.

Sustainable methods of water treatment are needed to help to alleviate this crisis, but traditional treatment systems rely on potentially toxic synthetic chemicals and consume large amounts of energy. Sludge from the water treatment process poses an environmental problem as well.

KitoFlokk™ is an eco-friendly solution for cleaning water and wastewater made of biopolymers – non-toxic, organic chemical compounds that can be safely discharged into the environment.

In water treatment, these biopolymers act as a flocculent by binding to organic and inorganic particles. Pollutants such as heavy metals, suspended solids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can then be safely removed.

KitoFlokk™ is available in both liquid and dry forms and is suitable for all types of water treatment systems and pH conditions. It is acrylamide-free, biodegradable and safe for marine life.

By using KitoFlokk™, water treatment plants can reduce their use of harmful, inorganic metal coagulants by 70 to 100 per cent, thereby reducing their environmental impact. Plants can also reduce their operating costs and energy consumption due to better treatment efficiency.

Because KitoFlokk™ is non-toxic, it is safer to handle and enables sludge upcycling for fertiliser, animal feed and protein recovery, which contributes to the circular economy.

Additionally, water treatment with biopolymers produces less sludge, thereby cutting transportation costs as well.

The size of the global water and wastewater treatment market is expected to reach USD 211.3 billion by 2025.

Sustainable water treatment solutions are more sought-after than ever due to increasing environmental concerns, a greater focus on public health and more stringent government regulations.

KitoFlokk™ has been used in drinking water treatment in Norway for 20 years. The target market includes private and public sector actors in water and wastewater treatment, primarily in Europe.

The solution is also suitable for treating industrial and runoff water from roads, tunnels and construction sites. It is currently being tested for use in land-based aquaculture, a promising area of application.