‘WE ARE ON THE EVE OF THE WATER TRANSITION’

Pathema has been pioneering Vortex technology since 2008. The company is also a long-time member of the Water Alliance. Time for an update. How is your Vortex technology coming along? Boeren: “When we started, people said, ‘Chemical-free cooling water doesn’t exist; this won’t work’. That had the opposite effect on me—I became very driven.”

Companies are making significant steps in optimization by installing Pathema. The system filters and treats wastewater in several ways. The water is continuously treated with the Industrial Vortex Generator, a chemical-free alternative for crystallizing minerals, removing micro and nano gas bubbles and controlling microbiology. Filtration also allows wastewater to be reused. “You no longer waste drinking water and surface water for cooling, and you don’t have to discharge wastewater, reducing the procurement of water, water discharge and chemicals. We replace ‘Take, Make & Waste’ with ‘Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.’”

Cultural shift

The availability of clean water is diminishing due to more extreme weather worldwide, with extremely dry and hot summers. Boeren nods. “Purchasing and discharging water is becoming increasingly expensive. A cultural shift is coming: we must learn to use water differently. The energy transition is now the talk of the day, but the much-needed water transition could also use some attention. Cooling is rarely included in the primary production process, for example. Fortunately, there is growing awareness that you can save lots of water and chemicals with a good ROI (Return on Investment). New business models emerge when a product becomes scarce.”

Growth model

Pathema now has over a hundred plants running worldwide, with forty in the Benelux alone. “We primarily target multinationals. If you convert one branch, that company sees how easy it is and how quickly you can make things cheaper and more sustainable. Implementing plants at other sites is a natural consequence. It’s an interesting growth model. We have customers in food production, data centres, and the petrochemical and heavy industries. We also work for the pharmaceutical industry and large air conditioning systems of hotel chains in America and the Middle East.”

Making an impact

Pathema focuses purely on cooling water solutions. “The market is big enough. You shouldn’t try to do seven things at once; you should focus on what you are good at—that’s how you can make a real impact.” Pathema’s cooling water application is patented. “We build all the plants ourselves in the Netherlands. We have dealerships on every continent. The plants are transported worldwide in shipping containers, and the installation itself is easy: plug and play.”

Simple by nature

Commercial interest in the system is on the rise, and Pathema is busy. “Commerce is not a dirty word; we are very happy with it. However, we work according to our mission: make an impact with our cooling water solution. It is so easy to make it much cleaner and better. Some people say our solution sounds too good to be true. But it works. Our Vortex technology is based on natural processes. It truly is ‘simple by nature’. The water transition is coming; this is only the beginning.”