Turning wastewater into supply chains
Industry pressures demand innovative solutions
Coagulants are essential water treatment chemicals used across utilities and industrial operations, yet they are currently used once before being sent to landfill. This leaves operators dependent on a constant supply of virgin material at a time when geopolitical unrest is driving supply chain volatility, waste disposal costs continue to rise, and carbon reduction targets are becoming harder to meet. That is pushing utilities and industry to look for innovators who can break this single-use cycle.
Coagulants are a staple of every treatment plant, and today they are used once and thrown away. Metal Morph turns that waste stream into a local, reliable supply, which tackles cost, carbon and supply security in one go. With six UK water utilities already on board, the demand is clearly there. We're proud to back the team as they take the technology to European utilities.
Technology operators can depend on
Metal Morph is a UK-based startup developing patent-pending technology that recovers spent metal-based water treatment chemicals (coagulants) from industrial waste streams. Its three-step process produces a renewed supply of coagulant that can be redeployed directly on site.
- Separation: spent chemicals detach from waste impurities.
- Recovery: selective membranes allow alum and ferric-based chemicals to pass.
- Reactivation: recovered chemicals are filtered, purified and reactivated.
- Recycle: renewed treatment chemicals are ready for reuse on site.
The technology comes in modular, containerised units that retrofit to existing plants. Utilities can take it as a service: no capital project, and a five-year contract with a stable cost for coagulants.
Striving toward resource circularity and operational efficiency
By renewing spent coagulants, Metal Morph turns a single-use consumable into a circular resource, which directly helps utilities and industrial operators to:
- Reduce costs: offsetting virgin coagulant demand and waste disposal fees.
- Stabilise operations: de-risking supply chains and enabling regulatory compliance.
- Cut carbon: reviving spent chemicals to minimise the virgin product footprint.
Through Aqcelerator we connect with industry experts to sharpen our focus on building solutions today that deliver real impact for the utilities and industrial operators of tomorrow.