Wastewater firm on the crest of a wave

WITH the creation of a new bubble-less aeration system for wastewater treatment facilities, Athlone-based company OxyMem aims to revolutionise the industry globally and generate a turnover of €50m within five years.

While this may sound ambitious for a small start-up company which is about to sell its first system to Canada, managing director Wayne Byrne says it’s very achievable given that OxyMem is offering a system which can help solve the wastewater industry’s biggest headache, energy costs.

“Our system uses four times less energy than traditional aeration systems. Wastewater treatment uses 2% to 3% of global electricity — the OxyMem system can lower energy costs at treatment plants by 75%,” he says, adding that the global market for aeration systems in 2011 was worth €3.7bn and is predicted to grow to €6.4bn by 2020.