Wastewater win-win

Heavily polluted water, which used to be sent to the central treatment plant Kommunekemi for disposal, can now be used again thanks to Danish technology.

The Danish company Envotherm makes its living from the increasingly stringent environmental requirements in Western Europe, Japan and Korea. Envotherm designs, manufactures and sells plants for the treatment of industrial wastewater.

The plants are fully automatic and use just a third of the energy required by competing solutions. Envotherm's plant is based on evaporation technology and is the only one on the market that allows the cleaned water to be reused right way.

Watch a film about Envotherm

Customers double their savings
Companies working in metal processing, surface treatment, and environmental and waste water treatment stand to benefit the most from the technology. These companies typically produce large quantities of wastewater, which the local municipality can or will not take. It has therefore been necessary to drive the wastewater to a receiving station such as Kommunekemi in Nyborg, Denmark.

Envotherm's business model is strong, as it creates value at both ends of the customer’s business. The company avoids having to pay for the expensive disposal of wastewater, and its water bills are significantly lower, as the same water can be recycled again and again.

On track to break even
The global market for the treatment of industrial wastewater is worth EUR 134 million annually. Envotherm has therefore set itself the target of a turnover in the three-digit million range by 2014. To achieve this, the company plans on increasing its staff and reaching break-even by 2010.

Envotherm was founded by a group of four in 2006. They had reckoned on being able to move the company along from idea stage to commercialisation quickly. However, there turned out to be unforeseen development costs involved in making the system 100% reliable and ready for sale.

It became clear to Envotherm's owners that the company would benefit from external sparring and, in August 2007, they moved in to the Mads Clausen Entrepreneurship Park by Danfoss. Two months later, Envotherm received the seal of approval 'Trusted by Danfoss'. This has proved to be a huge help in the company's marketing efforts. In 2008, Envotherm sold its first commercial plant to a German receiving station.

The sale was the commercial evidence Envotherm needed to proceed to the next step, i.e. to secure capital for further growth. This happened at the end of 2008, when the Danish State investment fund, Vækstfonden, invested EUR 1.1 million in the company. The fund also helped by further professionalising the company’s strategy.