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A University of Edinburgh staff startup
Waterwhelm is a University of Edinburgh startup, founded by Dr Ali Monjezi whilst working as a post-Doctoral Research Associate at the School of Engineering.
Waterwhelm has developed a forward osmosis (FO) technology for wastewater treatment and desalination, validated through a pilot plant in Edinburgh.
The Company’s technology proposes an alternative to current methods for water processing (such as reverse osmosis), which rely on energy-intensive high-pressure pumps. Waterwhelm’s technology uses heat to drive FO (rather than pressure to drive reverse osmosis) and can leverage waste heat and solar thermal. This approach has proven to reduce electricity consumption of wastewater treatment and desalination by up to 80% and reduce the capital cost by up to 35%. It therefore substantially reduces the OpEx and CapEx associated with waste reuse.
Waterwhelm closed their Seed round in March 2025 which will enable them to complete pilot and secure ongoing commercial contracts with several customers in the UK including Veolia, Forth Ports, Northumbrian Water as well as internationally, specifically in Saudi Arabia.
