Access to drinking water is an increasingly important issue around the world. The SME Oneka Technologies believes it can play a decisive role thanks to its seawater desalination buoys. From California to Chile via the West Indies, the Sherbrooke company is working to demonstrate that its technology works and that She has a bright future.
Oneka Technologies has just signed an agreement with the coastal municipality of Fort Bragg, in northern California, where water is scarce and must, in some cases, be delivered by tanker.
Thanks to a public contract worth $1.5 million (which will represent the SME’s first revenue since its founding in 2015), the Quebec company will deploy one of its buoys (its “P1” model) at approximately one kilometer from the coast.
“This is a big step for the company,” explains Dragan Tutic, president and co-founder of Oneka Technologies. We have a year to prove ourselves. This contract could open the door to all of California. »
Tutic says the price of blue gold will vary depending on location and local conditions, including wave intensity.
Because it is thanks to the force of the waves that the Oneka buoys work. Salt water is pressurized and pumped using reverse osmosis membranes, which separate the water from the salt. In other words, it is the waves that allow a mechanism to pump salt water. The resulting fresh water is then transported to the shore through an underwater pipe.
Independent of the energy and water distribution network, the technology of the Sherbrooke SME consumes no energy and emits no greenhouse gases (GHG), promises its CEO.
Even though he knows the road to success is long and sometimes bumpy, 32-year-old Dragan Tutic is determined to achieve his goal. This champion of innovation, with a degree in engineering, has spared no effort for almost 10 years.
Oneka Technologies has developed three buoys to transform seawater into fresh water. The “Ice Cube” and “Iceberg” models have a production capacity of 1000 and 6000 liters per day respectively. Between the two, the “P1” model, which will be installed in California, is also being tested at a marina in Chile.
Other buoys are in operation in Florida and Nova Scotia. In the short term, the Quebec SME wishes to develop and install a buoy (the “Glacier”) in the North Atlantic capable of producing 500,000 liters of water daily.
Just recently, Oneka closed a $12.5 million funding round. This is in addition to the 20 million in subsidies and government aid received in recent years. To date, the Sherbrooke company belongs to around fifty shareholders from Canada, the United States and Europe.
“Over the past 12 months, around 40 countries have contacted us to have our buoys. This is good news, but we must avoid spreading ourselves too thin,” philosophers Dragan Tutic.
