Hyflux is licensing a water filtration system developed at South Australia University.
Hyflux, a Singapore-based water services company, has licensed a water filtration system from Itek, South Australia University’s technology transfer company. Hyflux will develop the technology through an unnamed wholly-owned subsidiary.
The so-called hydrophilic filtration technology is based on a proprietary polymer coating, which can turn a standard mesh made out of plastic or stainless steel into a water filter. The coating process is scalable and the filtration process occurs even at low water pressure. The polymer catches oil compounds and would be particularly efficient in cleaning up large amounts of water following oil spills.
Hyflux operates in South East Asia, including China and India, the Middle East and Northern Africa. It will further develop the licensed technology and bring it to market globally.
Stephen Rodda, chief executive at Itek, said: “While Hyflux has signed an exclusive global license, it is specifically to use the technology for purposes of water treatment. Itek has patented the intellectual property behind this hydrophilic filtration technology in three discrete areas, firstly for water treatment, secondly for oil spillage remediation and, thirdly, to decontaminate industrial waste. Hyflux has licensed the first of these patents and we are already in discussion with organisations regarding the other two. We believe this approach, which takes this unique South Australian development into three separate markets, will both maximise the return for our investors and reduce the risk of the commercialisation failing to proceed.”
