Swatab Tech To Revolutionize Laundry Washing

Swedish cleantech startup Scandinavian Water Technologies, Swatab , is on to something that could transform how millions of people wash their clothes - all the while achieving massive emissions reductions. 

Swatab, with its patented water treatment solution, is being recognized as a WWF “Climate Solver”, a coveted award among environmental technology companies. 

The original idea was born three years ago, when Per Hansson and his wife Katarina Klöfverskjöld were running a painting firm in a small town in Skåne in southern Sweden.

”We had bought a system for cleaning facades in an environmentally friendly way. When I saw how effective it was in removing algae and dirt, I got the idea that the same method could be used in washing machines,” says Per Hansson.

With a passion for molecules and chemistry, Hansson started digging into his idea, and merely two years after the founding of Swatab, Hansson and Klöfverskjöld had a European patent.

Their innovative filter system, Diro®, is a closet-sized module that is installed between the water pipes and the washing machine.  It removes salts and other contaminants from normal tap water, which gives it unique properties that make the cleaning process more efficient.

”Water in itself is highly soluble. For example, if you get a blood stain on your clothes, you can remove it with cold water. Our filter makes the tap water super clean, and by de-ionising it, we can do away with the last remains of contaminants. Clean water is not balanced, and to make it balanced again, the water attaches itself to the stain, which then absorbs the water.”

Swatab removes the need for laundry detergents and warm water 

”It looks very promising. For every 5 kilograms of laundry, our technology saves one kilogram of carbon emissions,” says Hansson, referring to tests done by the research institute Swerea IVF as well as EU:s research center in Sevilla.

”They show that we can meet the requirements. We have achieved an acceptable cleansing effect according to EU-standards that are normally used on tests with laundry detergents.”

Swatab is scaling up its invention through an extensive pilot with a Swedish housing association in Malmö, and is also expanding to England in the near future. A solution for the consumer market is being developed, and is due to launch next year.

Read more: Nordic Business Insider

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Taxonomy

• Technology
• Contaminant Removal
• Water Footprint Research
• Water Management
• Consumption
• Energy Consumption
• Contaminant Control