Flocean's subsea desalination technology minimizes biofouling and pre-treatment requirements, delivering superior drinking water at significantly lower costs.
Traditional desalination methods have struggled to scale due to high operational costs from biofouling and expensive pre-treatment systems. As global freshwater demand increases, solving these challenges is essential for making desalination economically viable at scale.Â
We launched Flocean Zero in November 2024—the world's first program to continuously collect and analyze large volumes of deep ocean seawater for desalination—to validate that Flocean's subsea approach eliminates the primary cost drivers in conventional desalination while producing superior water quality.
Four months and over 5 million liters later, the results are transformative: our testing demonstrates that Flocean’s subsea system fundamentally changes the economics and quality equation for desalination:
Superior drinking water quality: Using standard commercial membranes and the same SWRO process planned for large-scale deployment, we've consistently produced water with quality falling within WHO's "excellent" category for drinking water. Independent testing by Eurofins has verified our water meets Norwegian drinking water standards, which are among the most stringent in the world.
Near-zero biofouling potential: Water from Flocean's 500m intake has consistently shown Total Organic Carbon (TOC) values of only 0.6 mg/L—approaching the 0.5 mg/L threshold where biofouling is unlikely. This addresses one of desalination's most persistent and costly challenges.
What this means for desalination at scale:
These findings translate directly to significant customer advantages.
Dramatically lower operational costs: With minimal biofouling, maintenance requirements plummet, membrane life extends, and system shutdowns become rare—addressing the biggest operational pain point in conventional desalination.
Eliminates chemical usage: Traditional plants require extensive chemical pre-treatment with flocculants, coagulants, and disinfectants. Our deep water approach largely eliminates this need, reducing both costs and environmental impact. Additionally, our low-recovery design prevents scaling issues, eliminating the need for antiscalant chemicals entirely.
Simplified plant design: Naturally high-quality input water means simpler plants with fewer pre-treatment steps, significantly lowering capital expenditure and footprint requirements.
Reliable, superior output: Our system consistently exceeds regulatory standards—crucial for municipal water suppliers and industrial users demanding reliability and quality.
Built on deep expertise
These breakthroughs are built on Flocean's extensive expertise in subsea fluid handling, including over 40 months of ocean testing on subsea pumping systems and collaborations with industry leaders like Equinor & Seabox (now part of NOV). Previous pilots include our 50m³/day Subsea RO Pilot and Suction RO rig, both using commercial-size SWRO membranes.
For the Flocean Zero testing, we deliberately selected a site with unusually high biological productivity to demonstrate system performance under challenging conditions. Even in this environment, our deep water extraction method delivers exceptional results. Recent testing has confirmed that deep-sea salinity levels (TDS) in Norway align closely with recent Red Sea samples at similar depth (40-41 ppt), reinforcing the relevance of Flocean's Norwegian-based trials for future deployments in water-scarce regions like the Red Sea and Mediterranean Basin.
With the technology now validated, we're advancing to our next milestone: Flocean One—a large-scale, 1000 m³/day commercial demonstration. Unlike previous pilots, Flocean One is a real-world system designed for client observation and commercial operation. This project has already attracted significant interest, with multiple off-take negotiations in the works.
By bypassing the most costly and complicated aspects of traditional desalination, Flocean is creating a simpler, more efficient, and more reliable path to water security. For regions facing water challenges, this means access to superior drinking water at a fraction of conventional desalination costs.
Interested in learning more about Flocean's technology or partnership opportunities? Contact us at office@flocean.green to discuss how our breakthrough approach can support your water security goals.Â