MicroChange’s mission is to become a leading solution provider for a range of water contamination problems, by continuous R&D channeled into modular product components, both in-house engineered and from partners, that as plug-n-play devices solves water related issues in a wide variety of scenarios.

We operate in both seawater and freshwater, using a variety of filtration methods such as mechanical filtration and adsorption, which can again be augmented with various technical and chemical enhancements specific to a case, again with electronics for data acquisition and remote control.

We strive to make our products cost efficient and environmentally neutral, compliant with regulation and in relation to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on reuse such as utilizing existing waste products, while having a clear focus on automation towards low to zero maintenance, and high quality components that can withstand harsh environments (for example at sea).

We are a small team located in both Denmark and Switzerland, and with an ideal optimal spread of overlapping skills and experiences, and for us new challenging problems to solve is simply how we have fun.

Most living species have an instinctual understanding of the difference between freshwater and saline water. Freshwater is crucial for our immediate survival. The definition of freshwater is water containing less than a gram of dissolved solids per liter.

Just like we, as humans, depend on fresh water for survival, so does plants. To secure plant growth and sufficient crop yield, plants need easily accessible water to survive. Plant roots take up moisture through membranes in root cells by osmosis. A high concentration of salt on the entrance of the membrane will cause an inefficient water uptake.

Freshwater only makes out 2,5% of all water on Earth, and only 1,2% of all freshwater is available as surface water in different forms. So, we want to protect what little water is available to us! Human activities have contaminated large quantities of freshwater bodies, to an extent where the ecosystems have collapsed. To enhance availability of freshwater, natural ecosystems need a reboot.

To help restore freshwater environments, we treat the water in an adsorption process. Adsorption is when the surface energy of a solid substance attracts molecules in either gas or fluid. This energy can be compared to gravity. The molecules will stick to the surface of the solid rather than continuing the flow through fluid or space.

Adsorption reaction was discovered in 1777 and has been used for different purposes ever since. It is also used today for clearing water bodies.

Our take on this technique is to upgrade existing uses on 2 parameters: -We upscale waste materials from industrial production lines, rather than producing new additional adsorbents.

We move the adsorption process out of the environment, rather than risking any unknown effect directly in nature.

Saline water is commonly found in nature as sea water. Oceans make up 97% of the total waterbody on Earth, and are as a whole one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. Oceans provide food, store CO2, control the weather and temperatures and provide freshwater through evaporation.

However, oceanic areas are struggling from devastating human activities. Since the industrial revolution began, oceans have been used as a dumping ground for waste in all forms. Chemicals, heavy metals, and plastics are some examples of what we leave to degrade in oceanic ecosystems. These particles accumulate in the food chain and are now also proved to be carried with the evaporation of water from the oceans. Plastics degrade into micro- and nanosized particles that carry chemicals, bacteria, and viruses with them, as they travel through food chains and ecosystems becoming an increasing hazard to ourselves and other species.

Mechanical filtration of particles down to 5-10 µm is possible, and with our solution fully automated and requiring low maintenance, even remotely operated. Initially targeted for BWTS (Ballast Water Treatment Systems) for the marine industry, this method of filtration has a wide range of possible applications in both fresh and saline water. With added flocculants before the filter, smaller particles or dissolved elements can be captured in the mechanical filter too. Examples are microplastics, particulate phosphorus from agricultural fertilizing (manure) etc. that are often found in too high concentrations to support a healthy environment for life on land and in the sea.