H2nanO’s solar innovation brightens the future of water treatment

Most people associate solar technology with panels on rooftops generating electricity, not beads on a pond’s surface purifying water. But in Alberta’s oil sands, these beads are changing the game.

What started off as a PhD project at the University of Waterloo has turned into a groundbreaking water treatment innovation. Conventional water treatment processes are cost- and carbon-intensive, but engineers at H2nanO are developing a sustainable, low-carbon and cost-effective water treatment solution for tailings ponds to ensure more water is available for reuse and potentially even release.

Oil sands tailings contain organic compounds that are toxic to aquatic life. Electrochemical treatment can help break down these contaminants, but such approaches require a lot of electricity and added chemicals.

Large-scale outdoor field pilot of the SolarPass treatment system.

In contrast, H2nanO’s SolarPass technology doesn’t use up any chemicals or power from the grid. Instead, it uses tiny floating beads which can be deployed on new or existing storage ponds to treat the water in place. The beads are coated with a catalyst which harnesses the energy from sunlight to produce powerful oxidants which can break down contaminants. The catalyst doesn’t get used up in the reaction, making this solar-activated approach a low-energy, non-toxic, reusable solution for water treatment.

“Just like a catalytic converter uses heat to break down vehicle emissions, ours uses sunlight to facilitate a chemical reaction,” says Zac Young, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of H2nanO.

The initial research to develop the SolarPass technology began in 2013 at the University of Waterloo and University of Toronto. With the help of industry partners through Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance and Alberta Innovates, H2nanO has been able to grow and refine the technology. Starting with an indoor bathtub-scale experiment in 2018, testing quickly expanded to larger outdoor trials with natural sunlight. All crucial steps for showcasing the technology’s viability in a real-world Alberta setting.

“We are fortunate to have strong team members, and support from the likes of Alberta Innovates has allowed us to bring some of those staff on and invest in training them up, and internalize and grow expertise,” says Young.

The next phase, initiated in 2023 and with field deployment underway, will validate the technology at an even greater scale, which is more representative of industrial settings. The plan is to couple the full-scale SolarPass treatment system with a constructed treatment wetland to more closely mimic natural remediation environments.

As the project advances, H2nanO envisions a future where its technology not only addresses water treatment challenges in the oil sands, but supports sustainable, low-waste water treatment in other sectors, such as for mining and agricultural wastewater.

H2nanO stands as a testament to the power of collaboration between innovative minds, academic research and strategic support from organizations like Alberta Innovates. This solar-powered, passive water treatment technology is not just a local solution to an industrial challenge – it represents a step towards a cleaner, more sustainable future for water treatment and beyond.

Learn more about the technologies supported through Alberta Innovates’ Water Innovation Program.

This article is part of Making Waves, an annual Alberta Innovates publication highlighting water solutions we support. You can read more stories from this issue below.