Radar · Water and Wastewater Management Tech in California
Best Water and Wastewater Management Tech Companies in California, United States
The 179 best Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies in California, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: NanoH2O.
By Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
179companies tracked
$856.6Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
87have raised
Ranked: Best Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies in California
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NanoH2O Developer of reverse osmosis membranes for water treatment 76Growth top 13%Funding top 24%Patents top 41%Market top 43% All 8 signals ▾Growthtop 13% Fundingtop 24% Patentstop 41% Markettop 43% Moattop 45% Innovationtop 46% Newsbottom 44% Globalbottom 42% Growth: Headcount 15 → 120 (+700%) across vintages · Fresh capital in last 24 mo Funding: Raised $89.9M across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 19 yrs (0.4/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 76/100 | $90M | 6 mo ago | Acquired | 120 | — | — | 95 patents Enhanced thin‑film composite membrane technology for high‑flux water desalination | — |
| 2 | HydroPoint Provider of smart water management solutions | $76M | 55 mo ago | Series C | 109 109 → 149 (+37%) | Peter Carlson Chief Technology Officer | WordPress Block EditorWordPressApple iCloud Mail+34 | — | — |
| 3 | Moleaer Developer of industrial-scale nanobubble technology solutions | $68M | 48 mo ago | Series C | 55 | Warren Russell Co-Founder & CCO | HubSpot CMS HubApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+24 | 117 patents Patents concentrated in transport & manufacturing processes | 1 partnership |
| 4 | Hortau Precision irrigation management solutions for optimized crop health and resource efficiency | $47M | 40 mo ago | Series B | 65 | Jean Caron Co-Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+31 | — | — |
| 5 | Ketos Water Provider of automated systems for real-time water quality monitoring | $45M | 24 mo ago | Series C | 36 36 → 54 (+50%) | Meena Sankaran Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+36 | — | — |
| 6 | Flo Technologies Connected water-monitoring solution for smart home applications | $39M | 89 mo ago | Acqui-Hired | 35 | Henry Halimi Co-Founder | Google MapsStripeAmazon Web Services+16 | — | — |
| 7 | Fracta Provider of a SaaS platform to assess water conditions for utilities | $37M | 96 mo ago | Acquired | 29 | — | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+15 | 33 patents AI-driven predictive maintenance and data imputation for water pipeline infrastructure assets | — |
| 8 | WaterGuru Hardware and software solution for pool water monitoring | $37M | 63 mo ago | Series C | 12 | Paul Fulton Chief Executive Officer | Cart FunctionalityShopifySentry+34 | 26 patents Automated pool and spa water quality monitoring and chemical treatment systems | — |
| 9 | Energy Recovery Energy efficiency solutions for desalination, wastewater, and CO2 refrigeration industries | $36M | 192 mo ago | Public | 246 | Mike Carpenter President CEO | WordPress Block EditorWordPressApple iCloud Mail+32 | 541 patents Pressure-exchanger technology for efficient heat‑pump, refrigeration, and geothermal energy cycles | — |
| 10 | Aquam Provider of sensor and advanced material based waterpipe diagnostic and rehabilitation solutions | $27M | 103 mo ago | Series B | 153 | Dan Squiller CEO | — | — | 1 launch |
| 11 | Baswood Biological solutions for wastewater treatment | $26M | 91 mo ago | Acqui-Hired | 5 | — | — | 13 patents Bioconversion of organic waste into ammonia‑based nitrogen fertilizers using microbial processes | — |
| 12 | EvolOH Manufacturer of electrolyzer stacks for clean hydrogen production | $20M | 26 mo ago | Series A | 13 | Jimmy Rojas Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+14 | 53 patents Advanced water electrolysis hardware, membrane assemblies, and oxygen evolution catalysts. | — |
| 13 | WaterSmart Environmental Provider of cloud-based data analytics for water grid | $19M | 103 mo ago | Acquired | 21 | — | PHPApache HTTP ServerAmazon Web Services+10 | — | — |
| 14 | Waterplan Provider of solutions for water and wastewater plant management | $18M | 36 mo ago | Series A | 86 | Jose Galindo Co-Founder | Framer SitesReactAmazon Web Services+10 | — | — |
| 15 | Sensor Industries Provider of smart water leak detection systems | $16M | 35 mo ago | Series A | 19 | Dave Duckwitz CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+24 | — | — |
| 16 | AquaSpy Revolutionizing agriculture with real-time nutrient management and soil intelligence | $15M | 125 mo ago | Series B | 29 | Bruce Moeller CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+23 | 4 patents Subsurface soil moisture and EC sensing with wireless data acquisition and analysis. | — |
| 17 | Water Planet Provider of waste water treatment solutions | $15M | 118 mo ago | Deadpooled | 15 | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Sensor-industries IoT solution for water leak monitoring in residential and commercial properties | $14M | 35 mo ago | Series A | 10 10 → 15 (+50%) | Jim Tyner Founder | — | — | — |
| 19 | Quantitative BioSciences Developer of irrigation water management solutions | $14M | 14 mo ago | Funding Raised | 9 | — | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+13 | — | — |
| 20 | Lumo Provider of precision irrigation automation systems | $13M | 26 mo ago | Series A | 7 | Henry Halimi Co-Founder | — | 13 patents Patents concentrated in health & consumer products | 1 expansion |
| 21 | Epic Cleantec Provider of wastewater infrastructure development services | $12M | 18 mo ago | Series B | 8 | Igor Tartakovsky Co-founder and Chief Engineer | WordPressMySQLPHP+24 | 22 patents Wastewater treatment with heat recovery, biosolids conversion, and water reuse technologies. | 1 job opening |
| 22 | Plutoshift AI-powered performance monitoring platform for industrial water assets and processes | $11M | 22 mo ago | Series A | 18 | — | — | — | — |
| 23 | Liquidity Nanotech membranes based potable water purifiers | $11M | 131 mo ago | Series A | 2 | — | — | 16 patents Advanced nanofiber and composite filtration media for portable and industrial water purification | — |
| 24 | CycloPure Micropollutants removal technology solutions provider | $10M | 15 mo ago | Series A | 17 17 → 27 (+59%) | Frank Cassou Co-Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+34 | 44 patents Cyclodextrin polymer adsorbents for PFAS removal and degradation. | 1 partnership |
| 25 | Phyn Connected water pressure monitoring system for smart homes | $10M | 100 mo ago | Acquired | 30 | Ryan Kim CEO | Cart FunctionalityShopifySentry+29 | 55 patents Smart water flow monitoring and leak detection for residential/commercial plumbing systems | — |
| 26 | ConnectedYard Sensor-based pool water pH monitoring device | $9M | 114 mo ago | Acqui-Hired | 50 | Mark Janes Chief Operations Officer And Co-Founder | — | 13 patents Real-time chemical detection sensors for soil and environmental monitoring | — |
| 27 | Plantsense Sensors to measure environment around plants | $8M | 191 mo ago | Series A | — | David Wilkins Co-Founder & CTO | — | — | — |
| 28 | VivoAquatics Pool water monitoring solutions and maintenance service provider | $8M | 89 mo ago | Series A | 41 41 → 52 (+27%) | — | Cart FunctionalityBigCommerceZURB Foundation+22 | — | 1 launch · 2 awards |
| 29 | Scoot Science Provider of ocean data analytics for fish farming operations | $6M | 49 mo ago | Seed | 16 | Todd Bryan Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 30 | Edyn Operator of branded accommodations across a range of hospitality segments | $6M | 119 mo ago | Deadpooled | 10 | Nicole Mcneil-Smith EA to CEO | — | — | — |
| 31 | Flume Leak detection and water usage monitoring solution | $5M | 36 mo ago | Seed | 48 | Jeffrey Hufford Co-Founder | Cart FunctionalityWordPressMySQL+23 | 5 patents IoT-based remote water usage monitoring and metering systems | — |
| 32 | NanoSpun Technologies Provider of biological nanotechnology solutions for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment | $5M | 156 mo ago | Series A | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 33 | Cove Provider of plant protein-based bottles for water packaging for enterprises | $5M | 32 mo ago | Series A | 16 | — | Framer SitesReactcore-js+8 | — | — |
| 34 | 2ndnaturewater Provider of a cloud-based storm water management platform | $5M | 60 mo ago | Series A | 36 | Nicole Beck CEO | — | — | 1 launch |
| 35 | EconoPure Provider of water treatment solutions based on nanofiltration membrane technology | $5M | 144 mo ago | Series A | — | Diem Vuong Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 36 | ViaeX Technologies Developer of nanofiltration systems and technologies | $4M | 106 mo ago | Series A | 3 | Hudson Liao Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 37 | PlantSense Sensors to measure environment around plants | $4M | 66 mo ago | Series A | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 38 | Dune Manufacturer of IoT-based water meter solutions | $4M | 50 mo ago | Series A | 6 | Garo Sarkissian Co-Founder and CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+25 | 12 patents Ultrasonic flow measurement devices and flocked acoustic earbud tip components | — |
| 39 | SewerAI Developer of an infrastructure management platform using AI-powered defect detection | $4M | 23 mo ago | Series B | 38 | Matt Rosenthal Founder & CEO | SanityTurbopackNode.js+24 | — | — |
| 40 | IntelliFlux Controls Process automation software for water treatment facilities | $3M | 38 mo ago | Series A | 15 | Subir Bhattacharjee Founder and CEO | — | — | — |
| 41 | Noria Provider of real-time membrane monitoring technology for water treatment plants | $3M | 66 mo ago | Seed | 6 | Bilal Khan Co-Founder | — | 2 patents Industrial machinery lubrication scheduling and predictive maintenance software systems | — |
| 42 | Active Membranes Developer of electro-active membrane technology for desalination and water treatment 27Talent top 38%Moat top 48%Funding bottom 46%Market bottom 40% All 5 signals ▾Talenttop 38% Moattop 48% Fundingbottom 46% Marketbottom 40% Globalbottom 36% Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 4/10 · 9 curated direct competitors tracked rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 27/100 | $2M | 12 mo ago | Seed | — | Eric Hoek Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 43 | WaHa Developer of atmospheric water generation and energy-efficient air conditioning technology | $2M | 11 mo ago | Series A | 5 | David Kuo Founder and Executive Vice President | WordPress Block EditorElementorWordPress+22 | — | 2 launchs · 1 partnership |
| 44 | Fluid Analytics Provider of AI technology for automating defect detection in pipelines | $2M | 32 mo ago | Seed | — | Asim Bhalerao Co-Founder & CEO | WixSentryBootstrap+12 | — | — |
| 45 | SkyH2O Provider of solutions to generate water from the air | $2M | 39 mo ago | Seed | 11 | Alexander Welczeck Founder & CEO | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+23 | — | — |
| 46 | CamerEye Provider of AI-enabled pool safety and surveillance systems | $1M | 32 mo ago | Seed | 13 | Sai R Founder & CEO | Cart FunctionalityWooCommerceWordPress+41 | — | — |
| 47 | Next TFX Developer of ultra-high-pressure reverse osmosis membranes for water and mineral recovery | $1M | 3 mo ago | Seed | — | Eric Hoek Co-Founder & CEO | — | — | — |
| 48 | Hyperkelp Provider of unmanned vehicle solutions for water quality monitoring and missile detection system | $285K | 24 mo ago | Funding Raised | 6 | — | — | — | 1 award |
| 49 | Waterline Developer of electric desalination systems for agriculture, industry, and communities | $214K | 8 mo ago | Seed | — | Eddie Brucculeri Co-Founder & CFO | — | — | — |
| 50 | BluumBio Developer of enzyme solutions for environmental remediation of industrial chemicals | $125K | 12 mo ago | Seed | 4 | Katherine French Founder & CEO | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+9 | 4 patents Engineered cytochrome P450 enzymes for bioremediation of PFAS contaminants | — |
Top 12 Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies in California
#1
Acquired · Los Angeles, California · founded 2005 · 120 employees$89.9Mraised▾
Acquired · Los Angeles, California · founded 2005 · 120 employees
Developer of reverse osmosis membranes for water treatment. The company developed thin-film nanocomposite QuantumFlux membranes for seawater and brackish water desalination, as well as wastewater reclamation.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 76how this company ranks against its industry peers
Growth
top 13%Funding
top 24%Patents
top 41%Market
top 43%Moat
top 45%Innovation
top 46%Growth: Headcount 15 → 120 (+700%) across vintages · Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Funding: Raised $89.9M across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 19 yrs (0.4/yr) · Last round Series D (Dec 2025)
Patents: 95 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 6 filings since 2022 vs 48 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2023
Funding rounds
- Dec 2025Series D—
- Apr 2012Conventional Debt$20.5M
- Apr 2012Series C$40M
- Dec 2011Series C$14.9M
Investors
Khosla Ventures, Total, CalPERS, Pacific Corporate Group, Oak Investment Partners, BASF
#2
Seed · Los Angeles, California · founded 2025$1.3Mraised▾
Seed · Los Angeles, California · founded 2025
Developer of ultra-high-pressure reverse osmosis membranes for water and mineral recovery. The company's patented membrane platform uses a three-layer structure with a resin-based coating. This design withstands ultra-high pressures, pushing filtration further than traditional systems. The technology addresses the growing demand for both clean water production and mineral recovery. It offers a new standard for membrane durability, efficiency, and versatility.
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 582 LinkedIn followers
Activity: 2 awards announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Mar 2026Seed$1.3M
Founders & team
#3
Funding Raised · Solana Beach, California · founded 2010 · 9 employees$13.5Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Solana Beach, California · founded 2010 · 9 employees
Developer of irrigation water management solutions
Funding rounds
- Apr 2025Grant (prize money)$2.9M
- Feb 2025Grant (prize money)$175K
- Aug 2024Grant (prize money)$525K
- Jul 2023Grant (prize money)$1.4M
Investors
OSTI, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Tech stack
AngularCart FunctionalityCore-JsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font ApiGoogle Workspace
#4
Series A · Encinitas, California · founded 2016 · 17 employees$10Mraised▾
Series A · Encinitas, California · founded 2016 · 17 employees
CycloPure is a micropollutant removal technology solutions provider. Their product DEXSORB is an adsorbent that removes micropollutants from water. Also remove compounds like PFOA, PFOS, atrazine, chlorpyrifos, organic synthetics, pharmaceutical compounds, and others. Finds application in community drinking water treatment facilities, portable water filtration, residential, and others.
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 2k LinkedIn followers
Activity: 1 partnerships announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Feb 2025Grant (prize money)$276.2K
- Nov 2019Angel$4M
- Feb 2019Grant (prize money)$1.5M
- Feb 2019Series A$3.5M
Founders & team
Investors
America’s Seed Fund, National Science Foundation, NIEHS, HHS
Tech stack
ActivecampaignAkismetApache Http ServerBackbone.JsBootstrapCart Functionality
#5
Series B · San Francisco, California · founded 2015 · 8 employees$12Mraised▾
Series B · San Francisco, California · founded 2015 · 8 employees
Provider of wastewater infrastructure development services. It offers water treatment and recovery solutions for real estate owners and developers. It also provides solutions for turning wastewater organics into soil amendments products.
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 5k LinkedIn followers — 5.0% of this cohort's audience
Hiring: 1 hiring post in 12 mo (public) · hiring: Director of Revenue Marketing
Funding rounds
- Nov 2024Series B$12M
- Dec 2021Series A$9.4M
- Jul 2020Seed$2.6M
- May 2017Grant (prize money)—
Founders & team
Investors
MassChallenge, J-Ventures, J-Impact, Echo River Capital, Tufts, Imagine H2O
Tech stack
CloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementGodaddyGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font ApiGoogle Hosted Libraries
#6
Series A · Fremont, California · founded 2018 · 5 employees$2Mraised▾
Series A · Fremont, California · founded 2018 · 5 employees
Developer of atmospheric water generation and energy-efficient air conditioning technology. The company provides solutions for producing potable water from air and delivering efficient climate control. Its technology is designed for versatility across various climate zones. The company focuses on creating sustainable solutions to address water scarcity and energy consumption.
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 1k LinkedIn followers
Activity: 3 product launches · 1 partnerships (incl. Ibyma) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Jul 2025Series A$8M
- Apr 2025Seed$2M
- Aug 2019Seed$2M
Founders & team
Investors
Berkeley Catalyst Fund, Anthropocene Institute, Vesta Fund, MITSUI MINING & SMELTING, SVE Capital, Forewave Ventures
#7
Seed · Los Angeles, California · founded 2022$2.3Mraised▾
Seed · Los Angeles, California · founded 2022
Developer of electro-active membrane technology for desalination and water treatment. The technology addresses fouling and scaling challenges, simplifying process design with minimal pre-treatment needs. It enhances freshwater recovery while reducing capital and operating costs. The membranes are manufactured in standard spiral wound module sizes, fitting into existing pressure vessels and systems. Each pressure vessel can be energized independently, allowing flexible deployment.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 27how this company ranks against its industry peers
Talent
top 38%Moat
top 48%Funding
bottom 46%Market
bottom 40%Global
bottom 36%Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 4/10 · 9 curated direct competitors tracked
Funding: Raised $2.3M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 2 yrs (1.0/yr) · Last round Seed (Jun 2025)
Audience (LinkedIn): 2k LinkedIn followers — 2.1% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
- Jun 2025Seed$913.4K
- Jul 2024Seed$2.3M
Founders & team
Investors
Natural Ventures, Echo River Capital, Pws Water
#8
Series C · Milpitas, California · founded 2015 · 36 employees$44.8Mraised▾
Series C · Milpitas, California · founded 2015 · 36 employees
Provider of automated systems for real-time water quality monitoring. The company offers hardware, software, connectivity, automated reporting, and predictive analytics. It serves industries including agriculture, municipalities, and industrial operations. The company's systems monitor parameters and provide alerts.
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 12k LinkedIn followers — 10.8% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
- May 2024Series C$10M
- Nov 2022Series C—
- Jun 2022Venture Debt—
- Jun 2022Series C$8.3M
Founders & team
Investors
Better Ventures, Rethink Impact, Broadway Angels, Plum Alley Investments, water.org, Energy Innovation
Tech stack
ActivecampaignAmazon S3Amazon SesAmazon Web ServicesCdnjsCloudflare
#9
Series A · Palo Alto, California · founded 2016 · 18 employees$10.8Mraised▾
Series A · Palo Alto, California · founded 2016 · 18 employees
Plutoshift provides an artificial intelligence-powered performance monitoring platform for industrial water assets and processes. Enables industries to prevent water wastage, predict asset failures and minimize operating costs. Claims to use proprietary data science algorithms to analyze & visualize the data from industrial data silos and SCADA systems. The data can be monitored through dashboards & users can assess asset performance data with impact on financial metrics. The software is offered as a SaaS model.
Funding rounds
- Jul 2024Series A$400K
- Mar 2024Series A$250K
- May 2020Series A—
- Sep 2019Series A$8M
Investors
500 Global, Fall Line Capital, Refactor Capital, Unshackled Ventures, Akron Fusion Ventures, Florence Venture Partners
#10
Series A · Santa Clara, California · founded 2020 · 13 employees$20.1Mraised▾
Series A · Santa Clara, California · founded 2020 · 13 employees
Manufacturer of electrolyzer stacks for clean hydrogen production. The company focuses on high-throughput manufacturing of electrochemical stacks, offering reliable supply chains and fast production techniques. It sells stack modules designed to reduce risks and simplify plant design for engineering, commissioning, and integration. The company aims to provide lower factory and stack costs with domestic supply chains, enabling integrators to use standard balance-of-plant components.
Funding rounds
- Mar 2024Series A$20M
- Jul 2023Grant (prize money)$200K
- Sep 2022Grant (prize money)$274.9K
- Aug 2021Grant (prize money)$500K
Founders & team
Investors
URBAN-X, Engine Ventures, 3M, NextEra Energy Resources, OSTI, Third Sphere
Tech stack
Apache Http ServerCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementContact Form 7GodaddyGoogle Analytics
#11
Seed · San Mateo, California · founded 2025$214Kraised▾
Seed · San Mateo, California · founded 2025
Developer of electric desalination systems for agriculture, industry, and communities. The company provides systems that process brackish water and wastewater into usable supply. It transforms salty waste into valuable industrial materials, improving water treatment economics. The company deploys modular, electrified systems that clean water and recharge aquifers.
Funding rounds
- Sep 2025Seed$214K
Founders & team
#12
Series B · Walnut Creek, California · founded 2019 · 38 employees$3.5Mraised▾
Series B · Walnut Creek, California · founded 2019 · 38 employees
Developer of an infrastructure management platform using AI-powered defect detection. The platform offers tools for inspection data management, collaboration, and decision-making. It provides AI-powered coding to accelerate inspections and generate risk insights. The company also offers solutions for generating 3D models and automating quality assurance processes.
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 7k LinkedIn followers — 6.2% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
- Jun 2024Series B$15M
- Oct 2021Seed$1.5M
- Aug 2020Seed$2M
Founders & team
Investors
EPIC Ventures, Bentley iTwin Ventures, Burnt Island, Builders VC, Innovius Capital, Emerald Technology Ventures
Tech stack
CalendlyCdnjsCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCookiebotCore-Js
Funding & investor landscape
$856.6Mtotal disclosed funding
80companies funded
240disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Techstars5 rounds
Y Combinator4 rounds
Notable founders
Eric Hoek
Co-Founder & CEO · Next TFX
Pat O'Brien
Co-Founder & VP of Operations · Next TFX
Frank Cassou
Co-Founder & CEO · CycloPure
Igor Tartakovsky
Co-founder and Chief Engineer · Epic Cleantec
Aaron Tartakovsky
Co-Founder & CEO · Epic Cleantec
David Kuo
Founder and Executive Vice President · WaHa
Eugene Kapustin
Co-Founder & CTO · WaHa
Arian Edalat
Chief Executive Officer · Active Membranes
Meena Sankaran
Founder & CEO · Ketos Water
Jimmy Rojas
Founder & CEO · EvolOH
Eddie Brucculeri
Co-Founder & CFO · Waterline
Derek Bednarski
Co-Founder & CEO · Waterline
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 21,712,099 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Water and Wastewater Management Tech coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
RESEARCH IN CALIFORNIA · Environment
How research on Water Treatment in California is moving
A read on the academic research around Water Treatment in California — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 211 papers.
UC Berkeley, Davis, and UCLA lead California's water-treatment research—spanning disinfection, membranes, and oxidation—with a cautiously optimistic tone (mean stance 0.38) and growing recent output.
211 papers · stance +0.38 · 22% breakthrough · 29% concern
top institutions
- University of California, Berkeley51
- University of California, Davis29
- University of California, Los Angeles24
- University of California, Riverside21
- California Polytechnic State University11
leading researchers
David L. Sedlak · Kara L. Nelson · David Jassby · Haizhou Liu · Stephen P. Mezyk · Tamara E. C. Kraus
prism intelligence · tone & topics
87% positive · 9% critical tone
EnvironmentHealthAgricultureSustainabilityBusinessMaterials Science
▲
Breakthroughs43 · 20%
▲ 14%→25% share
▲1.8× share momentum12 median citations56% since 2021mostly methods-led
Desalination research newly emerged with 3 papers as membrane and reverse osmosis breakthroughs tripled, signaling rapid treatment innovation.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Membrane1→5
- Reverse osmosis1→3
- Portable water purification2→3
- Adsorption3→4
Newly emergingDesalination 0→3 · Wastewater 0→3 · Nitrate 0→3
Landmark Rapid, Selective Heavy Metal Removal from Water by a Metal–Organic Framework/Polydopamine Composite · 428 cites
◆
Advancements95 · 45%
▲ 38%→43% share
▲1.1× share momentum4 median citations43% since 2021mostly empirical
Wastewater advancement research intensified fourfold (2->8 papers) as reuse and reverse osmosis advancements tripled, driving circular water strategies.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Wastewater2→8
- Reverse osmosis1→6
- Effluent1→5
- Reuse2→6
- Adsorption1→5
Newly emergingSewage treatment 0→4 · Degradation (telecommunications) 0→3 · Nitrate 0→3
Landmark Metal–Organic Frameworks for Water Harvesting from Air, Anywhere, Anytime · 452 cites
▼
Concerns56 · 27%
▼ 38%→24% share
▼0.6× share momentum14 median citations41% since 2021mostly empirical
Concern-segment share cooling (38%->24%) yet waterborne disease and diarrheal disease signals rising, indicating persistent public health vulnerabilities.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Water quality6→10
- Effluent1→4
- Wastewater1→4
- Sanitation1→4
- Waterborne diseases1→4
Newly emergingDiarrheal disease 0→4 · Water disinfection 0→4
Landmark Challenges and Opportunities for Electrochemical Processes as Next-Generation Technologies for the Treatment of Contamin · 1,075 cites
Common questions
How many Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies are there in California, United States?
Radar tracks 179 indexable Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies headquartered in California, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies in California, United States?
The Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies in California, United States on this list have raised a combined $856.6M in disclosed equity funding across 80 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Water and Wastewater Management Tech company in California, United States?
NanoH2O is the highest-funded Water and Wastewater Management Tech company in California, United States, with $89.9M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies in California, United States are funded?
80 of the 179 Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies in California, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Water and Wastewater Management Tech unicorns are there in California, United States?
None of the Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies in California, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in California, United States Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies?
The most active investors in California, United States Water and Wastewater Management Tech companies on this list include Imagine H2O, National Science Foundation, Plug and Play Tech Center, Techstars, Climate Capital.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.