Uponor Corporation Press release 7 Jan 2016 10.00EET
Uponor acquires a start-up company specialising in water quality monitoring
Uponor Corporation has acquired the entire shareholding in a Finnish start-up company specialising in online water quality monitoring. The company, NWater Oy, started operations in Tampere, Finland in 2012, and has developed a unique and revolutionary technology for online measurement of water quality. The technology is based on sensors that detect and measure water-borne particles and microbes in real time. At present, the technology is still in a development phase, but Uponor targets commercialisation of the technology in the next couple of years.
The sellers are five private Finnish shareholders, two of whom will stay in the business. No further details of the transaction are disclosed.
One of Uponor’s strategic focus areas in terms of new business development is water quality and hygiene, both of which are of growing importance in modern-day societies.
- “Today, water quality is mostly measured by taking samples, which often gives results only days after taking the sample. The new NWater technology makes it possible to monitor water quality online and thus establish an early warning system. In acute cases, consumers can be alerted quickly, which makes water supply much more risk-proof than today. Benefits in consumer health and in costs can be enormous,” maintains Ilari Aho, VP - New Business Development at Uponor.
The NWater technology is ideally suited for municipal water supply, but industrial and residential applications can be attractive, too.
- “One of the key benefits of the new technology, in addition to reliable performance, is the fact that it is affordable and very scalable,” says Esa Hämäläinen, head of R&D at NWater. “Online measurement can give network managers information on water quality through the internet on a continuous basis, on distribution network quality as well as giving immediate feedback on changes made to the distribution network, to mention just a few examples. This can be especially critical in sensitive locations such as hospitals, elderly homes, or nursing care centres.”
Uponor plans to continue the rapid development of the technology and integrate it in both its infrastructure and building solutions offering. The development efforts will be continued in co-operation with Uponor’s existing R&D teams.
- ”As founders we are pleased that, together with Uponor, NWater technology can have fast access to the global markets, and that the business will continue in Finnish ownership”, concludes Tuomas Pahlman, one of the founders of NWater.
Further information from:
Ilari Aho, VP - New Business Development, Uponor, tel. +358 20 129 2883
Tuomas Pahlman - Co-Founder of NWater, tel. +358 10 6666 007
Tarmo Anttila
Vice President, Communications
Tel. +358 20 129 2852
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Uponor is a leading international systems and solutions provider for safe drinking water delivery, energy-efficient radiant heating and cooling and reliable infrastructure. The company serves a variety of building markets including residential, commercial, industrial and civil engineering. Uponor employs about 3,800 employees in 30 countries, mainly in Europe and North America. In 2014, Uponor's net sales exceeded €1 billion. Uponor is based in Finland and listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.uponor.com