Ramon’s company ALIS uses microalgae to generate oxygen through photosynthesis in order to remove contaminants such as nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. “We started with the realisation that microbiology can be used to clean water, and we need to get this organism into cities to capture pollution and start to generate oxygen,” he says. “Biotechnology can do much to help the environment.”
Tapiwa says being part of the UK – Latin America Net Zero and Resilience Programme was a very worthwhile experience, not least because it brought people together who share similar passions.
“We decided straight away to team up,” he remarked. “I know of water companies and developers who will need Ramon’s treatment services in the UK. I’ve always believed in Water Offsets being a vertically integrated water company offering a one-stop shop.”
In the UK, Tapiwa has spoken to a couple of developer clients and water treatment companies about using Ramon’s microbiology system alongside his company’s expertise and has helped to bring about a trial at a residential development in Southend in Essex.
In return, Ramon has introduced Tapiwa to city officials in Monterrey, Mexico and helped to organise meetings that have led to promising business opportunities. One such project set to make use of technologies from the two companies is at a new residential development in the city.
Together they aim to provide water cleansing and management solutions to as many as 50,000 properties in the UK and Mexico within three years.
Both men are pleased to have been introduced to each other by Connected Places Catapult who, Tapiwa says, provided “a lot of encouragement to collaborate and work in partnership” at the event in Latin America.
He adds: “Many of this year’s cohort are now friends, which has helped us all to feel that we are not alone in our journeys.”
Ramon says: “The group featured people working in different sectors and with different strategies, but everyone was working towards net zero, which was great. Thank you to Connected Places Catapult for helping to bring us all together.”