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The planet鈥檚 dwindling freshwater supply is a major global 21^st century problem鈥攁nd it鈥檚 little surprise, considering it takes 2,700 litres of water just to make one T-shirt. That鈥檚 enough water for one person to drink for almost three years. And that鈥檚 not considering the environmental impact of processing the wastewater resulting from these industrial productions. In 2015, $9 billion dollars were spent trucking polluted water to holes and pumping it down, a process both costly and high in greenhouse gas emissions.

, an industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining company founded by two 天美mv天美 Beedie alumni, provides solutions to the worldwide wastewater problem with cutting-edge technologies that allow users to recycle wastewater, remove contaminants, reduce energy consumption, and recover valuable resources. The company has recently been named a  for the strides they鈥檝e made in wastewater management.

 is an independent federal foundation that funds Canadian companies developing clean technology solutions for some of the world鈥檚 most pressing challenges: climate change, clean air, clean water and clean soil. As the largest funder of Canadian sustainable small and medium sized companies, SDTC has invested over $1.38 billion in 460 companies since its inception. Saltworks is one of 10 SDTC companies named in its inaugural list of Canada鈥檚 Sustainability Changemakers, which recognizes homegrown innovation in sustainable technologies.

Ben Sparrow and Joshua Zoshi, graduates of 天美mv天美 Beedie鈥檚 , co-founded Saltworks after meeting in the 2005 cohort. Sparrow, a former BC Hydro project manager with a passion for thermodynamics, built their first desalination machine in his East Vancouver apartment鈥攆or which he was subsequently evicted.

He teamed up with Zoshi, an electrical engineer by training, and the two entered the New Ventures BC competition in 2008. They won, allowing them to close their first round of seed funding in the amount of $100,000. The company has since seen significant revenue growth as they鈥檝e expanded and diversified into a broad range of global markets, including semiconductors, automotive, mining and manufacturing.

Sparrow  at the 15^th anniversary event for the MOT MBA and noted the distinct need for these wastewater treatment technologies in Canada. 鈥淭he same [wastewaters] exist in Canada. We have garbage dumps, we have oil and gas, we just choose to do less about it.鈥� He has been open about the desire for Saltworks to continue to expand as a solid industrial enterprise in Canada.

Today, Saltworks is headquartered at a 200,000 sq. ft. facility in Richmond, B.C. and counts numerous Fortune 500 companies among its customers, including British Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Suncor Energy, NASA, and more.

In 2017, Zoshi talked about his MOT MBA experience in an . 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of finance and textbook kind of stuff [in the MBA],鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the innovation class with Dr. Elicia Maine was very different. It didn鈥檛 follow a structured program the way I was expecting. [鈥 The aha moment came when I realized that what I鈥檓 learning and what I鈥檓 getting out of this MBA program鈥擨 can do anything with it.鈥�

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