No Pumps, No Filters, No Electricity: An Operational Alternative for Industrial Water (Open Source)
Published on by Göran Skoog, Founder & Lead Innovator at S.k.o.o.g Architecture in Maintenance
Hi everyone,
As operators, we all know the constant battle with energy costs, membrane fouling, pump failures, and the headache of brine disposal. I want to share a purely mechanical approach to industrial-scale water production that I've developed to eliminate these specific pain points.
I am sharing the full technical documentation for the Skoog Buoy (SCSL) as an open-source project. It’s a 12-meter offshore unit designed for "set-and-forget" freshwater production.
Why this matters for plant operations:
Zero OPEX for Power: The system is purely mechanical, utilizing the constant 4°C temperature of deep-sea water for condensation. No electricity required.
No Pumping Stations: Through internal expansion pressure, the system automatically transports the produced water to land.
Zero Filter Maintenance: There are no filters to change, no membranes to backwash, and no chemicals to manage.
Industrial Capacity: A single 12-meter buoy delivers 500,000 L/day. A series of 11 buoys scales to 5 Million Liters of freshwater per day.
Built for Decades: Engineered for a 40-50 year lifespan with virtually no moving parts to wear out or replace.
Environmental Compliance: No brine production means no environmental permits for concentrated waste discharge.
I’ve released this under CC BY 4.0 because I believe we need more robust, low-maintenance infrastructure to secure our water future. I’d be happy to discuss the technical implementation or the physics behind the expansion-driven transport with anyone interested.
Technical Documentation (CERN/Zenodo):
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18483339
Video walkthrough of the principles:
Media
Taxonomy
- Industrial
- Environmental Compliance
- Filters
- Desalination
- Water Supply
- Pumps
- Industrial Water Supply