New Plant Removes CO2 and Creates Fresh Water in Perth

Imagine a facility that solves two environmental challenges at once, turning salty wastewater into fresh drinking water while scrubbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

That's exactly what Capture6 just launched near Perth, Western Australia. The American startup's Project Tortuga began operations this week as the world's first industrial-scale plant to combine direct air capture with water recovery in one integrated system.

The technology works like environmental alchemy. Capture6's electrochemical process converts salts from industrial brine (typically waste that's expensive to dispose of) into an alkaline solution that absorbs CO2 directly from the air. The bonus? Fresh water as a byproduct.

CEO Ethan Cohen-Cole put it simply: "Australia is looking for new water supplies and new ways to remove carbon, and at Tortuga, both come from a single system."

The facility uses eight containerized units that arrived at the Australian Automation and Robotics Precinct about four months ago. While Capture6 hasn't disclosed exact capacity numbers yet, the company says this is a demonstration of industrial-scale potential.

The Ripple Effect

This isn't just about one plant in Western Australia. Capture6's second project, Monarch, is already underway in California with the Palmdale Water District. When it reaches full commercial operation, Monarch could capture 25,000 tonnes of CO2 yearly while recovering enough water to fill 160 Olympic pools.

The water district expects to save up to 40% compared to traditional brine disposal methods. That's a win for budgets and the environment.

The company has additional projects planned in South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and the US Midwest. Each location faces water scarcity, industrial waste challenges, or both.

Direct air capture technology has faced skepticism because of high costs and massive energy requirements. But integrating it with industrial processes that already exist could change the economics entirely. Instead of building separate expensive facilities for waste management and carbon removal, communities get both solutions from one system.

The captured carbon doesn't just disappear either. It converts into stable carbonate compounds for permanent storage, keeping it out of the atmosphere for good.

As climate solutions go, technologies that solve multiple problems simultaneously offer the most hope for widespread adoption.