Don't let cooling water cap your data center's growth.
NONA RECOVER treats the liquid blowdown your cooling tower would send to drain. Its MIT-patented Ion Concentration Polarization (ICP) process returns treated water to the loop without replacing the tower. We size recovery from your measured flow and water chemistry.
MIT-patented Ion Concentration Polarization (ICP) · Demonstrated in the field · 90% of treated blowdown return, design target
90%
treated blowdown return target
Up to
50%
reduction in makeup water consumption
Up to
40%
lower cooling water OpEx
Fits right into your existing cooling loop.
Easy to retrofit
A modular retrofit for an existing cooling tower. Confirm piping, controls, and the installation schedule at the site.
Modular
Units can be configured to treat a site-specific blowdown flow. Nona's RECOVER technical sheet gives a nominal 10 GPM feed rate for a unit.
Built tough
Developed from Nona's seawater work for mineral-rich cooling tower blowdown. Feed chemistry still determines treatment fit.
Energy efficient
The electric-field process runs at low pressure. Energy use varies with feed conductivity and the required return-water quality.
High recovery
Designed to return 90% of treated cooling tower blowdown. Compare actual water chemistry and concentrate handling before selecting a recovery system.
Estimate what RECOVER saves your site.
Screen potential blowdown return and water and sewer charges avoided. This estimate uses assumed duty and recovery, not measured site flow or net operating cost.
Your Cooling Tower
Assumes 60% annual operation duty (approx. 5,256 hrs/yr).
WithRECOVER
Potential blowdown returned
13,924kgal/yr
Water and sewer charges avoided
$278,488/yr
Screening figures only. Charges avoided exclude RECOVER energy, maintenance, and capital costs. Confirm tower flow, chemistry, and wet operating hours before using these as site savings.
Request a review of these assumptions
Our team can ask for measured blowdown and water chemistry before estimating site savings.
Screening estimate only. Assumes 60% annual wet operation and 90% treatment recovery of modeled blowdown. Charges avoided are gross water and sewer charges, not net OpEx; they exclude unit energy, maintenance, and capital costs. Confirm measured flow, water chemistry, rates, and wet hours before using a site savings figure.
Not reverse osmosisA different path for the water
Reverse osmosis pushes water through a filtration membrane. ICP uses ion-selective membranes and an electric field while bulk water flows through a low-pressure channel. Both approaches need a site-specific chemistry review.
Forces water through a filtration membrane
Uses an electric field and ion-selective membranes
Passes through the filtration membrane
Moves through a low-pressure flow channel
Depends on feed and system design
RECOVER technical range: 5–30 PSI
Pretreatment depends on chemistry and additives
Review chemistry, reuse quality, and concentrate handling
Water can become a hard limit on data center growth.
Water availability, infrastructure, and operating conditions vary by site. Transparent water accounting helps developers, utilities, and communities evaluate demand, discharge, and practical reduction options without relying on one national average.
Patented at MIT. Built for blowdown.
Nona's MIT-patented Ion Concentration Polarization (ICP) process began as a way to turn seawater into drinking water. NONA RECOVER starts with cooling tower blowdown, treating it so it can return to the loop without replacing the tower. Nona is extending the same process to fill and flush water for new liquid cooling systems, brackish makeup water, and cooling water at on-site power plants.
See how RECOVER treats blowdownNews & updates
Latest from Nona
Field notes, interviews, and findings on the AI water problem, evaporative cooling, and closing the loop on industrial water.
Climate X AI: how cooling water shapes the cost of AI
Bruce Crawford joins leaders from UNEP, Stepwise Electric, and Ignitia at DC Startup & Tech Week to discuss making AI more affordable and more impactful, starting with data center cooling water.
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Hudson IV is installed at a 1.5 MW data center in Ohio
Our engineers Jung Yoon and Liz Collins installed Hudson IV, the newest version of our RECOVER system. It follows Hudson III, installed in April, and adds more automation so it can run longer.
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Climate Week NYC: using less water without using more power
Bruce Crawford spoke at the MIT Future of Data Centers Showcase, led a water reuse breakout at Climate Salon, and joined the Greentown Labs Climatetech Showcase, all on how data centers can cut cooling water without sacrificing PUE.
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The water and energy tradeoff behind data center cooling
Bruce Crawford shares what data center engineers told Nona in Dallas, why onsite water and electricity must be evaluated together, and how transparency can build community trust.
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What is data center cooling water recovery?
Cooling water recovery treats liquid blowdown so it can return to the cooling loop instead of being discharged. NONA RECOVER continuously demineralizes that water on site using Ion Concentration Polarization (ICP), an MIT-patented alternative to reverse osmosis.
See what RECOVER saves your facility.
Start with tower size and local water costs. Confirm operating hours, measured blowdown, and water chemistry with our technical team before relying on a savings estimate.