EPISODE · May 28, 2026 · 39 MIN
Stopping Membrane Fouling Once and For All with Arian Edalat
from The Meter Podcast · host Andrew Dugan
In this episode of The Meter Podcast, host Andrew Dugan sits down with Arian Edalat, the cofounder and CEO of Active Membranes. This UCLA spin-off is shaking up the water desalination world by shifting from traditional passive filters to smart, electro-active membrane technology that actively repels mineral scaling and organic fouling.Arian shares the entire entrepreneurial journey of commercializing a hard-tech product born in academia, breaking through the typical scaling bottlenecks, and driving global impact in the water space.Topics Covered in This Episode:- Moving from passive filtration to active separation, challenging forty years of traditional reverse osmosis system design.- The mechanics of the "Active Box", a proprietary, tunable power unit that extends membrane lifespans and slows fouling by up to 70%.- Transitioning out of the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and setting up shop inside the Magnify incubator at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI).- Designing drop-in, non-invasive retrofit elements to make adoption frictionless for existing desalination plants.- Moving past the lab scale to complete field pilot testing supported by the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI).- Securing high profile commercial milestones, including a five year Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) contract for produced water recycling in the industrial sector.- Winning major global accolades, such as the Global Water Intelligence (GWI) Water Tech Idol Award in Berlin.- About the Guest:[Arian Edalat](https://idwsc.com/speakers/arian-edalat) is a chemical engineer and award-winning water tech entrepreneur. He cofounded [Active Membranes](https://www.activemembrane.com/) to address global freshwater scarcity by introducing active electrical control to nanofiltration and reverse osmosis technology, radically lowering the lifecycle cost and environmental footprint of water production.Connect With UsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-meter-podcast/?viewAsMember=trueSubscribe: Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform to stay updated on the innovations keeping our basic necessities running.#TheMeterPodcast #WaterInnovation #CleanTech #Desalination #ReverseOsmosis #ActiveMembranes #EngineeringFounders #SmartUtilities #WaterTech
What this episode covers
In this episode of The Meter Podcast, host Andrew Dugan sits down with Arian Edalat, the cofounder and CEO of Active Membranes. This UCLA spin-off is shaking up the water desalination world by shifting from traditional passive filters to smart, electro-active membrane technology that actively repels mineral scaling and organic fouling.Arian shares the entire entrepreneurial journey of commercializing a hard-tech product born in academia, breaking through the typical scaling bottlenecks, and driving global impact in the water space.Topics Covered in This Episode:- Moving from passive filtration to active separation, challenging forty years of traditional reverse osmosis system design.- The mechanics of the "Active Box", a proprietary, tunable power unit that extends membrane lifespans and slows fouling by up to 70%.- Transitioning out of the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and setting up shop inside the Magnify incubator at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI).- Designing drop-in, non-invasive retrofit elements to make adoption frictionless for existing desalination plants.- Moving past the lab scale to complete field pilot testing supported by the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI).- Securing high profile commercial milestones, including a five year Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) contract for produced water recycling in the industrial sector.- Winning major global accolades, such as the Global Water Intelligence (GWI) Water Tech Idol Award in Berlin.- About the Guest:[Arian Edalat](https://idwsc.com/speakers/arian-edalat) is a chemical engineer and award-winning water tech entrepreneur. He cofounded [Active Membranes](https://www.activemembrane.com/) to address global freshwater scarcity by introducing active electrical control to nanofiltration and reverse osmosis technology, radically lowering the lifecycle cost and environmental footprint of water production.Connect With UsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-meter-podcast/?viewAsMember=trueSubscribe: Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform to stay updated on the innovations keeping our basic necessities running.#TheMeterPodcast #WaterInnovation #CleanTech #Desalination #ReverseOsmosis #ActiveMembranes #EngineeringFounders #SmartUtilities #WaterTech
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Stopping Membrane Fouling Once and For All with Arian Edalat
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