WaterSurplus

What WaterSurplus does

WaterSurplus (legal entity Surplus Management, Inc.) is a water treatment equipment and services company headquartered in Loves Park, Illinois, founded in 1989 by John Barelli as Pure Solutions, Inc. and rebranded under its current name in 1999. The company delivers sustainable water treatment solutions to municipal water utilities, food and beverage manufacturers, and industrial users through a portfolio that combines proprietary treatment technologies, new and surplus OEM equipment, custom engineering, rental fleets, and field service. Its technology stack centers on four branded platforms: ImpactRO, a patented high-recovery brackish water reverse osmosis system that reduces membrane fouling and water sent to drain; NanoStack, an NSF/ANSI/CAN 61-certified low-fouling membrane coating that demonstrably cuts clean-in-place requirements by over 50% and RO energy consumption by over 15%; OxiPlus, NSF/ANSI 61-certified catalytic filter media that delivers high-flow filtration in less than half the footprint of traditional systems; and NanoScope, a direct membrane-monitoring technology for early fouling detection. These technologies are anchored by patents and trademarks and validated through independent pilots, including a $272,775 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation research grant awarded in 2020.

The company operates multiple revenue streams across the equipment lifecycle: one-time sales of new, surplus, and refurbished water treatment equipment; usage-based rental of mobile filtration, RO, and wastewater treatment trailers; professional services including engineering, custom turnkey water room design, plant optimization, and membrane cleaning; transaction-fee revenue from its global online marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of surplus water treatment equipment; and a membrane buyback/cleaning program. Pricing spans from $175–$385 per membrane element to $210,000–$258,000 per 300 GPM brackish RO unit, with larger engineered systems priced on a quote basis. Distribution runs through direct website and phone sales, a 19+ person enterprise field sales team organized by segment (municipal, beverage, surplus, rentals, new products), and a network of more than 10,000 water professionals in over 80 countries. Customers include the Orange County Water District (1,050-membrane NanoStack deployment), Mark Anthony Brewing, the City of Prescott, WI, and unspecified Fortune 500 enterprises.

Following its April 2025 acquisition by Hawkins, Inc. (Nasdaq: HWKN), WaterSurplus now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary with access to greater capital (the deal was funded in part by a new $400 million Hawkins revolving credit facility) while retaining its brand, leadership, and customer relationships. The acquisition is expected to be EPS-accretive to Hawkins by fiscal 2027, and Hawkins' Water Treatment segment grew 22% in FY2026, with WaterSurplus now contributing to a segment that represents roughly half of Hawkins' total revenue. The company maintains an engineering division that has recently been expanded with four new hires, reflecting growing demand for ImpactRO-based turnkey water rooms.

Name

WaterSurplus

Legal name

Surplus Management, Inc.

Website

https://watersurplus.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WaterSurplus is a water treatment equipment and services provider serving municipal utilities, food and beverage manufacturers, and industrial clients with proprietary RO systems (ImpactRO), membrane coatings (NanoStack), catalytic filter media (OxiPlus), and a global surplus equipment marketplace, operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hawkins, Inc.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Treatment Equipment and Services

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623)

akta.pro primary industry

Water & Wastewater Treatment Plant Equipment (Clarifiers, Aeration, Membrane Systems) (IMAHAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water Reuse & Reclamation Infrastructure Construction (Recycled Water Systems) (IMAFAGAH), Water Reclamation & Reuse Production (Tertiary/Advanced Treatment) (EUANADAD)

Keywords

• Water treatment equipment
• Reverse osmosis systems
• Membrane filtration solutions
• PFAS removal services
• Water treatment marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Loves Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Equipment Sales: Sale of new water treatment equipment, components, and supplies including custom-designed, engineered, and manufactured equipment as well as leading manufacturers' products. Also includes surplus and refurbished equipment sales.
2. Rental Equipment: Rental of water treatment equipment including mobile filtration, reverse osmosis, and wastewater treatment equipment. Provides temporary or emergency capacity for job sites.
3. Engineering Services: Engineering and design services including custom turnkey water rooms, system design, plant optimization, and membrane cleaning services.
4. Surplus Marketplace: Leading global marketplace for buyers and sellers to create value by redeploying surplus water treatment equipment. Investment recovery services for large Fortune 1000 companies including auctions and consignments.
5. Membrane Services: Membrane cleaning, coating (NanoStack), and the Membrane Buyback Program to extend membrane lifespan and reduce operational costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WaterSurplus delivers sustainable water treatment solutions including engineering and design services, custom turnkey water rooms, NSF/ANSI 61 media filtration systems, rapid-response PFAS removal, a diverse rental fleet, new OEM equipment, manufacturing and refurbishing, and plant optimization and membrane cleaning services. The company also operates the leading global online marketplace for buyers and sellers to redeploy surplus water treatment equipment. Proprietary technologies ImpactRO, NanoStack, and OxiPlus anchor the offering alongside the WaterSurplus Marketplace platform.

Product overview

WaterSurplus delivers sustainable water treatment solutions across industries through a diversified portfolio of products and services. The company operates the leading global marketplace for surplus water treatment equipment alongside offering new OEM equipment, rental fleet services, and comprehensive engineering/design capabilities. Core proprietary technologies include ImpactRO (high-recovery brackish water RO system), NanoStack (low-fouling membrane coating), and OxiPlus (NSF/ANSI 61-certified catalytic filter media). Service offerings span PFAS removal solutions, field service/maintenance, membrane cleaning, and equipment investment recovery programs. The company serves municipal, food and beverage, industrial, and mining sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ImpactRO: High-recovery brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) system integrating breakthrough technologies to dramatically reduce membrane fouling, lower operating costs, and improve system sustainability.
• NanoStack
• OxiPlus
• NanoScope

Products and services

• ImpactRO High-recovery brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) system integrating multiple breakthrough technologies to dramatically reduce membrane fouling, lower operating costs, and improve system sustainability. Targeted at municipal water utilities, food and beverage producers, and industrial users needing lower-fouling, higher-recovery RO operation.
• NanoStack Low-fouling, NSF/ANSI/CAN 61-certified membrane coating technology for RO membranes that reduces clean-in-place requirements by more than 50% and cuts RO energy consumption by more than 15%, with payback of less than two years. Sold to municipalities, beverage producers, and industrial operators as an upgrade to existing RO fleets.
• OxiPlus Line of high-flow NSF/ANSI 61-certified catalytic filter media for effective removal of iron, manganese, and PFAS, delivering treatment properties with less than half the footprint of a traditional treatment system. Targeted at municipal water utilities and industrial customers needing compact, certified media filtration.
• PFAS Removal Solutions Rapid-response PFAS removal equipment, treatment solutions, and rental systems for municipalities and industrial clients facing PFAS contamination, including mobile units for emergency or temporary mitigation needs.
• Rental Fleet Large fleet of mobile water treatment and wastewater treatment equipment (including mobile filtration, reverse osmosis, and 75 GPM/100 GPM RO trailers) rented to industrial and municipal customers for temporary or emergency capacity at job sites.
• Surplus Equipment Premium used, overstock, and refurbished water treatment equipment and components (RO membrane elements, ion exchange resin, filtration and wastewater equipment) sold through the WaterSurplus inventory with 1,000+ assets in stock and ready to ship.
• New OEM Equipment New water treatment equipment, components, and supplies from leading manufacturers in the water treatment industry, supplied alongside WaterSurplus-designed, engineered, and manufactured equipment.
• Engineering and Design Services Custom turnkey water room design and engineering services for municipalities, major bottlers, and industrial applications, delivered by a team of expert engineers with responsibility for company-wide engineering standards, procedures, and department goals.
• Field Service Start-up, system optimization, maintenance, and repair services for industrial and municipal water treatment systems, including plant optimization, performed by experienced service engineers and technicians.
• WaterSurplus Marketplace Leading global online marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of surplus water treatment equipment, with 1,000+ assets in stock, 10,000+ water professionals in 80+ countries, and investment recovery services for Fortune 1000 sellers including auctions and consignments.
• Membrane Cleaning Services Customized membrane cleaning services delivered through WaterSurplus's state-of-the-art membrane cleaning plant, offered at lower cost than self-service and paired with the Membrane Buyback Program to extend membrane lifespan and reduce operational costs.
• Sell to Us Programs to purchase used water treatment equipment, RO membranes, and ion exchange resin from large industrial users for recycling and redeployment through the WaterSurplus Marketplace, leveraging 35+ years of investment recovery experience.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces clean-in-place requirements by more than 50%
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions (SUEZ): Global leader in water treatment equipment, services, and chemicals serving municipal and industrial customers with RO, filtration, and process water systems. Directly competes with WaterSurplus's ImpactRO and custom turnkey water rooms for municipal and beverage customers.
• Xylem Inc. Large diversified water technology company (including the former Evoqua Water Technologies) offering RO, filtration, and treatment solutions for municipal and industrial markets. A scaled competitor across WaterSurplus's entire product portfolio, including membrane and media systems.
• Pentair plc: Global water treatment and flow technology provider serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers with filtration, RO, and membrane products. Comparable to WaterSurplus in industrial and beverage RO offerings, with greater brand reach and channel scale.
• Ecolab Inc. Global leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions serving food & beverage, industrial, and institutional customers. Overlaps with WaterSurplus in beverage high-purity water rooms and industrial water management, with much greater commercial reach.
• DuPont Water Solutions (FilmTec): Major supplier of FilmTec RO and nanofiltration membrane elements used in municipal, industrial, and beverage water treatment. Supplies the membrane elements that WaterSurplus coats with NanoStack and resells through its marketplace, while also competing as a vertically integrated supplier.

Direct peers

• Toray Membrane USA: Leading membrane manufacturer producing RO, nanofiltration, and ultrafiltration elements sold to municipal and industrial OEMs and integrators. Toray membranes are frequently specified by WaterSurplus in its systems, and it competes on the supply side for membrane-based treatment projects.
• Hydranautics (Nitto Group): Membrane technology provider offering RO, nanofiltration, and ultrafiltration membranes for water treatment and reuse applications. Competes with WaterSurplus's NanoStack coating value proposition by offering high-performance membrane elements directly to system integrators.
• Veolia Mobile Water Services (MOLE): Provider of temporary and emergency mobile water treatment services including RO trailers and filtration units for industrial and municipal clients. Directly competes with WaterSurplus's rental fleet of mobile RO and filtration equipment.

Others

• Hawkins, Inc. (parent): Public parent company of WaterSurplus (NASDAQ: HWKN), a specialty chemicals and water treatment distributor. Operates the Water Treatment segment into which WaterSurplus was integrated following the April 2025 acquisition.

Regional players

• Reverse Osmosis Chemicals International (ROCI): Specialty chemical and cleaning service provider for membrane water treatment systems. Comparable to WaterSurplus's membrane cleaning services and NanoStack coating offering, though focused primarily on chemical solutions rather than coated membrane technology.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@watersurplus
• Xx.com/watersurplus
• Facebookfacebook.com/watersurplus
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/watersurplus

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WaterSurplus