What French Creek Software does

French Creek Software, Inc. is a privately held Pennsylvania corporation founded in 1989 that develops specialized water chemistry and treatment modeling software for industrial and municipal applications. The company's products are built around a proprietary ion association model that performs rigorous speciation and ion pairing calculations to predict mineral scale formation, corrosion, and inhibitor performance, presented through its trademarked Visual Chemistry™ approach using color-coded 2D and 3D graphs. Its product portfolio comprises five standalone applications — WaterCycle® (cooling water, the original product since 1989), hyd-RO-dose® (reverse osmosis), DownHole SAT™ (oilfield), WatSIM™ (municipal water including lead and copper solubility), and MineSAT™ (mining and process water) — each offered in four tiered editions ranging from Basic scale evaluation through Laboratory Edition custom model development from laboratory and field data. Products can be combined in the Version 7 Water Reuse Suite with Copy/Paste stream analysis for multi-application modeling.

The company operates a direct-to-consumer, product-led go-to-market motion selling perpetual single-user software licenses through its own online storefront (store.frenchcreeksoftware.com) with electronic delivery within 24-48 hours. Revenue is generated through one-time license fees ($1,795-$13,485 per product/edition), recurring annual maintenance contracts (~20% of license cost) that provide updates and technical support, and one-time update fees (40% of license) to reinstate lapsed maintenance. Customer segments are organized vertically across six application areas — cooling water, oilfield, reverse osmosis, mining, municipal, and water reuse — serving water treatment specialists, formulators, and researchers globally. French Creek maintains a single headquarters location in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is privately owned with no disclosed external funding, and has operated continuously for over 30 years as an independent software vendor in a niche technical market.

Name

French Creek Software

Legal name

French Creek Software, Inc.

Website

https://frenchcreeksoftware.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

French Creek Software develops specialized water chemistry modeling software — including WaterCycle, hyd-RO-dose, DownHole SAT, WatSIM, and MineSAT — for water treatment specialists across cooling, oilfield, reverse osmosis, mining, municipal, and reuse applications, sold as perpetual licenses via direct e-commerce.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Treatment Modeling Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Data Management, LIMS & Compliance Software (ELN, eDMS, reporting automation) (EUANAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water Quality Monitoring (Surface Water, Stormwater, Drinking Water) (EUAHACAC), Water Treatment & Process Specialty Chemicals (IMAEABAN), Produced Water & Upstream Water Management (EUALAAAL), Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG)

Keywords

• Water chemistry modeling
• Scale prediction software
• Mineral scale modeling
• Cooling water treatment
• Water treatment software

Headquarters

HQ city

Valley Forge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Perpetual single-user software licenses sold as one-time purchases. Each product (WaterCycle, hyd-RO-dose, DownHole SAT, WatSIM, MineSAT) is offered in four editions with tiered pricing based on functionality. Licenses are downloadable with electronic delivery within 24-48 hours of purchase.
2. Annual Maintenance Agreements: Annual maintenance contracts provide software updates with new features and inhibitors, compatibility with latest Windows versions, and extended technical support. Due upon licensing and billed annually. Without active maintenance, users can purchase One-Time Updates to reinstate annual maintenance.
3. One-Time Updates: For users with expired Annual Maintenance Agreements, one-time update fees (40% of license fee) reinstate annual maintenance privileges for 365 days, including one year of updates.
4. Suite Bundles: Version 7 Suites bundle multiple products (WaterCycle, hyd-RO-dose, and choice of DownHole SAT, WatSIM, or MineSAT) at discounted bundle pricing compared to individual purchases. Available in all four editions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

French Creek Software develops and sells proprietary water chemistry and treatment modeling software that uses an ion association model with rigorous speciation and ion pairing to predict mineral scale formation, corrosion, and inhibitor performance in industrial aqueous systems. Its product portfolio includes application-specific desktop programs for cooling water (WaterCycle®), reverse osmosis (hyd-RO-dose®), oilfield (DownHole SAT™), municipal water (WatSIM™), mining (MineSAT™), and combined water reuse scenarios. Software is licensed as perpetual single-user licenses with annual maintenance, delivered electronically via the company's online store.

Product overview

French Creek Software offers a portfolio of specialized water chemistry and treatment modeling software applications built on a proprietary Visual Chemistry™ approach. The product lineup includes WaterCycle® (cooling water), hyd-RO-dose® (reverse osmosis), DownHole SAT™ (oilfield), WatSIM™ (municipal), and MineSAT™ (mining), each designed for application-specific mineral scale prediction, corrosion modeling, and inhibitor treatment optimization. These products can be used individually or combined in the Water Reuse Suite for integrated water management across multiple streams. All products are offered in four tiered editions (Basic, Salesman/Field Engineer, Formulator/Product Manager, and Laboratory) with escalating capabilities from basic scale evaluation to advanced custom model development from laboratory data.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WaterCycle®: Cooling water treatment modeling software - the industry standard since 1989 for optimizing and treating cooling systems.
• hyd-RO-dose®
• DownHole SAT™
• WatSIM™
• MineSAT™
• Visual Chemistry™
• WaterCycle Rx™
• hyd-RO-sat™

Products and services

• WaterCycle® Cooling water modeling software that enables water treatment specialists to thoroughly model mineral scale potential over a narrow or broad operating range. Features extensive inhibitor modeling capabilities, including custom formulation input, and includes the 1010 Carbon Steel corrosion model.
• hyd-RO-dose® Reverse osmosis treatment software that provides unbiased mineral scale and inhibitor modeling for membrane systems. Uses an ion association model to calculate saturation levels for 18 different scales, extending applicability to high TDS applications including seawater and water reuse scenarios.
• DownHole SAT™ Oilfield scale prediction software for modeling mineral scale potential, corrosion, and inhibitor treatments in oilfield applications. Simulates single streams, injection wells, and mixtures of up to one-dozen brines using French Creek's interface and Visual Chemistry™ technique; includes the CO2-H2S corrosion module.
• WatSIM™ Municipal water chemistry modeling software for predicting and mitigating lead and copper levels. Evaluates 20+ scale-forming species, Pb & Cu solubility, and the impact of anti-corrosive treatments on metal solubility in distribution systems.
• MineSAT™ Mining and process water modeling software that handles pH extremes common in mining applications. Models mining streams and process waters and evaluates 20+ scale species using color-coded 2D and 3D graphs for quick interpretation.
• Water Reuse Suite (Version 7 Suites) Suite that combines WaterCycle, hyd-RO-dose, and a user choice of DownHole SAT, WatSIM, or MineSAT for modeling water reuse, including cooling tower blowdown, RO concentrate, and mixing of multiple streams. Features Copy/Paste analysis for movement between applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Model 18+ relevant scales simultaneously over adjustable operating ranges
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• OLI Systems: OLI Systems provides electrolyte-based simulation software for water chemistry, mineral scale prediction, and corrosion modeling across industrial process applications. It is the closest direct competitor to French Creek's scale and inhibitor modeling portfolio, serving overlapping cooling, oilfield, RO, and chemical processing customers.
• Chempute Software: Chempute Software offers chemical engineering calculation tools, including scale prediction and water chemistry utilities for industrial users. It targets a similar end-user base of water treatment specialists and field engineers with standalone desktop software, competing on price and ease of use.

Broad incumbents

• Aspen Technology: AspenTech provides broad process simulation and optimization software across chemicals, energy, and water-intensive industries. Its Aspen Plus and related products overlap with French Creek's cooling, RO, and oilfield modeling use cases as part of a much wider industrial software portfolio.
• AVEVA: AVEVA delivers industrial software including process simulation, plant digital twin, and water/utility management solutions. Its portfolio overlaps with French Creek's water reuse and cooling-system modeling capabilities while serving a much broader process-industry customer base.
• SLB (Schlumberger): SLB offers the Eclipse, INTERSECT, and PIPESIM suites covering upstream oil and gas simulation, including produced water and scale prediction workflows. Its DownHole SAT-equivalent functionality competes with French Creek's oilfield offering as part of a much larger E&P technology portfolio.
• Halliburton: Halliburton/Landmark provides upstream digital solutions including scale prediction and water management modules for oilfield operations. Its breadth and global field-service footprint overlap with DownHole SAT's oilfield target customer base.
• Bentley Systems: Bentley Systems offers OpenFlows and WaterGEMS for water distribution and treatment network modeling. It addresses the municipal water utility segment that WatSIM serves, though from a broader hydraulic-network perspective rather than chemistry-first modeling.
• Innovyze (now part of Autodesk): Innovyze, integrated within Autodesk, provides InfoWorks and ICM hydraulic and water quality modeling platforms used by municipal utilities. It overlaps with WatSIM's municipal water chemistry use cases as part of a comprehensive utility digital-water portfolio.

Emerging players

• WaterMath / Process Solutions Inc. Process Solutions Inc. / WaterMath provides Excel-based water chemistry calculation tools used by water treatment professionals. It addresses similar scale and inhibitor calculation use cases as French Creek but with lighter, lower-cost offerings aimed at field engineers.

Others

• Veolia Water Technologies: Veolia Water Technologies supplies water treatment chemicals, systems, and digital services including modeling and optimization tools. While not a direct software peer, it competes for the same industrial and municipal water-treatment budget and increasingly bundles digital water offerings with its chemical programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/frenchcreeksoftware
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/french-creek-software-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 French Creek Software