RO Desalination Brine/Concentrate Management Patent Landscape
The RO desalination brine and concentrate management space spans 2,409 patent families and is led by a moderately concentrated tier of water-treatment specialists and diversified industrials, with the United States as the dominant filing jurisdiction. Annual volume peaked in 2018 and has eased since, placing the field in a late-stage, past-peak phase where incremental refinement rather than foundational invention now defines most activity.
Fluid Equipment Development leads a moderately concentrated field of water-treatment specialists
Fluid Equipment Development Company LLC holds the top position among ranked applicants, followed closely by Kurita Water Industries, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support, Toray Industries, and Organo Corp — all within a narrow band that signals a competitive but not winner-take-all structure.
The top five filers together account for 23% of the combined patent records of the hundred largest filers, indicating moderate concentration: no single player has locked up the space, and the second through fifth positions are separated by fewer than 35 patent records each, making the ranking genuinely contestable.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fluid Equipment Development Company LLC | 156 | |
| 2 | Kurita Water Industries Ltd | 142 | |
| 3 | VEOLIA WATER SOLUTIONS & TECHNOLOGIES SUPPORT SAS | 131 | |
| 4 | Toray Industries Inc | 128 | |
| 5 | Organo Corp | 122 | |
| 6 | IDE Water Tech Ltd | 99 | |
| 7 | Desalitech | 88 | |
| 8 | General Electric Co | 74 | |
| 9 | Nitto Denko Corp | 74 | |
| 10 | BL Technology Inc | 70 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Garfield International Investments Ltd | 64 | |
| 12 | BP Exploration Operating Co Ltd | 61 | |
| 13 | Hitachi Ltd | 55 | |
| 14 | Evoqua Water Technologies LLC | 47 | |
| 15 | Water Standard Co LLC | 47 | |
| 16 | EI DU PONT DE NEMOURS & CO | 43 | |
| 17 | Dow Global Technologies LLC | 42 | |
| 18 | Toshiba Corporation | 41 | |
| 19 | IDE Technologies Ltd | 39 | |
| 20 | Zenon Environmental Inc | 38 |
The presence of both focused water-treatment companies (Kurita, Organo, IDE Water Tech) and large diversified industrials (Toray, General Electric, Nitto Denko) suggests the technology sits at an intersection of membrane science, process engineering, and systems integration — a structure that typically sustains parallel R&D tracks rather than a single dominant standard.
Filing counts for 2024–2026 are subject to publication lag and will rise as pending applications are published; treat the apparent recent dip as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Annual volume has eased from a 2018 peak; water treatment and membrane separation dominate the technology mix
The filing trend and technology composition charts together reveal a field that built its foundational IP base through the late 2010s and is now shifting toward refinement, with two IPC classes accounting for the overwhelming majority of classified activity.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings reached a high of 335 patent records in 2018 before declining steadily through the early 2020s; 2024 and 2025 figures will increase as publication lag resolves, so should not be read as confirmation of accelerating decline. The multi-year arc from 2017–2024 nonetheless confirms a past-peak trajectory consistent with a maturing technology.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C02F (water and wastewater treatment) and B01D (separation processes, including filtration and membranes) together account for the vast majority of classified patent records, reflecting the core membrane-separation and concentrate-conditioning focus of the corpus. All other IPC classes are present at significantly lower counts, with pump-related classes (F04B, F04F) and chemical-process classes (B01J, C01D) forming a distinct second tier that points to adjacent system-level and resource-recovery activity.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
A desalination plant with zero liquid discharge
A desalination plant with zero liquid discharge, comprising: – a first reverse osmosis desalination unit (12) that produces a flow of desalinated water (36) and a flow of concentrate (40), – a chemical treatment unit (14) in which said flow of concentrate (40) is subjected to: an alkalinisation and solubilisation of calcium sulphates step, a flocculation… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maritime power plant system with processes for pro… | 360 |
| 2 | Peritoneal dialysis system using reverse osmosis p… | 348 |
| 3 | High water recovery membrane purification process | 341 |
| 4 | Water treatment process for membranes | 324 |
| 5 | Counter top reverse osmosis water purification sys… | 265 |
| 6 | Method and system for producing sterile aqueous so… | 261 |
| 7 | Continuous process for the reclamation of waste dr… | 257 |
| 8 | Microfiltration enhanced reverse osmosis for water… | 252 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
The field’s maturity profile, moderate concentration, active co-filing networks, and broad geographic spread each carry distinct implications for where incremental versus disruptive R&D investment is most likely to find open terrain.
Past-peak: foundational IP largely established, refinement phase underway
The lifecycle stage is Decline, with annual filings easing back from the 2018 peak of 335 patent records. This does not indicate abandonment — the field still sees meaningful annual activity — but it does signal that most core brine management process patents have been filed and the remaining white space lies in system integration, resource recovery, and adjacent chemical processes rather than fundamental RO concentrate handling. New entrants should expect dense prior-art landscapes in the core C02F/B01D space.
Lifecycle: DeclineModerate concentration with a genuinely contestable top tier
The top five filers hold 23% of the hundred largest filers’ combined patent records, and the gap between rank one (Fluid Equipment Development, 156 patent records) and rank five (Organo Corp, 122 patent records) is only 34 patent records. This relatively compressed tier means a well-targeted filing campaign in an under-served sub-segment could move a challenger meaningfully up the ranking. The presence of both pure-play water companies and diversified industrials also means the competitive dynamics differ by sub-technology.
Moderate concentrationNitto Denko–Water Standard is the most active co-filing pair; Japanese firms dominate co-applicant networks
The most active co-filing relationship is Nitto Denko and Water Standard Company (14 joint patent records), followed by Kurita Water Industries with Kobe University (8), General Electric with BL Technology (8), and IDE Water Tech with IDE Technologies (8). Toray Industries appears in three separate co-filing pairs — with Chiyoda Corporation (7), Kochi Prefecture (2), and Toray Engineering (2) — indicating it uses partnerships as a systematic portfolio-building tool. These networks suggest that academic–industrial and system-integrator pairings are a viable entry mechanism.
Co-filing activeUS-centric filing with meaningful coverage in Europe, China, and water-stressed markets
The United States leads all jurisdictions by a wide margin, followed by Europe (EPO), China, WIPO (PCT), and Japan. Notable coverage also exists in Australia, Canada, India, Israel, and Singapore — jurisdictions that map closely onto major desalination deployment markets. The presence of filings in Gulf Cooperation Council (GC) and UAE (AE) territories, though smaller in count, confirms that applicants are pursuing protection in end-use markets. Any freedom-to-operate analysis should span at minimum the US, EPO, and PCT families.
US-led, globally spreadGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Nitto Denko Corp | Water Standard Co LLC | 14 |
| Kurita Water Industries Ltd | Kobe University | 8 |
| General Electric Co | BL Technology Inc | 8 |
| IDE Water Tech Ltd | IDE Technologies Ltd | 8 |
| Toray Industries Inc | Chiyoda Corporation | 7 |
| Kurita Water Industries Ltd | Nippon Steel Corporation | 2 |
| Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support SAS | OTV SA | 2 |
| Toray Industries Inc | Kochi Prefecture | 2 |
| Toray Industries Inc | Toray Engineering Co Ltd | 2 |
| Toray Industries Inc | AGC Engineering Co Ltd | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Fluid Equipment Development and Kurita Water Industries lead, with contrasting recent momentum
The top two players share a dual focus on membrane separation (B01D 61) and water treatment (C02F 1) but diverge sharply in recent filing momentum, which has strategic implications for tracking where active R&D investment is now being directed.
Fluid Equipment Development Company LLC
The overall ranking leader with 156 patent records, concentrated in B01D 61 (membrane separation processes, 148 records) and C02F 1 (water and wastewater treatment, 122 records). Recent-period momentum has dropped sharply (trend: -86%), suggesting the company’s foundational filing phase is largely complete. Engineers evaluating freedom-to-operate in pressure-exchange and positive-displacement brine-handling hardware should treat this portfolio as a dense prior-art zone.
patent records: 156Kurita Water Industries Ltd
Second-ranked with 142 patent records, split across B01D 61 (120 records), C02F 1 (108 records), and B01D 65 (membrane maintenance, 46 records). Uniquely among the top five, Kurita’s recent-period trend registers as a new entrant signal, indicating it has begun filing actively in this space after limited prior presence — a posture that warrants close monitoring for emerging sub-technology claims. The co-filing relationship with Kobe University (8 joint records) points to an academic pipeline underpinning this expansion.
patent records: 142| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Fluid Equipment Development Company LLC | 3 | ▼ -86% |
| Kurita Water Industries Ltd | 24 | ▲ new entrant |
| Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support SAS | 13 | ▼ -59% |
| Toray Industries Inc | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| Organo Corp | 11 | ▼ -65% |
| IDE Water Tech Ltd | 17 | ▼ -60% |
| Nitto Denko Corp | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches where brine management intersects pump engineering, resource recovery, and chemical synthesis
Five IPC branches appear at notably lower counts relative to the dominant C02F and B01D classes; two stand out as having plausible technical value and a realistic entry path for teams already active in RO systems.
F04B · Positive-displacement pumps (brine energy recovery hardware)
With 179 patent records versus thousands in the core water-treatment classes, F04B is sparsely covered relative to the system-level importance of pressure-exchange and high-pressure pump technology in brine handling. Pressure recovery devices are central to RO energy efficiency, yet dedicated pump-engineering claims appear underrepresented. Teams with expertise in hydraulic machinery or ceramic-piston pump design could find filing room here, particularly for configurations optimized for high-salinity, high-pressure concentrate streams rather than standard RO feed-water duty.
Search this in Eureka →C01D · Alkali-metal compounds (mineral recovery from brine)
C01D covers the chemistry of sodium, potassium, and lithium compounds — directly relevant to zero-liquid-discharge and brine-mining approaches that extract saleable minerals from RO concentrate. At 141 patent records it is sparse relative to process-treatment claims, suggesting that chemical-engineering teams focused on lithium or potassium recovery from seawater or inland brackish concentrates could find relatively open terrain. Entry paths include hybrid RO-electrodialysis-crystallization systems, where membrane and chemical-recovery expertise converge.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ across technology routes
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | C02F 1 · Water & wastewater treatment | B01D 61 · Separation processes (filtration etc.) | C02F 9 · Water & wastewater treatment | C02F 103 · Water & wastewater treatment | B01D 65 · Separation processes (filtration etc.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support SAS | Strong · 123 | Strong · 85 | Moderate · 32 | Moderate · 36 | Moderate · 27 |
| Kurita Water Industries Ltd | Strong · 108 | Strong · 120 | Emerging · 17 | Absent | Moderate · 46 |
| Fluid Equipment Development Company LLC | Strong · 122 | Strong · 148 | Absent | Emerging · 18 | Absent |
| Organo Corp | Strong · 116 | Strong · 108 | Moderate · 27 | Absent | Moderate · 28 |
| Toray Industries Inc | Strong · 71 | Strong · 118 | Absent | Absent | Moderate · 56 |
| IDE Water Tech Ltd | Strong · 80 | Strong · 62 | Absent | Strong · 55 | Absent |
| General Electric Co | Strong · 72 | Strong · 80 | Moderate · 28 | Emerging · 15 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus analysed covers 2,409 patent families. The United States is the leading filing jurisdiction, and filing activity peaked in 2018 before entering a past-peak decline phase.
Fluid Equipment Development Company LLC holds the top position with 156 patent records, concentrated in membrane separation processes (B01D 61) and water and wastewater treatment (C02F 1). Kurita Water Industries Ltd is second with 142 patent records.
The top five filers — Fluid Equipment Development, Kurita Water Industries, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support, Toray Industries, and Organo Corp — account for 23% of the combined patent records of the hundred largest filers. This reflects moderate concentration with no single dominant player.
The United States leads with 1,647 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 890, China at 745, WIPO (PCT) at 671, and Japan at 522. Meaningful coverage also exists in Australia, Canada, India, Israel, and Singapore — markets that align with major desalination deployment regions.
The field is in a Decline lifecycle stage. Annual filings peaked at 335 patent records in 2018 and have eased steadily since. Recent-period counts (2024–2026) are subject to publication lag and will revise upward, but the multi-year trend confirms a past-peak trajectory rather than a growth phase.
Two branches stand out: F04B (positive-displacement pumps, 179 patent records) covers brine-side pressure-exchange hardware that appears sparse relative to its system-level importance, and C01D (alkali-metal compounds, 141 patent records) covers mineral recovery from brine — an area relevant to zero-liquid-discharge and brine-mining strategies — where filing density is low relative to the core process-treatment classes.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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