During this new episode of our Founder Series, we sat down with Alex Rappaport, CEO and Co-founder of Zwitter Co. Zwitter Co is developing first-of-its kind filtration membranes that help treat and reuse some of the world’s most challenging waste by providing tools that industry, food and manufacturing facilities can use to treat their wastewater and reuse it on-site at or below the cost of standard discharge. 

Alex always had an interest in the outdoors and getting sick from drinking bad water taught him the importance of water treatment. While attending Tufts University for environmental engineering, he became interested in entrepreneurship as a vehicle for impact. Armed with his idea, he was able to tap into the large Tufts network of alumni and mentors and launch Zwitter Co. 

We all know that water is instrumental to human life, but it is also fundamental to our way of life, and the way we produce things uses a lot of water.  In this episode, Alex walks us through exactly how much water is wasted in making our stuff, where that water goes, and what he is doing to change that. In doing so, we learn about the main challenges of wastewater treatment, how regulation plays a role, the total market value of wastewater management, and the ins-and-outs of Zwitter’s solution to a problem that is rapidly being aggravated by climate change.