Seaver Construction completes 18,000 s/f
lab at ZwitterCo Innovation Center

Woburn, MA Seaver Construction has completed construction at ZwitterCo’s new Innovation Center at 12 Cabot Rd. Work included an 18,000 s/f design/build prototyping lab build-out completed with design partners Ebbrell Architecture + Design and RMF Engineers.

The new Innovation Center joins with ZwitterCo’s corporate offices and provides a working lab to enhance research and develop product prototypes quickly. The new lab is complete with a viewing area, prototype assembly, wet test, coating hall, chemistry, machine shop and staff offices.

The construction management team at Seaver worked closely with ZwitterCo, the design team, and select subcontractors to deliver the project on schedule and within budget.

ZwitterCo facilities manager Ken Walley said, “My experience working with Seaver was a pleasure, they do great work. The project manager was knowledgeable and great to work with. I would highly recommend Seaver for any project.”

ZwitterCo is an advanced membrane technology company named after its innovation – a zwitterionic copolymer. This copolymer uses zwitterions, a special class of molecule that is hydrophilic, or highly attractive to water molecules. ZwitterCo was founded with the idea of “clean water from every source.” The company helps customers treat and reuse unconventional water and wastewater with the world’s first fouling-immune membranes. ZwitterCo has been recognized as 2023 Breakthrough Technology Company of the Year at the Global Water Summit and by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation as a leader in clean water technologies. They were recently named on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2024 list, as well as receiving a bronze award at the Edison Awards.

This first-of-its-kind facility unites groundbreaking membrane science with prototyping and scale-up capabilities, allowing ZwitterCo to innovate faster and more collaboratively with their market development partners.

“ZwitterCo has unlocked the true potential of zwitterions for water treatment, resulting in a leap in membrane performance,” said Chris Drover, co-founder and CTO of ZwitterCo. “The mechanisms behind fouling and degradation that plague traditional membranes do not apply to our products.”

Alex Rappaport, CEO and cofounder said, “The Innovation Center is the first and only R&D center in the U.S. focusing exclusively on rapidly developing and prototyping new applications for zwitterionic technology, which is critical to unlocking previously impossible industrial water reuse.”

ZwitterCo was spun out of Tufts University in 2018. They report delivering membranes for more than 20 commercial projects that have the capacity to treat 6 million gallons of wastewater daily in agriculture, food/beverage, landfills, bioprocessing, and other industrial applications.