Smart Electrocoagulation

Chemical-free wastewater treatment, engineered for what's next

Kolina® SEC treats municipal and industrial wastewater without chemical dosing — proven contaminant removal, lower carbon, simpler operation.

Talk to the technical team See how it works
A Kolina Smart Electrocoagulation unit, housed in a branded container, on site.
100%
Liquid chemical dosing replaced
25%
Typical OPEX saving
Up to 40%
Whole-life carbon reduction
<2 min
Electrode plate replacement

Executive summary

The case in brief

Kolina® SEC is a proven, chemical-free alternative to liquid chemical dosing, already meeting AMP8 phosphorus consents at UK water and industrial sites. It removes bulk-chemical infrastructure, COSHH burden, and exposure to chemical price volatility entirely — while cutting cost and carbon.

50%CAPEX saving per 2,000PE works vs. a chemical-dosing build
25%Lower OPEX than chemical coagulant + alkalinity correction
100%Chemical-free — zero COSHH, storage, or tankering

Why Kolina® SEC

Built for tightening standards, rising costs, and net zero

Consents are tightening. Chemical dosing costs and carbon keep rising. Kolina® SEC was built for that shift.

01 — Performance

Consistent under tightening standards

Removes phosphorus, COD, TSS, BOD, metals and complex contaminants — keeping operators compliant as consents tighten.

02 — Resilience

Built for modern challenges

A simpler, more resilient alternative to conventional chemical dosing, as costs rise and sustainability targets bite.

03 — Control

Optimised for efficiency and control

Patented control and dynamic dosing regulate ion generation in real time, for stable, repeatable performance.

How it works

A 137-year-old idea, re-engineered

Electrocoagulation dates to 1889. Kolina® SEC takes it further, with a patented control system built for modern plants.

Chemical-freeModularCompact footprintLow maintenance
Close-up of a Kolina electrocoagulation cell's sacrificial anode plates.
Control

Patented control philosophy

Prevents electrode passivation and allows 100% utilisation of sacrificial metal anode plates.

Dosing

Dynamic dosing control

Controls ion donation to maintain ferric concentrations within consent, automatically.

Cell design

Patented cell design

Metal plate replacement in under 2 minutes, without the need for lifting equipment.

Architecture

Hybrid cell architecture

Reduces energy consumption by 90% versus our previous generation KEC model.

Whole-life impact & ROI

Lower cost. Reduced carbon. Simplified operation.

Removing liquid chemical dosing, sludge volume, and pH correction pays back on three fronts: capital, operating cost, and carbon.

50%
Average CAPEX saving per 2,000PE works vs. a chemical-dosing build — no tanker access, chemical storage, or alkalinity correction.
25%
Lower OPEX than chemical coagulant plus alkalinity correction, combined.
Up to 40%
Whole-life carbon reduction — rising to 50% as the electricity grid decarbonises.
100%
Chemical dosing replaced — no COSHH training, storage, or supply-chain risk.
30% less
Sludge mass, with no chemical counter-ions such as chlorine or sulphates.

Where it's deployed

One technology, two very different jobs

Municipal

Chemical-free treatment proven to bring phosphorus, ferric, TSS, COD and BOD within consent — built for AMP8.

Explore municipal →

Industrial

A compact, modular solution for high-strength and variable industrial effluents, across a wide range of sectors.

Explore industrial →

Next steps

Ready to move from feasibility to delivery?

We assess your site, review current treatment performance, and identify where Kolina® fits.

Municipal wastewater — AMP8

AMP8 phosphorus consents. Zero chemicals. Real savings.

Kolina® SEC replaces chemical dosing with its proven EC technology — engineered to hit tightening phosphorus limits without the cost, carbon, and supply-chain risk of chemical treatment.

A Kolina Smart Electrocoagulation unit, branded for phosphorus treatment and recovery, being delivered to a water industry site.

The challenge

Chemical dosing is getting harder to justify

Cost

Increasing cost to treat

Tighter permitting and sludge disposal costs are pushing up treatment costs fastest at smaller, rural WwTWs.

Supply chain

Vulnerability of supply

Chemical reliance strains supply and capacity — c.1,200 P-schemes are required across AMP7 (slippage) and AMP8.

Carbon

Growing carbon impact

Chemical production, dosing, and sludge transport all add emissions — more so as AMP8 reaches smaller, rural works.

How it works

Three things do the work

Sacrificial plates

100% plate utilisation

Replace liquid ferric dosing entirely — the full plate is used, none wasted.

Automatic flow control

Dynamic dosing

Diurnal current dosing & auto cell mobilisation ensures accurate ferric dosing.

Fully containerised

20ft unit, fast to install

Twelve months' plate storage on board — minimal site disruption.

Independently proven

Verified in trial, at scale

Proven in trials with the Water Technology Network (Scottish Water, Bo'Ness), Ofwat's Water Breakthrough Challenge (UU, Woolton), and South West Water (Lamerton).

<0.25 mg/l
Total Phosphorus and Ortho Phosphate to 0.25mg/l, lower with TSR, proven in trial*.
<4 mg/l
Average residual ferric in final effluent, via automatic and diurnal current control.*
Up to 85%
Reduction efficiency for suspended solids, COD and BOD.
0 steps
No need for pH or alkalinity correction after treatment.
50%
Average CAPEX saving per 2,000PE works vs. chemical dosing.
25%
Lower OPEX than chemical coagulant plus alkalinity correction, combined.
Up to 95%
Peak-load phosphorus reduction — crude TP cut from a 48 mg/l peak to 2.4 mg/l, with no tertiary polishing stage.**

*WTN trial results.  **South West Water, Lamerton trial.

"On systems which would typically utilise a chemically dosed system with a tertiary solids unit, EC could replace the chemical system and provide comparable or better performance."

— Independent technical validation, Alt-P / Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge (UU, Woolton)

"Kolina's EC can remove Total Phosphorus and Ortho Phosphate to less than 0.25mg/l."

— WTN trial

"The Kolina system was the best performing EC lane with regards to phosphorus."

— Ofwat, Water Breakthrough Challenge (UU, Woolton)

"The lowest iron average residual was produced by the Kolina system."

— Ofwat, Water Breakthrough Challenge (UU, Woolton)

"The treatment has no significant effect on alkalinity (depletion) post-treatment."

— WTN trial
Scottish Water — Bo'Ness Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge (UU, Woolton) South West Water — Lamerton

What changes on site

Chemical dosing vs. Kolina® SEC

AMP8 is driving phosphorus upgrades across hundreds of small works — here's what changes.

Chemical dosing Kolina® SEC
On-site chemical storage Required None
Chemical delivery & access civils Required None
COSHH training & handling risk Required None
Exposure to chemical price volatility Yes None

Municipal enquiries

Discuss a P-removal challenge at your works

Tell us about your site, dosing regime, and consent — we'll help you work out whether Kolina® SEC is a fit.

Arrange a preliminary call

Industrial effluent

A compact, modular answer to complex industrial effluent

Environment Agency limits on heavy metals, nutrients, toxic organics, BOD and COD keep tightening. Kolina® SEC gives operators a compact, chemical-free way to stay within consent.

Kolina's manufacturing facility, producing containerised electrocoagulation units at scale.

The challenge

Conventional treatment is running out of road

Cost

Increasing cost to treat

Chemical prices, energy costs and sludge/tankering expense are all rising — hitting variable or high-strength wastewater hardest.

Technology

Limits of conventional BAT

Complex or mixed effluents often need multiple process stages, heavy chemical use, or constant operator attention to stay in consent.

Carbon

Growing carbon considerations

Chemical manufacture, transport, energy and sludge disposal all add embedded carbon — just as operators need to cut Scope 1–3 emissions.

Independently proven

Proven across industrial sectors

Kolina® SEC is proven across metals reclamation, distilling, food processing, and petrochemical.

Up to 92%
Suspended solids removal
Up to 93%
Total petroleum hydrocarbon removal
Up to 80%
Metals removal, within EA discharge consent
90%
Reduction in carbon emissions, largely from eliminating tankering
<0.04 mg/l
Phosphorus achieved in an EA-supervised trial at EMR (May 2024) — since permanently adopted.

"Substantially reduced the cost of effluent treatment by eliminating off-site tankering, and enabled permitted water re-use for dust suppression on site."

— EMR

"Excellent performance in the removal of most of the contaminants specified in the site discharge consent limits."

— EMR
Metals reclamation — EMR Distilling — Ardgowan Food processing — Tayto, Seabrooks

Industrial enquiries

Get your effluent challenge assessed

Tell us about your process, effluent and consent limits — we'll show you where Kolina® SEC can replace or complement your existing treatment.

Arrange a preliminary call

Support & out-of-hours rates

Support, when your site needs it

Every Kolina® installation is backed by our technical team. Here's how support works, and how out-of-hours cover and rates are structured.

Standard support
Mon–Fri, 9:00–17:00

Technical support, spares ordering and site queries — call, email, or raise a ticket and our team will respond the same working day wherever possible.

Out-of-hours
Ticket-based, next working day

Outside standard hours, log your issue by email or through the support ticket form below. Our technical team picks up out-of-hours tickets first thing the next working day.

2025/26 rates

Out-of-contract support rates

If your site isn't covered by an active Kolina® support contract, call-outs are charged as a weekday day rate by region, inclusive of travel. Effective 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Region Weekday day rate (inc. travel)
North East / North West£650.00 / day
Midlands / Wales£650.00 / day
South East / South West£750.00 / day
Scotland*£750.00 / day
Northern Ireland£950.00 / day
ℹ️
Rates exclude VAT but include mileage. A 25% surcharge applies on weekends and bank holidays.
Does not include the cost of any components required, or overnight stay expenses where an overnight stay is needed.
*Scotland rate does not include the Scottish Islands.

Get in touch

Contact the technical team

Ready to move from feasibility to delivery? Our team works closely with you to assess site-specific challenges, review existing treatment performance, and define the pathway to pilot or deployment of Kolina® at your site.

Phone
0845 130 1939
Email
info@kolina.co.uk
Registered office
Windsor House, Cornwall Road,
Harrogate, HG1 2PW
A Kolina technician at work on site.

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