West Sacramento, CA – June 21, 2010 – Micromidas, Inc., the leading provider of microbial biorefinery technology for wastewater treatment, announced today that the company has been selected as one of the Top 50 Water Innovation Leaders by the Artemis Project, a consulting practice focused on 21rst century water management.

Winners were announced at the second annual Top 50 Water Companies Competition at the Blue Tech Innovation Forum held in San Francisco, CA. Water technology companies from around the world were represented in the competition. The winners were chosen based on technology viability, investment appeal, and prospects for potential business and employment growth.

“We are honored to have been selected as one of the Top 50 Water Innovation Leaders by the Artemis Project”, said John Bissell, CEO of Micromidas. “Our selection as a leading water treatment innovator further validates the unique value we provide wastewater treatment plant customers in solving their enormous biomass disposal problems”.  

With increasing water consumption and diminishing groundwater supply, there is a great need to implement wastewater treatment reuse programs at municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, efficient disposal of sludge biomass frequently represents as much as 40% of total wastewater treatment cost, and is often the limiting factor in efforts to increase sludge disposal capacity.

Using microbes native to earth’s soil and water, Micromidas has created a microbial biorefinery technology that dramatically increases the efficiency of wastewater treatment by using bioprocessing and green chemistry to convert sludge biomass in to compostable, biodegradable bioplastics. This process can reduce the overall amount of sludge biomass by over 50%. Unlike other schemes that offer marginal treatment alternatives, Micromidas’ sludge biomass removal is not merely cost mitigation, but a genuine, economically vibrant, environmentally benign solution to a huge and growing environmental problem.

About The Artemis Project

Established in 2000, The Artemis Project is a boutique consulting practice that brings unique capabilities to 21st century water management, combining an understanding of the most advanced solutions with an international network of developers, investors and users of advanced water technology.  As the leading authority on applying advanced water solutions to business operations, The Artemis Project specializes in developing holistic water management strategies for major corporations.  The Artemis Project also supports product launches of advanced water technology into business operations worldwide.