Miox lands $19 million to pump up water opportunities

Albuquerque, N.M.-based Miox has received an infusion of capital from several venture firms, including DCM, Sierra Ventures and Flywheel Ventures for its water treatment technology and plans to tackle new markets.

The company said today the latest investment of $19 million is validation of the strong growth it experienced in the U.S. municipal drinking water disinfection market. In January 2007, Miox landed $14.5 million to help it accelerate growth in emerging markets (see Know the name Imperium? You will...).

Investors said Miox has a strong management team and a large potential global market. DCM said it will help Miox with its global market development efforts.

The American Water Works Association estimates U.S. water utilities will need to invest $250 billion over the next 30 years to replace aging pipes. When technology, security and water treatment are included in that price tag, researchers said the figure is projected to be $500 billion.

Miox has developed a distributed architecture capable of treating water at remote sources. In doing so, the technology is well-suited for regions where there’s no available infrastructure of treatment. What’s more, the company and analysts say the technology can typically treat water more efficiently and at lower costs because of its proximity to the water source.

The company was founded in 1994 and has mixed oxidant systems built around Miox’s proprietary electrolytic cell. It produces a liquid stream of mixed oxidants of chlorine and oxygen that the company claims is both effective and safer with fewer byproducts than traditional chlorination.

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