# Eden Technologies

**Type:** venture
**Status:** Draft
**Confidence:** Low
**Focus:** water desalination, reverse osmosis, centrifuge efficiency, water scarcity, Southwest water
**Stage:** Seed ($1M+ raised: $750K seed + $250K Utah Innovation Fund, as of 2023)
**Location:** St. George, UT (Utah Tech University spinout)
**Updated:** 2026-06-19
**Needs-reviewed:** 2026-06-19
**Hero:** https://picsum.photos/seed/eden-tech-water/1600/1100
**Pull:** *A centrifuge retrofit that claims to double the freshwater yield of existing desalination plants — built by a Utah Tech spinout in one of the driest corners of the country.*
**Relates:** cites [Official Website: Eden Technologies](eden-technologies-official-website.md)

## Summary

Eden Technologies (Eden Tech) is a St. George, Utah startup that has developed a Reverse Osmosis Centrifuge (ROC) — a patented retrofit device that applies centrifugal force to the reverse osmosis process to increase water recovery. The company claims the ROC can double freshwater yield and achieve a 15% recovery improvement over conventional RO plants, with potential for zero liquid discharge. It was founded around 2020 by Hunter Manz and Zachary Manweiler as a Utah Tech University spinout.

The geographic context matters: the company is operating in the American Southwest, where water scarcity is a direct constraint on agriculture, growth, and long-term habitability. The ROC's retrofit model — enhancing existing desalination plants rather than building new ones — is pragmatically attractive because it avoids the capital cost of greenfield construction.

## Impact

If the ROC's claimed 2x freshwater yield holds at industrial scale, it would unlock meaningful additional capacity from existing desalination infrastructure. The Navajo Nation and Saudi Arabia pilot contexts (mentioned in early company materials) suggest the technology is being taken seriously in different deployment environments. The impact case is real but depends entirely on independent validation at industrial scale — lab results and small-scale tests are encouraging, but the leap to full industrial deployment has tripped up many water-tech startups.

## What They Are Building

The Reverse Osmosis Centrifuge: a hardware retrofit that applies centrifugal force to the standard pressure-differential process of reverse osmosis. The centrifuge changes the pressure gradient in a way that allows more water extraction from the brine side. Eden Tech targets the retrofit market for existing RO plants rather than building new plants. Zero liquid discharge (eliminating the brine waste stream entirely) is a stated target.

## What They Need Now

Materials engineers and membrane specialists with reverse osmosis expertise; mechanical engineers who can work on centrifuge design for extreme-chemistry environments; water-sector business-development people who can navigate municipal, agricultural, and industrial water-treatment procurement. At $1M raised, this is a very early-stage company — contributors should expect high individual leverage and high uncertainty.

## Who Could Help

Water-sector veterans who can validate claims and open procurement conversations; membrane manufacturers and RO equipment suppliers; capital sources in the climate-tech / water-tech sector; engineering partners who have scaled industrial water treatment hardware; contacts at Navajo Nation water authorities or international aid organizations that test novel desalination approaches.

## Utah Context

Eden Technologies is a Utah Tech University (St. George) spinout — one of relatively few deep-tech ventures emerging from southern Utah's growing university ecosystem. St. George is positioned directly in the Colorado River water-scarcity zone, making water efficiency a locally urgent problem. Eden Tech connects to Utah's broader water-scarcity story alongside the agricultural water demand that contributes to [Great Salt Lake](great-salt-lake.md) decline and the desalination needs of the arid Southwest.

## Evidence

- [Official Website: Eden Technologies](eden-technologies-official-website.md)

## Open Questions

- Company-reported performance claims (2x freshwater yield) have not been independently validated at industrial scale. What peer-reviewed or third-party validation exists?
- Website URL was listed as edentechinc.com — verify this is still the active domain.
- Saudi Arabia and Navajo Nation pilot mentions — what stage are those pilots at? Have they produced data?
- Hunter Manz and Zachary Manweiler are student-founder vintage; what is the current team's operational depth for commercialization?