Drinkable water, 500m below the sea

Since November 2024, Flocean’s subsea intake system has operated 500 meters below sea level, processing over 11 million liters of raw seawater into clean, drinkable water.

Now, for the first time, that water has been third party verified as safe to drink—without  post-treatment.

Drawn from ancient deep-sea aquifers and processed using Flocean’s land-based desalination stack, the resulting water is naturally low in contaminants and perfectly mineral-balanced. Independent lab tests confirm: this is ultra-pure, potable water—straight from the subsea tap.

Flocean CEO, Alexander Fuglesang, drinks water straight from the deployed system.

In this latest validation trial, the subsea pump delivered deep-sea water to the surface for treatment using Flocean’s full-scale land-based desalination stack—no chemical pre-treatment, no post-filtration required. The goal: to prove the system’s viability using real-world, high-pressure ocean inputs.

It worked. For the first time, our subsea intake architecture has been proven under actual ocean conditions—not just lab simulations. The system held steady at 500 meters, operated remotely, and produced water that met or exceeded global drinking water standards.

The resulting water exceeded global drinking standards and required significantly less energy and emissions than conventional desalination.

This milestone lays critical groundwork for our first commercial deployment at Mongstad, slated for H1 2026. With each test, we’re refining performance, improving reliability, and demonstrating what subsea desalination makes possible: new water supply, produced offshore, at scale.

The future of freshwater is subsea

The world is running out of water—and the systems we rely on to produce it are hitting their limits.

Traditional desalination is carbon-intensive, land-hungry, and environmentally disruptive. It takes up coastal space many regions can’t afford to lose and discharges toxic brine back into the ocean, damaging marine ecosystems.

Subsea desalination offers a different path. It uses ocean pressure instead of energy-intensive pumps. It moves infrastructure offshore. And it works in places surface plants can’t.

Water is no longer just a resource—it’s a limiting factor. On growth. On resilience. On planning for the future. Nations and industries that secure new supply will be better positioned to adapt.

With this test behind us, we’re focused on scaling Flocean One—refining the system to deliver reliable, low-impact freshwater to the communities and regions that need it most.

Learn more: https://www.flocean.green