Midland company creating water filters that will be sold globally

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This is Accelerated Filtration's initial pump that was used for the first phase of testing and pre-production.

Accelerated Filtration CEO Scott Burr and Director of Sales Ruben Delgadillo use a light inside a filter to show the 700,000 small openings where up to half a million gallons of water will be pumped through it on an average day.

From left, Tanya Krueger, David Voth, Ruben Delgadillo, Scott Burr, Tom Stroud and Amy Burr make up the Accelerated Filtration team which is growing as the Midland company moves into full production.

Accelerated Filtration is currently building six pumps as it moves into full production in the second quarter of the year.

Scott Burr shows the initial pump that was used for the first phase of testing and pre-production.

The 6,000 square feet warehouse will have six more pumps and a dedicated staff for manufacturing of the filter.

Scott Burr shows off the initial pump that was used for the first phase of testing and pre-production.

A local startup company is creating products that will help municipalities around the world with their water systems.

Scott Burr started Accelerated Filtration, located in Midland, because he noticed the need for areas in the U.S. and the world to have access to better water treatments.

"This was a technology base that (myself and the team) were all familiar with, and with its development, it needed to be put into a startup environment with the right team and the right ownership style," said Burr. "This is the second generation of the technology, and this product form is the one that makes it available to the world globally. It makes it a competitive, affordable, scalable, and robust automatic product."

Burr has a Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from Virginia Tech and has worked at Dow and DuPont and has 25 years of experience in engineering and water filtration.

Accelerated Filtration was incorporated in December 2020 and concluded its first wave of funding in March 2022. Since then, Burr has moved into a space shared with SC Johnson in Midland. They have 6,000 square feet of warehouse space and the current team has eight people on board with five more warehouse jobs currently open as they prepare to ship the filtration system out to customers.

"As a startup company, SC Johnson has been a great partner for us because they allow us to grow in the facility," said Burr. "It's all about cash flow and affordability when you are getting off the ground."

Accelerated Filtration produces industrial water filters that focus on making industries better water stewards.

"(We) enable them to handle more variable sources of intake water, recycle and reuse their processed water, and improve their wastewater, all for improved water storage," Burr explained. "It is critical because we have water-stressed regions all over the globe. Those water-stressed regions tend to correspond with population centers that are also rapidly growing."

Food and beverage plants, agriculture (livestock) industry, steel mills, and oil and gas industries are just some of the industries Burr listed as groups that need access to this level of water filtration.

A single commercial pump can see up to 400 gallons per minute run through its filter. According to members of the Accelerated Filtration team, an average garden hose pumps out five to six gallons per minute. On average, the pump could see just over half a million gallons pumped through it in a day.

They also pointed out that a city, depending on the population size, would see an average of half a million to five million gallons a day, with larger metropolitan areas like Los Angeles or San Fransico to see upwards of 12 million gallons a day.

"When we help (industries) be better stewards of water, that frees up water resources for residential use," said Burr. "Just to know that we are going to get out there and solve problems that are really applicable to all of us in our society. We are working on the global water problem along with many other great companies and we know that this is going to be a good piece."

Water, if using Accelerated Filtration, would run through a patented filter that has over 700,000 openings.

The warehouse will soon see six more of the final products set up, and the company is getting ready to start shipping out its filter to places all over the world.

"Since we closed our second round of funding we are seeking to hire a manufacturing director," said Burr. "We are beginning to build inventory and get our product commercialized in the second quarter."

As a local startup, Accelerated Filtration is experiencing growth as they get ready to start the manufacturing process for customers all over the world. Being centrally located in the Mid-Michigan region gives the company access to the natural water in the surrounding area, which Burr says is not to be taken for granted as the company looks to help water-scarce areas all over the globe.

"As a resident of this area, I think it speaks to the quality of the people and the manufacturing base we have in Michigan," said Burr. "We build our product with Michigan suppliers, we have a lot of great Michigan-based partners. The resources here are fantastic and we are able to draw from that. We're in one of the richest water regions in the world, but we are able to develop a technology here in one of the richest water regions in the world to get to places that are water scarce."

Accelerated Filtration can be found online at acelfil.com. The company is located at 1550 East Virginia Drive in Midland and is currently hiring for a director of manufacturing and looking to bring on a warehouse crew for manufacturing. The company can be contacted through the website contact page or by email at [email protected].