The idea for the collaboration was born after Swedish Hydro Solutions participated in the European research project ScoreWater, led by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, which ran from 2019 to 2023. The project aimed to strengthen cities' resilience to climate change and urbanization through digital solutions for smarter water management. By bringing together authorities, universities, urban developers, and technology experts, new methods and digital technologies were developed and tested for more sustainable water governance.

IVL engaged several companies in Gothenburg to spread awareness about stormwater management to the public. One of them was Universeum, which created the exhibition "Water World"—a digital learning experience aimed at families and school groups.

The Ocean Lab has become a popular part of this exhibition, allowing all visitors over the age of three to participate and explore how water treatment works.

At Swedish Hydro Solutions, we see this collaboration as an important initiative to increase awareness of water treatment and its significance for our ecosystems.

– Knowledge of how pollutants affect our waterways is essential to understanding the importance of protecting both our water bodies and ecosystems. Clean water is scarce in many parts of the world, which is why it is crucial for the public to gain a deeper understanding of how we can treat polluted water in a sustainable and efficient way, says Jakob Sjöberg, founder of Swedish Hydro Solutions and participant in the ScoreWater project.

– By allowing children and young people to test the chitosan method, they gain a concrete understanding of how we can reduce our environmental impact and contribute to a more sustainable future, Jakob continues.

Christian Sandberg has also seen clear results from the initiative.

– My hope is to keep the lab running until the end of May. By then, we will likely have conducted 400–500 lab sessions, with an average of 15 participants per session. So, by summer, around 6,000 people will have worked with chitosan in the lab, he says.

At the University of Gothenburg, research on experience-based learning is ongoing. Lena Pareto is studying how activities like the Ocean Lab influence children and young people.

– We believe that our work has a significant impact on children and young people. Through research, we hope to better understand how we influence visitors and find ways to evaluate our activities, so we can create the best conditions for experience-based learning, explains Christian.

At the Ocean Lab, visitors get the chance to purify three types of contaminated water:

• Muddy water from a construction site
• Water with oil (simulated with cooking oil)
• Water that needs pH adjustment due to being too acidic or too alkaline

The goal is for children to use substances derived from nature, such as our flocculant chitosan—a natural compound extracted from crab shells. By adding chitosan, they can observe firsthand how particles in the water cluster together and settle at the bottom in a sedimentation process, helping to remove particle-bound contaminants from the water.

The activity has received highly positive feedback from visitors.

– Several have said it was a highlight of their visit. For many, it’s their first time in a lab, and putting on a lab coat creates an exciting experience. It’s also the first time they’ve heard of chitosan, and they are surprised when they see the mud particles clump together and settle at the bottom of the measuring cylinder, says Christian.

He has also noticed that some children find it so fascinating that they return to do the lab again.

– There is great interest in environmental issues, and we want to highlight positive examples where chemistry and chemical knowledge provide solutions to many of our environmental challenges, he concludes.

The Ocean Lab will remain open until May, but the hope is that it can return in some form later in 2025 or in 2026. At Swedish Hydro Solutions, we look forward to continuing to support Universeum with both expertise in water treatment and our biodegradable flocculant, chitosan – and perhaps even inspiring a future water treatment specialist.