A laundromat capable of recycling the water it consumes and whose washing cycles, lasting 15 minutes, are optimized thanks to on-board AI. This is the ambitious promise of NoLa, invented by Washin. The Montpellier-based start-up presents a prototype of its innovation at CES 2025, organized from January 7 to 11 in Las Vegas (United States).
A “robotic concierge”
Imagine a blue square of almost three square mothers. On one side, you indicate what time to launch and recover your machine, NoLa prioritizing washing orders based on this. A robotic arm then collects the laundry and places it in one of the seven drums available inside the machine. Before an on-board artificial intelligence determines the appropriate wash cycle depending on how dirty the laundry is. A real “robotic concierge» according to its founder Dimitri Belin. For now, the Artificial Intelligence master’s student at the École des Mines says he uses open source solutions or even ChatGPT.
Created in 2018, Washin has until now focused on the installation and management of washing machine parks intended for communities (student residences, campsites, hypermarket car parks). With an annual turnover of four million euros and 2,000 devices installed in 700 laundries, the company wishes to continue its development by positioning itself on a more sustainable and innovative machine. “The idea of NoLa, born three years ago, is the result of discussions with our customers, suppliers and partners, who brought us back 37 possible points of improvement linked to water and electricity consumption.», specifies Dimitri Belin.
A three-stage filtration system
To treat the water from its machine and recycle it, NoLa relied on DTsolutions to set up a three-stage closed circuit filtration system in a tank located at the bottom of the machine. The first step is to reduce the amount of laundry detergent by 90% through the use of degassed ozonated water. “We then use a skimmer which removes the vast majority of dirt and detergent. The remaining 5% is discharged into the sewers. specifies the founder of Washin, who adds that the innovation, which combines filtration, decantation, skimming and ozone, reduces the risk of filter clogging.
A solution which also allows, according to Dimitri Belin, to carry out shorter washing cycles. “Water and ozone ensure better quality washing. The addition of an inverted pump circulating the flows countercurrent also makes washing two to three times faster possible..” These figures are still considered very optimistic by the start-up TreeWater, which is working on a wastewater treatment system for industrial laundries. This Lyon-based company is part of the European Commission’s LIFE program, which funds environmental and climate initiatives. “Even with a wastewater treatment plant, we have recycling rates of only 85 to 90%. assure son responsable commercial Jocelyn Taravel.
Towards better reuse of gray water
One thing is certain, each washing machine consuming on average 60 liters of water per wash, the stakes are high and water treatment solutions are few in number today. France, which recycles less than 1% of its wastewater, is among the very poor performers. Across Europe, no less than 42 million cubic meters of water are used each year in the laundry sector, according to the Pop’Sciences website of the University of Lyon.
Until very recently, the use of treated gray water, which consists of recovering and collecting water from showers, bathtubs, sinks, washing machines, and possibly the kitchen, then using it after treatment, is not authorized in France for domestic use. But a decree dating from July, which has yet to be clarified, has opened the way for such reuse since September. An intention confirmed by the plan “eau» of March 2023, which provides for the use of used water with a target of 1000 projects by 2027. Washin therefore targets markets where legislation on the reuse of wastewater is less restrictive, in particular developing countries .
Next step for the start-up: produce a pre-series of around ten machines for the last quarter of 2025, assembled in France and tested with around ten customers. The challenge of its presence at CES: finding a partner capable of industrializing the solution.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
