Birchtech Corp., a company known for its specialty activated carbon technologies, is joining forces with Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC), a national engineering and environmental consulting firm. The goal: to make advanced water testing faster, more affordable, and more widely available for water utilities across the country.

Under a new letter of intent, Birchtech will provide Rapid Small-Scale Column Testing (RSSCT) for CEC’s utility customers through its Analytical Design Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The lab is designed to help utilities and industries tackle complex water treatment challenges - from regulatory compliance to performance optimization - at a speed few U.S. labs can match.

RSSCT is a specialized testing method that mimics how a full-scale filter bed performs but in a much shorter time frame. The approach allows utilities to predict how well granular activated carbon (GAC) will remove contaminants before investing in large-scale systems. In other words, it helps decision-makers fine-tune their water treatment strategies efficiently and with confidence.

The partnership marks an important step for Birchtech’s “Clean Water” business, which focuses on delivering fast, data-driven solutions for water treatment. The company already works with numerous utilities and sees this collaboration as a way to expand its footprint in the U.S. market.

By combining CEC’s engineering expertise with Birchtech’s cutting-edge testing capabilities, the two companies hope to strengthen water quality programs across the country - and speed up the path from testing to treatment.