Our People

The creativity, integrity, and diligence of the people that make up a company determine what the company can deliver.

The people behind Sephton Water Technology are few in number, but have plenty of ideas and the energy to bring them to reality.

The company is owned and run by the Sephton family. Expert consultants, scientists, and engineers are hired when needed to execute a project.
Tom Sephton
Tom Sephton is President of Sephton Water Technology. He is currently conducting the VTE Geothermal Desalination Pilot/Demonstration Project. Tom Sephton assisted his father and company founder, Hugo Sephton, with earlier demonstrations, including the most recent at Modesto Energy. Tom took charge of Sephton Water Technology and the current geothermal VTE initiative in 2002. Tom Sephton received a B.A. degree in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley (1981) and an M.A. degree in Multimedia from California State University, Hayward (1999). Mr. Sephton′s work experience includes two years in biomedical research with HyTech Scientific, four years in biochemical research at U.C. Berkeley, four years as a software engineer for Extempo Systems, and 15 years operating his former business specializing in audio/video/animation production before making a full-time commitment to Sephton Water Technology.
Dieter Emmermann
Dieter Emmermann passed away in 2014. He was the consulting engineer on the VTE Geothermal Desalination Pilot/Demonstration Project. He was an independent engineering consultant specializing in the design and construction of single and dual-purpose seawater desalination plants, both thermal (VTE, MSF, and VC) and membrane (RO) type plants. Mr. Emmermann′s expertise is based on more than 30 years working in the Middle East (primarily Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Dubai) and China designing and overseeing the construction of these types of plants, ranging in size from 1.2 to 58 MGD. Mr. Emmermann received a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.
Nancy Sephton
Nancy Sephton is the Secretary/Treasusrer of Sephton Water Technology. She is primarily responsible for financial transactions of the business and ongoing projects.
Hugo van der Westhuizen
Hugo van der Westhuizen is the Vice President for Marketing and Operations in the Africa region. He has worked to make contacts and explore opportunities in areas of Africa that face critical water shortages. Mr. van der Westhuizen has an extensive background in technical product marketing and team management.
Sephton Water Technology hires new staff on a project by project basis to maintain flexibility.

Salton Sea Desalination

The current project is located at California's largest lake, the Salton Sea. This body of water is about 30% more salty than the ocean making it difficult to desalinate using commonly used technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO) or multi-stage flash (MSF). The combination of Vertical Tube Foam Evaporation (VTFE) and Dispersed Seeded Slurry Evaporation (DSSE) technology patented by Hugo Sephton is well suited to desalinating this challenging body of water.