The first half of 2026 has been Nable's busiest stretch yet. We took our nanobubble technology out of the lab and into working fish ponds, container farms, and cleaning trials across Taiwan. Along the way we gathered real field data, learned hard lessons, and sharpened our focus on where nanobubbles deliver the most value.
Here's a look at what we've been doing, and what it means if you're wondering whether nanobubbles could help your operation.
First, a quick refresher: what are nanobubbles?
Nanobubbles are gas bubbles smaller than a red blood cell, so small that they behave differently from ordinary bubbles. Instead of rising and popping at the surface, they stay suspended in water for extended periods. Two properties make them useful:
They carry gas where it's needed. A nanobubble generator can dissolve oxygen (or other gases) into water far more efficiently than conventional aeration, keeping levels stable throughout the water column.
They carry a natural negative surface charge. This lets nanobubbles attract and lift fine particles, oils, and biofilm off surfaces, which is why they can clean effectively with less chemical input.
In the pond: our aquaculture pilot
This spring we deployed the Nable Engine, our oxygen nanobubble system, in a working tilapia pond at a fish farm in coastal Taiwan. We ran it side by side against an identical control pond that used conventional paddlewheel and blower aeration, with roughly 5,000 fish in each pond.
The early results were encouraging:
- Safer ammonia levels. Toxic ammonia is one of the biggest silent killers in fish farming. During the days the Nable Engine ran continuously, the treatment pond stayed below the chronic ammonia toxicity threshold, while the control pond drifted back into the stress zone between water changes.
- A telling reversal. When we paused the system, the treatment pond crossed back above the toxicity threshold within 24 hours. That reversal is strong evidence the nanobubble system was actively driving the pond's beneficial nitrogen cycle, the bacterial process that converts toxic ammonia into safer compounds.
- Better oxygen retention. As water temperatures climbed into early summer, the nanobubble pond held its dissolved oxygen levels noticeably better than the control pond.
Just as valuable were the lessons. Working with the equipment vendor and university researchers, we identified engineering refinements (bubble distribution, gas-to-liquid ratios, water pre-filtration) that should meaningfully lift performance in the next phase. We also confirmed something the research literature has long suggested: nanobubble oxygenation shines brightest in clean, high-density systems such as recirculating aquaculture (RAS) for high-value species like eel and shrimp. That's where we're pointing our next pilots, in collaboration with marine science researchers at one of Taiwan's leading universities.
In the greenhouse: strawberries in the Ark
At the same site, we deployed two of our Ark container farms and planted over 4,000 white strawberry seedlings. The Ark pairs controlled-environment growing with nanobubble-enriched irrigation, and this deployment is testing something we're especially excited about: whether filtered water from the fish ponds can feed the strawberries as effectively as groundwater.
If it works, it points toward a circular model where a fish farm's nutrient-rich wastewater becomes an input for premium crops instead of a disposal problem. We're tracking sweetness (Brix), yield, and fruit size through the first full growing cycle, from transplant through flowering, pollination, and harvest.
In the cleanroom and the laundry: cleaning without harsh chemicals
Cleaning is where nanobubbles' surface chemistry does the work, and we've been validating it on two very different fronts:
- Precision industrial cleaning. We began scoping trials with partners in the semiconductor supply chain, where storage tanks and barrels must be cleaned to extraordinary purity standards. Today that's done with huge volumes of ultrapure water and, sometimes, aggressive chemicals that can degrade expensive protective coatings over time. Nanobubbles offer a gentler path: lifting particles off surfaces electrostatically rather than blasting them off, with no chemical residue to rinse away.
- Textile washing. Under a partnership agreement signed last year, we're running controlled lab tests comparing nanobubble washing against conventional washing across fabric types and stain classes, measuring whether we can match or beat cleaning performance while cutting detergent, water, and heating energy.
Both programs are deliberately rigorous. We test against real baselines, with clear go/no-go criteria, because we'd rather earn trust with controlled evidence than lean on big claims.
What this means for you
If you operate a fish farm, a greenhouse, an industrial cleaning line, or a commercial laundry, the throughline of our 2026 work is this: nanobubbles are not magic, but applied to the right problem they measurably move the numbers you already track, such as dissolved oxygen, ammonia, particle counts, water use, and chemical spend.
We're looking for partners who want to put that to the test on their own site, with their own data as the control. If that sounds like you, get in touch via email; we'd love to design a pilot together.
Nable is a Taiwan-based nanobubble technology company. Explore our Nanobubble Tech and Areas of Focus pages to learn more.