I'd now like to turn the floor over to today's host, Rick MacPherson, Chief Executive Officer at Birchtech Corp. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Matt, and thank you folks for joining us today to hear our story from Birchtech. Clean coal and clean water technologies for more affordable contaminant removal. The forward-looking statements, please take notice of those. Stacey, if you'd move the slide, please. Next we will go to the Birchtech overview. Birchtech develops activated carbon technologies and provides consulting services to remove mercury from the air we breathe and forever chemicals from the water we drink. That's our key skill set that's been developed over many years. Our team includes industry-leading activated carbon experts, which allow us to move forward in this field. On the Clean Air technology side, we have an established core business of reducing mercury emissions with our patented SEA technologies. We've generated over $188 million in revenue to date.
Of late, what's very interesting, we've moved all of this skill set and know-how into clean water technologies. We are a new entrant into this multi-billion-dollar market, focusing on PFAS removal or the forever chemicals. Our near-term EPA regulations for PFAS compliance. Our technologies are on track for that, and it's expected that the PFAS compliance costs will increase to about $1.5 billion at least annually, of which we expect to make a major play in. We have a strong IP portfolio and a strong IP enforcement strategy with regards to our air business. We've collected over $37 million in license agreements and also are now in a position where we are collecting on a final judgment by the Delaware Federal Court for $78 million.
We expect to collect that money this year in 2026. There's also very strong regulatory tailwinds with regards to our air pollution control side of business as well as the water purification. The PFAS regulations are expected to kick in in 2027-2028 and be fully operable in 2030-2031. A lot of states are now operating and implementing new regulations for PFOA and PFAS on their own. Next slide. There are three basic growth opportunities with the company that we are pursuing. One is, of course, our core business, a recurring air supply of materials business, and that is growing nicely. We expect to see it grow well in 2026 and beyond, because of the recent settlements that we've had throughout 2025.
Those also included as a license, plan for us to be able to compete for their supply contracts going forward. As they come up for renewal, we are in a preferred spot to be able to, acquire that supply business as we go forward. We don't know exactly when the individual contracts are coming up, but as we vie for them and are successful, we will be announcing those wins as we go forward. That core business expected to grow nicely in 2026 and beyond. Also we have a very significant, patent value proposition there, of course, with the $78 million, which is earning interest daily.
Now in collection phase, we are moving forward with a new group of attorneys, as well as our Caldwell Cassady & Curry group, to ensure that we have success in collecting those funds. We'll bring news to the market as we move forward. What's very interesting, of course, is that the judgment also included a definition of willful infringement, and also a joint and several means of collection, both of which bode very well for us in our efforts to collect that $78 million. On the clean water side, our long-term growth potential is where we really are focusing and have been focused this past year or more.
We are experts in carbonaceous materials, and not only have we developed SEAs, as in the air side, sorbent enhancing additives for the granular activated carbons that we will be working with. We have created a very sophisticated rejuvenation process, which we are now demonstrating to the market and will be bringing forward, in order to secure contracts for long-term business, throughout 2026 and into 2027. We will be announcing those wins as well as we move through 2026 and into 2027. Next slide, please. As I mentioned earlier, the legacy air business, that market expansion is expected.
It's a great recurring core business, and we do expect to be announcing wins on that front as we go forward in the coming months. Now, if we move to the next slide on clean water technologies, we have a number of different facets of our approach and entry into the water market. PFOA and PFAS, of course, is our long-term main approach into the market, and we look at significant near- and long-term growth, moving rapidly into this large expanding market. Two new world-class design centers have been built and paid for, one in North Dakota and another in Pennsylvania, enabling the creation of advanced water treatment solutions nationwide for utility testing. These new techs are launching with commercialization to begin this year to help utilities stay ahead of the evolving regulations with activated carbon recognized as the best available technology by EPA.
These centers that we have built and staffed are really what is allowing us to enter the water business in a very short term versus traditionally it would take maybe a decade to enter successfully into the water market. We see this happening this year, so a two to three-year ramp-up. A lot of the companies that we're working with, the engineering firms and their water utilities, are seeing us as the tip of the spear for their PFOA/PFAS strategy developments.
With the expertise that we bring to market, we are allowing these engineers and their utilities to be able to understand exactly what they need to do and how to do it in order to be able to get compliant with the PFOA/PFAS regulations, whether it's state regulations that are taking effect now in the near future or the federal regulations at the end of the decade. Next slide, please. What's really interesting is that PFOA and PFAS contamination across the U.S. is very widespread. Tens of thousands of water utilities are facing the challenge to meet this toxin. The number of U.S. communities is over 50,000 water community systems having to look at this.
The problem, of course, is PFAS chemicals don't break down easily, and exposure is linked to a range of health concerns, including increased cancer risks, decreased fertility, and other harmful conditions. If you look at the map, each blue dot on the map represents a utility that requires a unique activated carbon blend for compliant water treatment. A more robust solution is required to effectively change ahead of the EPA regulations going into effect. We're working with utilities now every day, evaluating their water, doing the chemistry analysis that's necessary through their engineering firms, and then taking in a lot of cases where they are using granular activated carbon, rejuvenating this and showing them the efficacy that we can provide them by moving them down that chain of production. Next slide, please, Stacey. Our water business overview is basically three integrated tiers.
First is the design centers where I've mentioned we do the analytical analysis, and we do the rejuvenation and specialty carbon development. We have already developed our SEA4GAC, and we'll be introducing that to markets in the coming months. Also, we have a water treatment solutions division, which we announced our first contract on late in 2025, just shy of $1 million. That's where we work with industrial clients like power plants, which of course we're very involved with, where we will work with them to purify their water systems, which is required many times a year on an ongoing basis. That water treatment division is growing nicely. We'll be making material news on that in the coming weeks as we go forward.
It's a very important part of our company that we think will ramp nicely going through 2026 and into 2027. The third tier, of course, is our rejuvenation services that I alluded to earlier, which will allow us to present an opportunity for the water utilities to be able to get 100% efficacy from a rejuvenated product, as they would should they just acquire new, fresh GAC to apply to their system, giving them significant economic value and also removing 100% of the PFOA and PFAS contaminants. Next slide, please.
As I mentioned, we backed up a couple of years ago and invested in the people and the equipment and the places that required to be able to do the best analytical work possible in the water treatment market, in particular as to how it works, in servicing the PFOA/PFAS problem. Dr. Nick Lentz, who's on the screen here, he actually did his thesis in PFOA/PFAS over 20 years ago. We're highly well trained, and working, under the guidance of Dr. David Mazyck as well in order to be able to bring the engineering firms that we've built great relationships with, the type of expertise, that they require to be able to tell their clients exactly what they're facing and what should be done about it.
That combines with our design center in Pennsylvania to be able to work through and provide very specific game plans for the utilities going forward, which puts us in the supply chain nicely as we move forward to the point where the regulations become effective. Next slide, please. Water treatment systems integrated for advanced contaminant removal. What we have here, folks, is basically three different approaches that work nicely together to be able to provide a full-service approach to water utilities as they move forward to meet the new regulations. We have also a very complete package of materials that we're now offering and services. We have nuclear-grade ion exchange resins. We have mixed media bed offerings. We have pilot-scale studies and treatment options for PFAS. We also are now producing a line of Birchtech equipment supplies.
We're offering the technical consulting and plant optimization services and also vessels and change-out services for water utilities that either have or would like to have GAC facilities operating. On top of that, we offer the complete logistics and material handling support. We have really grown nicely into this market, and we will start in the very near future, most likely next week or so, to bring some of the material news to market of our successes in these areas. This is very much new. It's been under the radar for the past year or more. It's growing nicely, and we'll start to take material presence as we push through 2026 and beyond. Next slide, please. Our carbon rejuvenation is a very unique, interesting development that's taken place under Dr. David Mazyck that we have created and worked on and developed for the past couple of years.
W hat we've been able to do is increase the efficacy of rejuvenation of spent carbons way beyond what's been seen in the market to date. We've been able to do that at a much reduced cost as well as also we've been able to do it at varying different sizes. We're now able to approach the market, that growing GAC market, with very customized options in order to be able to bring a full-service package to small to midsize and larger utilities as they put their program together for PFOA/PFAS collection. All of this will be ramped up and become material operations through 2026 and into 2027.
We'll bring more news and update to the market as we continue to put the arrangements together with utilities on their side of the business. Now recent and upcoming catalysts, as we see here, is our, of course, settlement of infringement claims that we've had, and the entrance into this $1.5 billion water market. In summary, we have this final judgment from the federal court, which we are now in the collection process, which is growing interest as we speak. We have this additional water business, which is coming on top of our entry in December, which we'll be making more news about in the coming week or two. We have increased revenues through the settlements that we made in 2025 expected on our core business in 2026.
We expect to begin at least one, if not two, of our rejuvenation centers in 2026, and we expect that they will be operable by end of 2027. That's a quick but detailed rundown of where we are and where we expect to be. What I'll do now, Stacey, if you wanna go to the last slide, I will open it up for questions and see if I can't answer those questions from any of you that have some. Okay. We do have a few questions coming in. If I don't get to yours today, we're happy to follow up after the event or during tomorrow's one-on-one meetings. First question. How should investors think about the core growth driver between mercury capture and water treatment solutions over the next 12-24 months?
I'll just reiterate in general, we do expect mercury product sales, our core business, to increase due to the settlements that we had in 2025. If you recall, we have a significant lawsuit underway as well as the Delaware settlement, which started out with 12 different defendants. It's now down to four. Those that settled got a license, and we now have the right to bid on their supply side. I expect that we will get supply side wins and that will add nicely to our core business as we continue through 2026. On the Water Treatment side, I think we're gonna see some significant growth in the basic water treatment side, following on that announcement we made in December. I think our rebranded chemical sales will be quite strong. We've got a very strong pipeline.
We're also still, of course, waiting and expecting that we will have a significant amount of granular activated carbon to sell in the latter half of 2026. Collectively, I think we're going to have a very strong sales year in 2026 with those new areas of development. As well, the research and development side, I feel is going to turn into a real profit center as well because they are very busy. We're charging for the work that we do there, and we're adding equipment and people as we speak. Next question. Following your recently announced sales in the water treatment solutions, what does the growth ramp look like for the Water Treatment business? That's similar to the first question. I'll reiterate, we do expect significant growth given a strong pipeline in the Water Treatment business.
I would expect that we're, you know, somewhere in the 5x-10x expectation for revenue in 2026 versus the starting position we had in 2025. Next question. Can you discuss expected adoption timing from utilities as environmental regulations are introduced? Well, similar to the mercury business when we entered it, a lot of states are taking on their own regulations, which are starting to be put into effect in some as early as 2026, but, you know, 2026, 2027, 2028, with the federal regulations coming into play, fully in play in 2030 and 2031. We're going to be extremely busy with our testing and design centers over the next number of years, but also we'll be fulfilling as many of the state opportunities as we can.
We're working with a number of different engineering firms with long-term relationships established, which covers literally thousands of different water utilities that we are indirectly working with. I expect it'll ramp up nicely through 2026. As we get our rejuvenation centers up and running end of 2027, things will really take off on that side of our business. Next question. What does the competitive landscape look like for specialty activated carbon, and where is our market position? We're really not in the specialty activated carbon business. We're not looking to compete with the large competitors like Calgon or Norit.
We're looking to stay in our lane, stay as technology and engineering specialists, and work with the water utilities through their engineering firms to be able to make sure they've got the best possible solution going forward. I think over the next two to three years in particular, we'll be very busy. We will have GAC available for sale, but it mostly will be used as we progress over the next two to three years as the makeup material that's required to provide a fully customized rejuvenated product. That will be our position in the market, and it has hundreds of millions of dollars of potential. Next question. Regarding the $78 million litigation judgment, what is the realistic timeline investors should expect for cash collection?
We're very much focused on and strategizing to receive those funds by the end of this year. Again, as I mentioned earlier, due to the willfulness of the infringement and the joint and several nature of the collection directive, we feel that we're in a very solid position to collect on this judgment sometime in 2026. Next question. Assuming payment is received, how would management prioritize capital allocation between debt reduction, growth investment, or shareholder return? I got to say this is for the board to decide, of course. We very much want to underwrite our water infrastructure growth along with a plan for debt financing of the plants that we expect to build.
We are looking at a couple of ancillary acquisitions, which would get us to market faster and smooth out the connection between us and the utilities. Not major expense acquisitions, but profitable ones all the same. We also would, of course, like to potentially show shareholder appreciation, if it made sense with a dividend of some sort, again, fully requiring board approval. I've got time for one more question. Let me just read that one. What operating metrics should investors monitor to determine whether 2026 becomes a true inflection year for the business? There's a number of key things that investors should be looking for. First and foremost, of course, would be new sales agreements on our core business.
Those RFP responses that are successful with the folks that we have settled with that has the potential to drive our core business of you know approximately $78 million a year into the well over $ 20+ million on its own. I do think that we will increase that business significantly in 2026. It's dependent on when the contracts come up for renewal, but as they do and we succeed in replacing them, we will announce them. They're typically three to five- year contracts that are usually in the multi-million dollar range as well. Secondly, our Water Treatment business will grow substantially.
We've got a very strong pipeline, and as I mentioned, we did just under $1 million last year by getting into it late in December 2025, and I expect somewhere in a 5x- 10x growth in that business in 2026. I expect some very solid numbers on that side. Great margin business, and we are now just rebranding and establishing that entire product line and looking very much forward to moving that growth forward in 2026. I guess before I get to that, I should say that our analytical business and our design centers are extremely busy right now. We expect that to continue to grow. I'm looking at more equipment and manpower as we speak to enhance that effort.
It not only builds us into the long-term PFAS play, but it does provide very good revenue source now for those services which are very unique and industry-leading. That's a very nice growth area that we will start reporting on as well as we continue through 2026 from a revenue basis. Most importantly, because of the relationships it allows us to create with the engineering firms, it really brings us nicely into the water market almost overnight. Our growth and expected sales of GAC in the latter part of 2026 should be strong. It's waiting final commissioning of the new plant that we will be representing commercially. As that comes online, we'll bring more news to market on that, and that has substantial growth opportunity for us both in 2026 and beyond.
Long term, the big side of the upside of the company's value will come from our rejuvenation centers. We're working very diligently now to get the first couple up and running, and we'll make material announcements on those as they come to fruition. I expect that, in the long term, will be our majority value builder for the company and its shareholders and very much looking forward to bringing material news to market as that develops. All of those key points, those four or five key areas of endeavor are the things to watch for that should trigger interest and coverage by the analysts that we are now attracting that we're on the New York Stock Exchange. I think overall, very big year for the company ahead of us.
Expect some very, you know, strong material gains in value and, expecting and hoping, that it will show in the enterprise value as we push through the year. With that, I'd like to thank everybody for joining us today and look forward to bringing the year-end news and wins as we have them as we go through 2026.
Thank you. That concludes Birchtech Corp's presentation. You may now disconnect. Please consult the conference agenda for the next presenting company.