Newsletter #5 – April 2021
Hello everyone,
February and March are typically some of the wettest months of the year in the west, but due to lower than average rainfall during the past two winters, much of the west is already experiencing extreme and exceptional drought.
One way we are helping folks deal with shrinking water supplies, especially during the dry months, is to provide sustainable options for onsite reuse of household greywater in outdoor irrigation. By doing so, households can reduce their overall water usage by as much as 40% without giving up their green yards or feeling guilty about using too much water.
To help people have the green landscapes they want, without the green guilt, we will be testing our ecological greywater treatment system for onsite reuse at a number of field locations during this year's dry season. We had a particularly great visit to Evans Oaks cohousing development in Silverton, Oregon this month—what a wonderful group of folks! Field testing in a cohousing neighborhood like Evans Oaks provides us the opportunity to install multiple systems at different households all in the same location, increasing our local impact, and streamlining the testing process. We will be sure to keep you posted on all our field testing developments.
Onsite greywater reuse has additional benefits. By reducing the amount of water needed to irrigate residential landscapes, we can leave more water in the ground and in the rivers. This is great for fish and lots of other aquatic wildlife, and it's also great for us humans that love water (and waterfalls) too!
We hope to share some great new official partnerships with everyone next month as we wrap up our NSF SBIR-funded lab research and prepare to bring ecological onsite greywater reuse to homes this summer.
- Adam DeHeer, CEO
WateReuse Symposium
March 15 - 25
Last month, we took part in the annual WateReuse Symposium, the leading conference for water reuse policy, technology, and research. Water reuse continues to gain acceptance and it was exciting to see the progress of many other projects in the United States and around the world. We even heard about a new beer being brewed with recycled water in Germany (which is known for strict quality standards on beer production). Although it will be a while before we get beer from our system, we're glad to be doing our part to pave the way for safe and sustainable water reuse.
The intern will develop an app/interface for a wireless, sensor-based monitoring system for our water treatment system. This position is supported by VertueLab and In4All. Apply here!
The University of Colorado WASH Symposium (March 11-12) was an informational and fun opportunity to learn from experts and grow our network in the WASH sector. Looking forward to 2022!
This month, our plant highlight is Colocasia esculenta. This aquatic plant is known for its large and colorful foliage, sometimes called elephant ears! The Taro root vegetable is a global food staple.
