Point of View – by Mia Javier

[Cross posted at blog.cleantech.com]

Water quality management continues to draw the attention of industries most vulnerable to water contamination in their products. Unilever’s subsidiary, Slim-Fast, is a case in point with the company’s recent recall of their canned diet drinks due to possible bacterial contamination that could cause diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. I suppose that’s one, albeit uncomfortable, way of losing weight.

In fact, a quick google of “food recall” provides a wealth of data points that highlight the increasing need for water quality management across manufacturing processes.

• http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/health/la-residents-sickened-from-egg/
• http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/08/18/con-cheese-recall.html
• http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/article_2c239998-a60b-11df-83a9-001cc4c002e0.html
• http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/08/17/not-just-tylenol-and-motrin-drug-recalls-skyrocketing/

Israel-based, TACount, is developing a technology that will allow real-time bacterial process control to prevent such recall incidents from happening, according the company’s CEO, Isak Duenyas. Duenyas noted the grim reality of current quality control processes for both industry and water utilities as being fundamentally reactive.

The culture dish remains the standard method for contaminant detection but it takes two to three and in some extreme cases, 21 days for cultures to be counted and bacteria to be identified, according to Duenyas. During that time, contaminated drinking water and or products are distributed to end users and the rest, shall we say, is history.

TACount, however, has discovered a mechanism in the basic metabolism of bacteria to detect and count microorganisms within a window of five to 15 minutes. In other words, by detecting the culturable or colony forming microorganisms only, it provides a colony forming unit (CFU) equivalent to what would be obtained using plate count method in a fraction of the time.

According to Duenyas, there is an entire industry around rapid microbiology and at his last count, there are approximately 65 companies. TACount, however, has developed the fastest method with most other tests requiring six hours for results, Duenyas noted. The core cast of bacteria to be evaluated for drinking water includes:

• E.coli
• Total Coliforms
• Steptococus Fecalis
• Clostridia
• Fecal Coliforms
• Cryptosporidium

The company has a working prototype and is currently seeking a Series A round of funding.

[cross posted on blog.cleantech.com]

Why do countries fight over water resources? Because as nations manage economic growth, precious water resources become the clear conduit required to supply both energy and food to growing populations.

A recent article published by the New York Times featured the growing tensions between India and Pakistan over water – as if their relationship isn’t strained enough. Pakistan is concerned that the Indian hydroelectric dam currently under construction could divert water that flows from mountain glaciers to Pakistan’s agricultural industry. It is a story of two countries competing over a water source to achieve energy and food security.

The growth of any city or society is founded on human access to water. Without it, growth cannot occur. Should something or someone get in the way of these resources, it is likely to ruffle some feathers.

Consider Los Angeles. At the beginning of the twentieth century, we could point to one event that catalyzed the growth of this now, population of 4 million: the construction of the Los Angeles aqueduct that diverted water from the Owens River Valley approximately 300 miles away. If members of the Owens River Valley ecosystem could wage a war, they surely would have as the growth of LA came at a great environmental cost.

If you care about energy security then you better care about water security. Our research here at the Cleantech Group looks at water technologies that assist efficiency in water distribution and use as well as innovation and market dynamics in water and wastewater treatment aspects of the urban water cycle. Management of water resources is not only critical for governments vis-à-vis other governments but vis-à-vis multinational corporations!

We cannot separate energy and water security. In this way, investments poured into alternative energy technologies should be a lesson to us, not mere fanfare.

[cross posted at blog.cleantech.com]

It’s so easy to get caught up in the comforts of life that at some point, we look up and realize how wasteful (or stupid) we are with such a precious resource. In my recently released report, Demand-based Water Use: Focus on Smart Irrigation, I came across several staggering data points that have underscored the critical need for better water resource management.

The first doozy: 58 percent of U.S. commercial and residential water is used for outdoor irrigation. Seriously? That’s a whole lot of water just to keep our landscapes looking pretty. At the very least, we should mitigate wasteful irrigation practices.

As I illustrate in this brief, there are five commercially available smart irrigation companies helping farmers, commercial building owners, corporations and homeowners conserve water, save energy and reduce pollution with a payback period of fewer than two years, to boot! Anything short of smart irrigation just seems…….criminal, if you want to get dramatic about it.

Investments in important supply-side solutions to water resource management like desalination cannot come at the cost of sensible demand-side conservation measures. Investors should look to the economic and water conservation breakthroughs smart irrigation has helped businesses achieve.

[cross posted on blog.cleantech.com]

A weekend hike intended to ‘clear my mind’ instead reminded me of how interrelated our world really is, underscoring for me, the importance of my research focus on water.

Coastal trails and beaches round out my free time as a resident of northern California and last weekend was no exception. Much to my 5-year-old’s excitement, we planned a hike in the Marin Headlands that included a stop at the Marine Mammal Center – a rescue, rehabilitate and release organization for northern California’s marine mammal community.

Volunteers that run the non-profit organization greeted us with warm smiles and a sincere desire to help us learn about their patients in recovery. Many of them, I was told, are suffering from malnutrition as a result of depleted food supplies along the coast. Others are rehabilitating from domoic acid toxicity caused by harmful algal blooms in Monterey and some are healing from wounds caused by various ocean debris that in some cases, strangles the animals until they strand themselves feeling sick from infection.

Explaining this state of affairs to a bright eyed child is humbling yet a wonderful learning moment. Nearly every aspect of our lives is interrelated, I explained. I’m not sure why food sources are disappearing for the sea lions but perhaps, I postulated, it is a result of over fishing or else adverse effects on the ecosystem as a result of climate change. We could look up causes of algal blooms, I suggested when asked what they were, and how they were hurting the animals.

Our friendly docent came to the rescue with answers but I was reminded of one undeniable fact: humans are not the only ones affected by water scarcity or quality issues. It put all my research into water technologies in perspective.

If that dose of reality (albeit touchy feely) wasn’t enough, I was in awe when I saw the patient pens. Not only were they powered by solar panels but lo and behold, it appears as though an advanced filtration system is in place. According to the docent, 80 percent of all onsite water use is recycled. She suggested that I get in touch with the operations director to learn more, and indeed I will.

When you work in water, everyday is a field trip.

[cross posted on blog.cleantech.com]

No doubt, the opportunity in water is gaining visibility. With governments pursuing policy to incentivize water innovation and giants like IBM, SAP and Oracle circling the sector, water is fast becoming the industry of choice for corporations not traditionally in water and those specifically in information technology  – they want a piece of the pie.

The IT opportunity is logically drawn from the investments and innovation poured into the Smart Grid. By some estimates the market opportunity is $20 billion but not only are corporations mindful of market outlooks they are developing a business strategy in Smart Water. In this way, global market sizing and the macroeconomics of water supply and demand are informative but not actionable insights.

So, what questions must be answered in order to develop a strategy in water?

First, what are the unique aspects of a particular customer segment in water? Public-sector buyers are notoriously conservative with a complex business process. Just this week, the Portuguese Construction Firm, ITT Corporation, secured three wastewater treatment plant contracts in the Montemor-o-Velho municipality of Portugal in a complicated business transaction where ITT Corporation partnered with both a construction company as well as a design firm to win the bid.

Second, will my business solution require water-related hardware and service or just one or the other? Those players entering the water space must consider and hopefully learn from those with existing water businesses. GE, ABB and Siemens are highly acquisitive companies that provide both products and services to industrial water users and utilities and they too continue to refine their sales and marketing efforts given the diversity of water’s customer segments.

Finally, what should a company learn from current leaders in water instrumentation and analytics? While IBM is testing the waters in Galway Bay with sensor networks that track water flow and quality, today, Schneider-Electric and ABB provide the instrumentation and analytics used by some of the largest private utilities in the world. Their solutions help utilities not only save on energy costs but provide critical visibility and control on the systems. These products and services should not be overlooked by new players in Smart Water.

All that said, the Smart Grid analogy is strong, and the likes of IBM, SAP and Oracle will naturally draw on their strengths here as they consider similar solutions to water. I offer but a simple suggestion to consider gathering actionable insight on the strategies and innovation of existing leaders in the space.