Today is recognized as World Water Day globally, celebrating water and raising awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. For Aquacycl, sanitation and clean water is the starting and ending point of everything we do.
- 80% of wastewater is discharged to the environment with minimal or no treatment.
- 46% of people do not have access to safe sanitation.
- 80% of global disease is due to poor sanitation and lack of clean water.
- Unsafe sanitation results in 775,000 deaths per year.
- 1 in 4 people do not have access to safe drinking water.
We started Aquacycl five years ago to change this. To bring new technologies to improve sanitation and access to clean water. For us, all Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are dependent on clean water. Without access to sanitation and clean water, we cannot solve climate change, food security, gender equity or any other challenge in front of us today.
Today and every day, we are working to improve water access and water quality.
The work we are doing with corporations is helping to maintain healthy watersheds by reducing demand on freshwater and improving the quality of wastewater discharged to the environment. Most multinational companies recognize the role that they have in being water stewards, improving the quality and quantity of water in the communities in which they operate. Aquacycl helps achieve these goals by providing onsite treatment for challenging wastewaters. By treating the most difficult wastewater onsite, we reduce the burden on downstream utilities, enable water reuse with complementary technologies, reduce demand for freshwater and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As large users of water, corporations can bring an outsized impact on clean water.
Water and energy are two sides of the same coin. Water and wastewater systems are energy intensive, accounting for 3-5% of electricity consumption that correlates to 45 million tons of GHG emissions in the US alone. Aquacycl’s systems are energy-neutral, which means that even as we are treating very dirty wastewater, we are doing it in a way that reduces energy consumption relative to existing treatment options.
Through our partnership with Water Works and the VIIDAI project, our employees and partners donate their time and resources to bring safe drinking water to school children in the indigenous communities within San Quintín, Mexico. This is why we do what we do.
As we continue to grow, we see our impact growing. Water will be the primary means through which we feel the impacts of climate change, with either too much or too little water. Floods, hurricanes, mega-snowstorms and droughts will bring enormous challenges for us. By bringing decentralized, modular wastewater treatment, Aquacycl can help bring sanitation to disaster areas and build resilience to extreme weather events. Rather than relying solely on centralized treatment, we help reduce stress on an overstressed infrastructure.
Today, and every day, we recognize the importance of sanitation and clean water and are doing everything we can to improve the way we manage our most valuable resource, water.