Jul 10, 2019   SOURCE: BusinessWire

OriginClear Releases White Paper Demonstrating that Treating Water On-Site Combats Global Warming and Improves the Environment

OriginClear Inc. (OTC: OCLN), a leader in decentralized water treatment, has published an industry white paper which finds that by treating water on-site using a Modular Water System (MWS), businesses can greatly reduce water costs, improve the environment and even combat global warming.

Highlights of the white paper include the current state of the U.S. centralized water treatment, a 1950s type model that is aging and growing increasingly antiquated. This outdated infrastructure is falling badly behind: a 2015 report by the American Water Works Association estimates that the cost of restoring underground pipes will total at least $1 trillion over the next 25 years, without including the cost of constructing new infrastructure or repairing treatment plants.

With the U.S. government already greatly financially burdened, the weight of repair to water infrastructure falls primarily on the ratepayers.

An additional problem is that cities are now built-up, and digging for new mains and facilities is lengthy, difficult, costly, and extremely troublesome to businesses and consumers.

And, local community activists can be extremely effective in slowing or even stopping disruptive urban projects.

Finally, shipping dirty water to a central point for treatment violates modern sustainability standards, especially when the system is structurally broken. When the sewage has to travel, it leaks into the groundwater, gets lost and sits in lagoons where the build-up of methane, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous contributes significantly to global warming and harms the environment.

A look at typical municipal sewage collection shows:

  • Groundwater pollution occurs when piping systems leak untreated wastewater into the ground, which carries along nutrient pollution that contaminates groundwater.
  • Air pollution occurs when sewage collection systems experience built-up methane due to anaerobic conditions that exist in all sewers. The methane off-gases into the atmosphere contributing far more serious contribution to climate change than carbon dioxide.
  • Formation of hydrogen sulfide gas in sewers contributes to the build-up of sulfuric acid, which destroys the concrete materials in modern sewer systems.
  • Sewer utilities are expected to treat higher hydraulic and organic loads that are not efficient enough to provide the level of treatment needed to protect the environment.

The global impact to the environment from centralized systems shows that more than 85% of the U.S. population is served by a few “mega water systems” ─ those with flow greater than 1 million gallons per day (report).

“Right now, we’re living with an archaic form of centralized water treatment and management that has become a major contributor of carbon and nutrient pollution to the environment,” said OriginClear CEO Riggs Eckelberry.

“Today a brighter light is shining on an alternative modular system that inevitably will replace the current centralized systems that are fast becoming structurally unsustainable and harmful to our environment,” Eckleberry continued.

The fact is that it is much easier to reclaim and reuse this same water for other beneficial purposes. And of course, collection and conveyance issues largely disappear; since the treatment occurs at the point-of-use. The only water being transported and stored is water already treated, hence no longer an environmental issue or burden.

The white paper highlights the many environmental advantages and cost savings of decentralized or modular water treatment and management vs. the older centralized water management by examining how effectively it works for a standard domestic hotel.

Typical Hotel Case Study: on-site removal of carbon and nutrients

As part of a comprehensive proposal for on-site water treatment, OriginClear conducted a study of a luxury 300-room hotel in Southern California.

The hotel was expected to consume on average 30,000 gallons per day (GPD) of potable water reflecting normal domestic demands such as drinking, bathing, cooking, laundry, spa and pools. Practical experience shows that a 90% conversion of potable water to wastewater will occur in such a facility.

Typically, if a 30,000 GPD domestic potable water consumption has a 90% conversion rate to wastewater, the resulting wastewater demand will be 27,000 GPD. A 27,000 GPD hotel wastewater rate will discharge an average of 106.4 lbs. of carbon, 12.5 lbs. of nitrogen, and 2.5 lbs. of phosphorus daily to the public sewer. This equates to 19.4 tons of carbon, 2.3 tons of nitrogen, and 0.5 tons of phosphorus imposed on the local public utility and environment annually.

The on-site modular wastewater treatment and advanced filtration processes at a decentralized level, supports the hotel in reducing the carbon and nutrient load on local water systems, achieving up to 99% removal rate of carbon. Depending upon the type of process implemented, between 70% to 90% of nitrogen and phosphorous can be eliminated. These reduction rates would equal an annual removal of 19.2 tons of carbon, 2.28 tons of nitrogen, and 0.49 tons of phosphorous reflecting a tangible and significant reduction in harmful nutrients to the environment.

“With more robust water filtration capabilities, it’s possible to capture nearly all problematic pollutants and prevent them from entering the atmosphere and local water systems, or worse, the ocean,” said Eckelberry.

Additionally, the benefits to recovering water at the point-of-use includes the opportunity to recycle water for secondary reuse such as cooling towers, landscaping and irrigation. Expanding modular water treatment throughout the hospitality industry, and other sectors such as agriculture and complex developments, reduces water consumption costs. Other impactful benefits include less environmental impact on an already challenged atmosphere and tax incentives for enterprises committed to reducing their carbon footprint as it relates to water conservation and harmful nutrient emissions.

For more information, contact OriginClear at: www.OriginClear.com.

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About OriginClear, Inc.

Water is our planet’s most valuable resource, and OriginClear’s mission is to provide breakthrough water treatment and conveyance products that effectively improve the quality of our planet’s waters by returning them to their original and clear condition.

By 2020, the global water services market will have doubled into a trillion-dollar industry. But still, only 20% of all sewage in the world is ever treated, and a third of that is lost in transit. Giant centralized water projects alone cannot fix this massive challenge. Water users are now treating and recycling their own water, a movement known as decentralized water treatment.

Our mission is to empower this global movement with modular water treatment and conveyance products that enable water independence and help make clean water available for all.

OriginClear (OCLN) is the Next Great Water Company™.

OriginClear Safe Harbor Statement:

Matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this update, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with our history of losses and our need to raise additional financing, the acceptance of our products and technology in the marketplace, our ability to demonstrate the commercial viability of our products and technology and our need to increase the size of our organization. Further information on the Company's risk factors is contained in the Company's quarterly and annual reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.