Editor's Focus: Sustainability in Our Industry

Sustainability. Circular economy. Climate change. Carbon neutral. Single use versus recyclable. These are just a few of the terms used today by governments, organizations, industries and individuals to promote awareness of the reuse and repurposing of materials to protect our planet’s long-term health and preserve our natural resources. But what does this mean to our industry, to the products we produce and the services we provide?

Our industry has developed Sustainability Standards for each of us in the water industry to practice. These are WQA/ASPE/ANSI Standard S-801 “Sustainable Management”; WQA/ASPE/ANSI S-802 “Sustainable Activated Carbon Media for Drinking Water Treatment”; and WQA/ASPE/ANSI S-803 “Sustainable Drinking Water Treatment Systems.” S-801 is based on “ISO 14001: Environmental Management” and is a prerequisite for certification to S-802 and S-803.

To clarify, companies are not “certified” to S-801; however, it is required to achieve S-802 and S-803 certification. The good news is that our industry has numerous companies, activated carbons and products certified to these standards.

But does “sustainability” mean that we have met these standards, or does it mean something more?

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary1, sustainability is a method of “using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.” But the United Nations (UN) takes an even broader approach to understanding sustainability and has developed 17 Sustainability Goals2 that range from ending poverty and hunger to gender equality to preventing climate change. Goal Six includes “ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” The UN estimates 2.3 billion people already live in water-stressed countries, and some researchers3 claim that by the year 2030, demand for water will exceed sustainable supplies by 40%. By 2050, this figure may jump to 120%.

In the United States, drought maps4 show that areas of extreme and exceptional drought have increased dramatically in the last 20 years. In the Western United States, a severe “mega-drought” has meant tough choices for utilities, such as providing either water or power to consumers instead of both. Recent publications8,9 on the effects of the “mega-drought” on Lake Mead and Lake Powell highlight the criticality of the water supply situation. 

Lakes Mead and Powell, now at historic low water levels, are the largest reservoirs in the U.S. and supply water to more than 40 million people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and even Mexico. In order to continue to provide power, the Interior Department is contemplating holding billions of gallons of water back, which will mean further cuts to the quantity of water people can use.

These droughts and extreme water shortages are believed to be a result of climate change caused by the release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) that have resulted in Global Warming. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that the world has warmed to 1.1°C higher than pre-industrial levels and is hurtling toward 1.5°C. The IPCC further states that only by making deep cuts to GHG emissions while also cutting CO2 from the atmosphere can we hope to halt this trend.5

However, there are sustainable solutions available to provide drinking water, such as harvesting water from the atmosphere. Atmospheric water generators (AWG) provide a viable option to water-starved regions10 because there is virtually an unlimited and sustainable supply of water in the earth’s atmosphere. AWGs have been found effective in recovering water in even the driest of regions on Earth. Numerous AWG technologies exist to recover this water, and some are even powered by the sun which makes them an even cleaner environmental option. Saudi Arabia is already using solar-powered AWG to provide both water and power to its people11. Today, AWG water systems provide water for small community systems with the technology existing for residential applications as well.

MIT engineers12 have also developed a low-power device that can turn seawater into drinking water. This technology uses ion concentration polarization to create an electrical field that drives saltwater ions through membranes resulting in drinking water.

There are also new water treatment technologies in development that are sustainable, reduce GHG emissions, and remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Some of these technologies are based on the upcycling or repurposing of agricultural (Ag) wastes.

Ag wastes are significant contributors to climate change as they are often burned in the field or left to degrade naturally, resulting in the production of GHG, CH4, NOX and CO2. One such waste that can be reused to filter water is rice husks, the hard protective coating of the rice grain. More than 100 billion kilograms (Kg) of rice husks are produced globally every year. Each kilogram of milled rice results in 0.28 kg of rice husk waste. Silica and lignin are the primary components of rice husks.

Rice husks are converted into a sustainable water treatment medium by Glanris, Inc. (www.Glanris.com) using pyrolysis, i.e., the slow burning of biomass in the absence of (or minimal) air (oxygen). The resultant product is a highly porous carbonaceous material, biochar, that is resistant to degradation. The pyrolysis process results in the sequestration of carbon that was incorporated into the plant via photosynthesis of CO2 from the atmosphere, thus resulting in the net reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere. The biochar can store the removed carbon for thousands of years. The UN IPCC Sixth Assessment Report13 estimates that the production and use of biochar could mitigate between 1.8 to 4.1 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year. Biochar can be used for drinking and wastewater treatment, incorporated into building materials like drywall, concrete, and asphalt, used as a soil supplement to promote plant growth and stimulate crop production, in electronics, and countless other applications.

The beauty of rice husks biochar is that it is suitable to remove both organic and inorganic (e.g., metals) contaminants from water due to containing both porous carbon and silica. The Glanris 901x Biocarbon media has been shown in independent testing7 at pH 5.0 to have removal capacities of about 1 g of biochar to remove 10 mg copper and 1 g of biochar to remove 30 mg lead. Activated forms of the rice husk biochar, Glanris 901up, has a capacity of about 100mg/g copper removal, and Glanris 901mb removes about 80 to 90 mg/g of Arsenic III at pH 6.5 and pH 8.5.

Antunes Water Treatment System VZN-541VC used to provide safe drinking water to communities in need.

The Glanris Biocarbons are commercially available, certified by IAPMO to NSF/ANSI Standard 61, the International Biochar Initiative (IBI) as IBI Certified Biochar, and provide carbon credits via Puro.earth. Thus, Glanris BioCarbon provides a sustainable water treatment media option with available carbon credits resulting in a sustainable product with a reduced carbon footprint.

Of course, many companies in the industry obtain sustainability certifications, and some of these companies go above and beyond certification requirements. One sustainability example is AJ Antunes. A family-owned company, Antunes received the 2022 Water Quality Association (WQA) Excellence Award for excelling in its operations, innovation, customer service or community involvement14. Antunes embraced the spirit of the UN sustainability goals by partnering with a non-profit organization, Splash, to provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to children around the world. Antunes provides ultra-filtration water treatment systems to treat water in public schools, hospitals and other institutions. These water filtration systems, which are also deployed globally in the food service industry, produce water that meets the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guidelines. Thus far, Splash and Antunes have provided clean water to 900,000 children at more that 2,300 schools, shelters and orphanages.

For example, an audit of its waste output found 24% organic food waste and 25% paper towels. Working with a local firm, the organic wastes generated are now collected, repurposed to compost, and used in agricultural applications. Plus, Antunes switched to compostable products while promoting a team culture of waste minimalization and recycling.

These are just some examples that show that sustainability can be achieved by various means and by corporations, nonprofit organizations, and individuals working together. As society moves from throwing away to up-cycling or repurposing wastes, the world moves toward protecting its home, Earth. 

Authors’ note: Dr. Frank A. Brigano is the Chief Science Officer for Glanris, Inc.

References

1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Website: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sustainability.

2. United Nations Sustainability Goals. Website: https://sdgs.un.org/goals.

3. McKinsey & Co. Website: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/dotcom/client_service/sustainability/pdfs/charting%20our%20water%20future/charting_our_water_future_full_report_.ashx

4. US Drought Monitor, University of Nebraska. Website: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu.

5. UN IPCC Report “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis”. Website: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-i/.

6. Quote from Prof. Joseph University of New South Wales. Website: https://phys.org/news/2021-08-biochar-product-mitigate-climate.html.

7. Creekside Environmental Products at Mississippi State University under the direction of Dr. Todd Mlsna, Dr. Navarathna Chanaka, Dr. Prashan Rodrigo and Dr. Charles Pittman.

8. CNN Reference: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/30/us/west-drought-lake-powell-hydropower-or-water-climate/index.html.

9. CNN Reference: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/16/us/lake-mead-colorado-river-water-shortage/index.html.

10. Brigano, F.A. and E. A. Kapustin. “Atmospheric Water Generation: What is atmospheric water generation & how has it evolved?”. Water Quality Products. March 2021

11. News Brief “Saudi Arabia: Water harvesting grows spinach in the desert”. WaterWorld. April 2022 Vol 38. Issue 4.

12. Tran, Tony Ho. “MIT engineers created a portable device that zaps seawater to make drinking water”. Daily Beast. April 29, 2022.

13. UN IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Mitigation of Climate Change: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/ .

14. Water Quality Association News Release: https://wqa.org/resources/news-releases/id/334/wqa-announces-2022-leadership-excellence-award-winners.

15. Personal communication. Jane Bullock, Chief Purpose Officer. May 3, 2022.