CALIFORNIA WATER CRISIS STUDY

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Global Connexus 12/31/2009

12/31/2009

CALIFORNIA WATER CRISIS STUDY

For the Cleantech Competence Cluster of the Oulu Regional Center of Expertise

BACKGROUND
Californias water crisis is even more troubling than critics contend. The state is in its third year of a severe drought, caused by below average precipitation and significantly lower run-off into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. As a result, one-third less water is available to the 25 million Californians who depend on the Bay Delta for their drinking water and for the farms in the Central Valley that produce half of the nations fruits and vegetables. Moreover, Californias Bay Delta is in a state of full environmental collapse and the states water infrastructure, built fifty years ago for a population half as large, cant handle the stress of the current crisis. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR September 18, 2009

THE WATER CHALLENGE: A TRIPLE THREAT

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-THE PERFECT STORM TECHNOLOGY

FOR

ADVANCED WATER

If one looks at water scarcity, infrastructure decay and climate change offer another kind of business opportunity--- for innovative advanced water technologies. These companies can create significant competitive value, and thus should command a premium in the market--- especially in the face of a supply shock like the kind cities in the southeast of the US saw last year. Funding these companies also makes for the stuff of a great venture capital investments. The triple threat to water supply is not a secret, but the water industry has yet to adapt to this new reality, as a result, this is the non-consensus, accurate prediction that fuels the runaway successes of venture capital. Venture investment is one of the keys to the potential of innovative water technology. Their investment dollars are a key ingredient in fueling the best innovative water technology drives to the market. In the last year, the U.S. EPA has ordered ten California public drinking water systems to start monitoring for E. coli in drinking water systems or face penalties of up to $32,500 per day for each violation. The California Department of Water Resources calls the drought of the past three years, the most significant water crisis in California history. Yet, day in day out, year after year, the questions that investors ask are "who cares about water scarcity?" and "what can we really do about water scarcity. Facts on the ground, supply shocks like those hitting the East Bay in California or Atlanta last winter dont seem to align our actions with the water crisis in our back yards. Water might be the utility that we take for granted the most, but it is also the one we will pay the most for when individuals are faced with true scarcity. Ironically, there are also well-tested, concrete approaches to saving enormous amounts of water in our backyards, in commercial buildings and in agriculture. The question becomes one of public relations. What is the phrase that can mobilize people to action the way "the planet has a fever" did for climate change? What is the call to action that will stick in our minds like the song from an ad for Coke? In the meantime, investing in the technologies that will provide the answers to the water crisis is a textbook example of a true investor opportunity. The few corporations who are addressing their water use today provide the best customers for young companies.

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The fundamental shift is that future plants will be from "sewage treatment" to "urban water resource recovery" with more attention to processes and process control. (Source: Joe Zuback, former CTO of Siemens)

KEY WATER PROBLEMS

AT A

THE WATER RESOURCES IN

GLANCE KEY CALIFORNIA

THREATS FACING

The Delta, a key natural estuary and the pathway through which more than 25 million Californians and 2.5 million acres of productive farmland receive their water, is in an ecological crisis that threatens people as well as the environment. Californias water supply has been drastically reduced, impacting people, businesses and farms in Northern, Central and Southern California. In late August, a federal court cut water supplies from the states two largest water delivery systems by up to one-third to protect an endangered fish potentially the largest court-ordered water supply reduction in California history. Californias population is growing rapidly, but the statewide water storage and delivery system has not been significantly improved in 30 years. By 2020 California is predicted to have a population of 44.1 million. 1 This is a 1.5% annual compound growth from the 36.8 million reported in 2008. Statewide water reserves are extremely low and would not be able to meet public demand during a major disruption to the states water delivery system. Aging Delta levees are at risk of a natural disaster that could cripple water deliveries for an extended period of time. California is facing severe drought conditions, with 2007 ranking as a record dry-year in some regions. The Colorado River Basin, a key source of water for Southern California, has experienced below average runoff for six of the last seven years. If the current drought continues, mandatory water rationing may be imposed in many areas.

State of California, Department of Finance, Population Projections for California and Its Counties 20002050, Sacramento, California, July 2007.

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Source: DOE/NETL (M. Chan, July 2002)

Significantly reduced supplies and growing water uncertainties already are causing some California farmers to fallow prime agricultural lands, hurting one of our states most important industries. Climate change is reducing the mountain snow pack a critical source of natural water storage and may usher in longer droughts and more severe floods. By 2020, the EPA estimates that 9% of the full life of the piping and infrastructure will be past end of life, and 21% will be very poor.

12/31/2009 The key to water is absolute quality and a steady, sufficient supply.

Climate change will challenge water managers to maintain these service expectations in dozens of ways, each affecting the other. From faster trans vaporization to rising sea levels, diminishing snow pack, new locations and patterns for river flow, droughts and floods. In addition to Americans moving to the driest parts of the US, they are consolidating on the coasts. Based in part on a report from the National Oceanic Service of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this initial article identified the need for organized planning in coastal areas, particularly in regard to longterm water, wastewater, and storm water management. As of 2003, 153 million Americans called the coast home, 33 million more than in 1980. Fifty-three percent of us are settled on only 17% of the nations land; of our 25 most populated counties, 23 are on a coastal range. The trend toward waterfront living is expected to continue with the addition of another 7 million newcomers by 2008, and 12 million more by 2015. The issue, say the NOAA researchers, is density: too many people living in too confined a space. New solutions are needed to what amounts to nearly a trillion dollars in critical water and wastewater investments over the next two decades. Not meeting the investment needs of the next 20 years risks reversing the public health, environmental, and economic gains of the last three decades. (Source: Water Infrastructure Now: Clean and Safe Water for the 21st Century Water Infrastructure Network, January, 2006, p.4-5. Available online at: http://www.win-

water.org/reports/winow.pdf.) Local solutions, like increased water and wastewater rates or operating efficiencies, can address only a portion of this problem. Financing the full $23 billion a year need with utility rate increases would result in a doubling of rates, on average, across the nation. If this were to happen, at least a third of
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the population of the U.S. would face economic hardship using EPAs conventional criterion for affordability. In small, rural, lowincome, or older shrinking urban communities, economic hardships would be significantly more acute than the average. Protecting the nations waterways from pollution and our drinking water from contamination will grow increasingly unaffordable if local communities are asked to pay the entire bill. In some locations, much of the shortfall in infrastructure finance is due to simple demographics. Over the next several decades, many cities will need to replace water and wastewater facilities and pipes that were installed in response to population growth and demographic shifts in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The next wave of infrastructure investment responded to post-war demographic changes in the 1920s and 1950s. Since the economic lives of materials shortened with each new investment cycle, many local utilities will face unprecedented funding hurdles as multiple generations of infrastructure wear out, more or less at the same time, over the next two decades.
While great strides in water conservation and efficiency programs

have been made, the collective impacts of drought, climate change, increased population demands, court-ordered supply reductions and/or potential natural disasters mean that conservation alone will not solve this crisisit's just simply not enough.

Candidate Interviews What are the main threats facing water resources in California?
Jerry Rai, AquaPhyd (Startup entrepreneur) I believe California is suffering from poor water delivery systems. There is very poor infrastructure. We need more dams and canals. There should be legislation to make mandatory use of modern water technologies. I think a water credit system should be introduced, similar in concept to the carbon credit system. Carolyn Remick, Executive Director, Berkeley Water Center California faces a looming water crisis that cannot be ignored. The state's rapidly growing population is quickly outpacing available water supplies. With 50 million residents expected by 2030, California must find a way to supply water to all competing interests. While demand for water is growing, the resource is becoming scarcer. New water quality regulations and environmental requirements are shrinking supplies available for people and crops. In addition,
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rapidly growing neighbors, such as Arizona and Nevada, are now calling for their rightful allocations of Colorado River water, one of California's primary water sources. Once Southern California's imported supplies of Colorado River water are cut back, demand for water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta may increase sharply. California's water problems are not easy to solve. Very few sources of "new" water are under active development, and the historical approach of increasing water storage by building new dams and reservoirs is now viewed by many as too expensive and environmentally disruptive. Innovative approaches that consider all available options are required: groundwater banking, publicprivate partnerships, recycling, reclamation, water transfers, and aggressive conservation. The imbalance between water supply and demand is reaching the breaking point. A way must be found to manage water wisely and share it equitably between urban and agricultural areas and recently increasing environmental needs. Time is of the essence. California must make investments now to prepare effectively for future droughts and population growth. In the San Francisco Bay Area, most of Californias water moves through the Bay Delta. A big threat exists with the levies holding the water back. There is a risk of them breaking because theyre aging. Were very much dependent on an aging infrastructure. Sandy Walker, SolarBee (Startup entrepreneur)Context: The water industry has traditionally relied heavily on the energy and chemical industries. An estimated 7% of world energy consumption and 3% of U.S. energy consumption is used to clean up and process wastewater, drinking water, and lake water. And large volumes of chemicals, many with potentially-serious longterm toxicity problems, are put into lakes and other reservoirs regularly in attempts to improve water quality. Generally, there is continued pressure on our states water infrastructure, there are limited resources for addressing the challenges, and theres increased demand from industry and consumers. But I believe the challenges lie in three areas: a) In terms of dealing with waste water, this is an unfunded mandate. Thus, this creates tremendous gaps in achieving compliance. Unfortunately, only 5% of the public agencies are being proactive. The San Francisco Utilities Commission, however, is at the top of the list in trying to address this problem. b) Regarding our water storage reservoirs, challenges exist in terms of the quality of these reservoirs. An increase in nutrient loading exists, which is caused
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by population growth and urban development. c) Distribution of water is the third main challenge. There are limited resources available to measure water quality at the 400,000 water storage tanks across the United States. In California there is increasing pressure being applied among California Public Health agencies. There are also very limited resources to take action if quality issues occur. More technology innovation is needed in this area what currently exists is not reliable. Peter Williams, Chief Technology Officer, Big Green Innovations Group, IBM The main threat facing water resources in California is overuse of water resources. In addition, there lacks adequate infrastructure to collect precipitation - especially given recent climate change and rain fall precipitation patterns. In particular there is conflicting uses in the Sacramento Delta area in regards to water collection. In terms of different industries, use and management of water is fairly inadequate in Agriculture throughout the State. The pricing of water is also much too cheap. John Colombo, Porifera, Inc. (Startup entrepreneur) I believe the main threats are political water is a strange commodity. There are legacy issues in terms of water rights and agricultural land rights that need to change. Also, because water is so cheap, our perception of waters value is unbalanced. Thus, water has not become a crisis yet. Dr. Bradley Stone, Chair, Chemistry Department, San Jose State University Very simply, our growing population is dwindling our fresh water resources. 17 reservoirs wont be enough to serve the needs of the growing San Jose area. Another potential threat is the structure of our levies, which can be destroyed in the event of an earthquake. Michael Adackapara, Supervisor, Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board I believe that storm water runoff from agriculture poses a threat. Excessive amounts of perchlorates are being detected in our ground water. Chris Kennedy, President, NanOasis Inc. (Startup entrepreneur) There are so many threats population growth, greater levels of industrialization, increased standards of living (more waste is being generated) and there a continued tendency for people to reside in areas where water is scarce, such as California. There is also increased regulation/legislation to direct less water from the Sacramento River. In addition, aquifers are finite and in decline, thus more saline is accumulating. And of course, long term global warming is a concern less snow = less water.
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EXISTING WATER TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE AND CURRENT EFFORTS BEING CONDUCTED

R&D

The water market landscape

The water market landscape is highly fragmented: 750 Unique products and services, 375 types of users, and each sub-market has its own technology & competitive dynamics.

Early Mover Markets

According to Laura Shenkar, Principal, The Artemis Project, the following early-mover markets in water technology include: Sensors Monitor and Fix Delivery Infrastructure Supply Ground Water Management, Storm water, Beneficial use of Waste Water Metering/Green Gridwater control inside, outdoors, infrastructure dashboard Produced Water Cooling Waste reduction, Waste Mining

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Candidate Interviews What areas of water technology is California currently focused on? Where is R&D currently taking place?
Jerry Rai, AquaPhyd (Startup entrepreneur) Unfortunately, there is too much attention placed on things like low flush and also reduced use of water on golf courses and parks. toilets. This isnt where we should be focusing right now. Sadly, the State is bankrupt, so theres no funding available to support water technology R&D. There just isnt enough R&D taking place. We need more funding available to test and prove new water technology, and incentives should be developed for consumers to use these new technologies. Many of the current water technologies are moving at a snails pace. Carolyn Remick, Executive Director, Berkeley Water Center It would be nice to see sensors placed on these levies that run along the Bay Delta and along the I-80 corridor. This is being studied now. Technologies that are focused on water quality are important but theyre not as marketable right now. California is so used to affordable (actually, cheap) water that there is no incentive for innovation in technology. There arent any real drivers for innovation Yet! I think we should focus on the relationship between water and energy. 20% of the states energy is spent on moving water. Some Southern California agencies are looking at ways to better recycle water. In Orange County, for instance, theyre working on a toilet to tap program, where water is pumped back to the sewage treatment plant and then returned to homes for re-use. Another area being looked at is re-pumping used water back into the ground, stored over winter months and then pumped out in summer, when its needed. From the technology aspect, we need to determine the low-tech methods of water monitoring. Sandy Walker, SolarBee (Startup entrepreneur) A lot of focus is being placed on expensive and energy-intensive technologies. Our SolarBee technology, on the other hand, is a low impact, low resource and low effort solution. Our solution is but one tool in the tool box to address the water treatment challenge. The typical way to address this problem is to throw more chemicals into the water. SolarBee takes a different approach, which allows an 80% reduction in chlorine use, by solving the mixing problem first. Our company is on an uphill battle however, to get more units in

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deployment. There are only 500 in deployment right now, but there should be over 6,000 deployed. Were looking for the tipping point. Peter Williams, Chief Technology Officer, Big Green Innovations Group, IBM The State of California is clearly still fixated with big concrete dams, canals and more traditional water collection and distribution technology. Mainly, things related to physical infrastructure and building projects are being focused on. The industry of California and the venture sector on the other hand is looking at a variety of things around water remediation, desalination, various forms of water treatment and energy harvesting. R&D is taking place at several clusters of water companies in the Bay Area. Universities are also heading a lot of R&D initiatives although he does not know that exact reason why. These universities include: UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, Stanford University and Fresno State. They are focusing on many different aspects although he has seen there is a lot of R&D surrounding sensor networking. John Colombo, Porifera, Inc. (Startup entrepreneur) R&D is happening in desalinization. Venture capitalists are looking ahead at new technologies in water filtration. However, our water infrastructure is not being focused on enough. Bio/pharma pollution is becoming a big concern, however. A lot of attention is being spent on the purification of the waste stream. Experimentation is happening with nano-filtration, which is what were doing at Porifera. Michael Adackapara, Supervisor, Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board Research is taking place to deal with storm water runoff, however, these have been mainly patch work technology approaches there is not yet a universal solution. Chris Kennedy, President, NanOasis Inc. (Startup entrepreneur) R&D is currently taking place in the treatment of municipal waste. There is a great deal of interest in where the next gallon of water is coming from. Also desalinization is an important focus. Another important area is water re-use, such as toilet-to-tap. There is direct re-use, which is the adaptation of waste treatment plants to create non-potable water that can be used for watering golf courses or replenishing the aquifers, for example. Then, theres the treatment of municipal water to create potable water.

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CALIFORNIA'S
SOLUTIONS

CURRENT WATER REQUIREMENTS, FUTURE NEEDS

OF WATER MONITORING, CONTROL AND AUTOMATION

Candidate Interviews What do you believe are Californias requirements and future needs in these areas, in industry, municipalities and rural areas? Water monitoring, control and automation solutions
Water purification materials

Water and sludge treatment technologies.

Jerry Rai, AquaPhyd (Startup entrepreneur) Human thinking should be removed from making water-use decisions, such as how often we should be watering our lawns. Water use in irrigations systems should be monitored and automated. Need to address how to more effectively measure salt levels in soil. Water in agriculture should not be saved. More focus needs to be spent on irrigation efficiency. For instance, we should be figuring out how to water twice as many crops with available water by re-using drainage water. Legislation in this area needs to change and technology grants need to be introduced. Carolyn Remick, Executive Director, Berkeley Water Center The introduction of water re-use practices will require new monitoring, control and automation solutions. Will this influence behavior change? Possibly in industry as long as water remains cheap. Berkeley researchers are looking precision control monitoring in desalinization. In addition, new approaches to brine/salt treatments are interesting. Berkeley would like to know what Finnish companies are doing in these areas and explore potential collaboration opportunities. Lots of R&D is taking place in the use of bio reactors, in terms of water purification. California has very high standards for its drinking water. In the areas of water and sludge treatment technologies, there is a lot of R&D going on at Berkeley. We are very advanced in our research we believe 25 to 30 years ahead of the market.

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Sandy Walker, SolarBee (Startup entrepreneur) In terms of water purification and water treatment, keeping water clean is an important focus. There are many solutions out there. SolarBee focuses on cleaning up the water reservoirs, as opposed to using chemicals. By starting the cleaning process at the source reservoir level we see a significant reduction in the amount of treatment required downstream. How do we make water cleaner in the delta? Start at the beginning. My biggest challenge is there is no funding to support an innovation such as SolarBee. Peter Williams, Chief Technology Officer, Big Green Innovations Group, IBM Re: Water monitoring, control and automation solutions : Through all three areas, the state does not do anywhere near a good enough job pulling together the data that it currently has and disseminating that information. All of the data that they have is fragmented between multiple systems. It does not have enough sensors to detect certain key aspects of water flow and water quality. Re: Water purification materials : Through all three areas, there is a need for water purification because they have a lot of ground water with arsenic or saline poisoning. You can remove that from the water but the problem is what do with brim that is left? It is extraordinarily toxic. There is a significant need at this point to solve that problem. Re: Water and sludge treatment technologies: This is nothing specific to California, it is the same generation issues: how to use less energy, figuring out how to recycle water and how to recover energy from sludge. Of those recycling of water is the most important. John Colombo, Porifera, Inc. (Startup entrepreneur) Re: water monitoring, control and automation solutions: Water is a fixed commodity. Poor monitoring technology is in place right now. Water is so cheap, so people generally dont care. There is also a lack of data available on water usage. Behaviors have to change. For instance we should be evaluating further the use of non-potable and potable water. Why are we using potable water in our toilets? Water monitoring just doesnt seem to be a priority item. Re: Purification technologies and water and sludge treatment technologies: Membrane filtration technology is mature and developed. Were going to start seeing more filtration happening on the municipal side of things. Im seeing a lot more attention being placed on membrane filtration
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technology. We definitely have a strong need for better filtration technology.

Dr. Bradley Stone, Chair, Chemistry Department, San Jose State University I

believe California has a huge need for better water monitoring and purification technologies. For example, I found perchlorates in the drinking water in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, California. Chemicals from a rocket fuel spill several years ago have contaminated the water in these areas, but the municipalities were not able to detect this contaminant.
Michael Adackapara, Supervisor, Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board Re: Water monitoring, control and automation solutions: I believe

that industrial waste and sewer runoff are well controlled. However, storm water runoff is not well monitored or controlled. Re: Water purification materials: I believe that tap water is well purified. However, sanitary sewers are getting old and leaking. I also think that waste water collection systems are in dire need of improvement. Re: Water and sludge treatment technologies: In industry and municipal, I dont think that good disposal methods exist for sludge. Rural might be the exception agriculture tends to make good use of the sludge.
Chris Kennedy, President, NanOasis Inc. (Startup entrepreneur) Water plants are capital intensive. Technology that can produce more water in less space, less energy, and are more efficient are interesting areas of R&D now. For instance, membrane technology is much more energy efficient. It can produce much more water with the same footprint. Our company, NanOasis, develops a better reverse osmosis technology that produces more water, with much less energy and in a more efficient manner.

CALIFORNIA'S

WATER PURIFICATION MATERIALS AND SLUDGE

TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES BEING USED IN INDUSTRY, MUNICIPALITIES AND RURAL AREAS

Sludge
Sludge is produced from the treatment of wastewater in on-site (e.g. septic tank) and off-site (e.g. activated sludge) systems. This is inherently so because a primary aim of wastewater treatment is removing solids from the wastewater. In addition, soluble organic substances are converted to bacterial cells, and the latter is removed from the wastewater. Sludge is also produced from the treatment of storm water

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(Section 4.3), although it is likely to be less organic in nature compared to wastewater sludge. Bucket latrine and vault latrines store fecal sludge, which needs to be collected and treated. These two types of latrine are not discussed in Section 4, because no treatment is involved at the latrines. In the former case human excreta is deposited in a bucket and the content of the bucket is emptied daily, usually at night giving the term night soil to the fecal sludge. In the latter the excreta is stored in a vault for a longer period of up to two weeks before removal. The content of the vault should preferably be removed mechanically. The characteristics of sludge vary widely from relatively fresh fecal materials generated in bucket latrines to sludge which has undergone bacterial decomposition for over a year in a double pit latrine. The treatment required is therefore dependent on the characteristics of the sludge. The former may contain large numbers of pathogens, whereas the latter will contain much less due to pathogen die-off. Sludge should, however, always be handled with care to avoid contact with pathogens. Sludge may be contaminated with heavy metals and other pollutants, especially when industrial wastes are disposed into the sewer. Pretreatment of industrial wastes is therefore essential before discharge to the sewer. Treatment of sludge contaminated with high concentrations of heavy metals or toxic chemicals will be more difficult and the potential for re-use of the sludge will be limited. Fecal sludge contains essential nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and is potentially beneficial as fertilizers for plants. The organic carbon in the sludge, once stabilized, is also desirable as a soil conditioner, because it provides improved soil structure for plant roots. Options for sludge treatment include stabilization, thickening, dewatering, drying and incineration. The latter is most costly, because fuel is needed and air pollution control requires extensive treatment of the combustion gases. It can be used when the sludge is heavily contaminated with heavy metals or other undesirable pollutants. Prevention of contamination of the sludge by industrial wastes is preferable to incineration. A conversion process to produce oil from sludge has been developed, which can be suitable for heavily contaminated sludge (Skrypsi-Mantele, et al 2000). The costs of treatment of sludge are generally of the same order as the costs of removing the sludge from the wastewater.

Stabilization
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Fecal sludge collected from bucket or vault latrines has a very high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and is generally putrid and odorous. Primary and secondary sludges from an activated sludge treatment plant also have a high BOD and may be difficult to dewater. Even sludge from a septic tank, which has undergone bacterial decomposition over at least a year, still has a high BOD. Stabilization is the term used to denote the process of BOD reduction. The stabilization process can be carried out under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Aerobic stabilization of primary and secondary sludges can be carried out in an aeration tank in the same manner as in an activated sludge process. Because of the high oxygen requirement, this process is energy intensive and costs are high. Aerobic stabilization requires less energy when carried out as part of a composting process. For composting of sludge, its solids content should be increased to at least 15 % so that it can be handled as a solid. Thickening and dewatering (see below) of primary and secondary sludges are required to achieve the required solids content. Fecal sludge may contain high enough solids. Mixing with dry materials such as dry sawdust may assist with achieving the required solids content as well attaining the required carbon to nitrogen ratio for composting.

Composting
Composting is an aerobic bacterial decomposition process to stabilize organic wastes and produce humus (compost). Compost contains nutrients and organic carbon which are excellent soil conditioners. Composting takes place naturally on a forest floor where organic materials (leaf litter, animal wastes) are converted to more stable organic materials (humus) and the nutrients are released and made available for plant uptake. The process is slow on a forest floor, but can be accelerated under optimum conditions. The optimum conditions for composting are: a moisture content of about 50 %, a carbon to nitrogen ratio of about 25 to 30, and temperature of 55 oC. Because wastewater sludge is rich in nutrients, its carbon to nitrogen ratio is low (5 to 10). It is also high in moisture. Addition of dry sawdust, which is very high in carbon to nitrogen ratio (500) can adjust both the moisture and carbon to nitrogen ratio. Other waste materials that can be used for this purpose are mulched garden wastes, forest wastes and shredded newspaper.

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Composting can be carried out in a specially built composter, such as an inclined rotating cylinder, fed on one end with the raw materials, and the aerated product collected at the other end. As the materials are slowly tumbled over a period of about one week, they are mixed and aerated. Because bacterial decomposition produces heat, temperatures in the insulated composter can easily reach 55oC. The immature compost is then windrowed for at least 12 weeks to allow the composting process to complete, with occasional turning of the windrow. Composting can be more simply carried out in windrows (Figure 32). Regular turning of the windrows assists with mixing of the materials and more importantly supply the oxygen to the bacteria. Temperatures can reach 55 oC, because compost has a good heat insulating property. Turning of the compost also ensures that all parts of the windrow reach the required 55oC essential for pathogen destruction. Turning is required every two to three days in the first two weeks when temperature is 55oC or above. After this period frequent turning of the compost windrow is not required as less heat is generated and less oxygen is required while the compost undergoes maturation. Anaerobic digestion Anaerobic digestion is a bacterial decomposition process that stabilizes organic wastes and produces a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide gas (biogas). The heat value of methane is the same as natural petroleum gas, and biogas is valuable as an energy source. Anaerobic digestion is usually carried out in a specially built digester, where the content is mixed and the digester maintained at 35 oC by combusting the biogas produced.
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After digestion the sludge is passed to a sedimentation tank where the sludge is thickened. Biogas is collected from the digester (Figure 33). The thickened sludge requires further treatment prior to reuse or disposal. Anaerobic digestion can also be carried out at a slower rate in an unmixed tank or pond. Covering is usually by a UV resistant plastic sheet, because of the large area needed to be covered, and biogas is collected from the top of the sheet. Storage of biogas can be in a cylindrical tank with a floating roof. The cylindrical roof floats on water and its position is determined by the volume of the gas stored under the pressure of the roof. Biogas can also be stored in a balloon, but only under low pressure.

Treatment Profiles

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Stabilization of Drying Beds Removal of sludge at wastewater treatment facilities has traditionally been a major operational concern. Most large sludge basins require removal of processed sludge by large heavy equipment, causing the basin subgrade elevation to become unstable under equipment loads. A proven method to reduce the amount of maintenance required is to modify the existing sub grade soil. This method of soil improvement consists of treating the native soils with additives such as quicklime or cement. Soil treatment increases the strength and reduces the compressibility of the existing subsurface strata to maintain ground stability and to control ground movement under loads induced by heavy construction equipment. An added benefit to treating with these reagents is the reduction of the soil permeability. Additives such as quicklime or cements are mixed into the native soil with water. This method of stabilization is conducted under a control environment to provide a consistent and uniform mat structure. This stabilized mat creates a harden surface that allows for many years of maintenance access for sludge removal. Design Consideration and Quality Control In order to structurally evaluate the stabilized soil, laboratory tests can establish such properties as: 1) unconfined compressive strength, 2) flexural and tensile strength, 3) R-value 4) fatigue behavior, etc. Probably the single most important strength parameter is the unconfined compressive strength as other strength parameters can often be estimated from unconfined compressive strength as a result of regression analysis.
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The test samples can include laboratory samples, field wet samples, and core samples prepared before, during, and after construction, respectively. The results can be used for design, construction quality control and quality assurance. Soil type is the most dominant factor that influences the strength of treated soils. The same treatment used in different soils produces results with a wide variation. The effect is attributed to the adsorption and pozzolanic reaction in the various soils as well as the reaction of the hardening reagent itself. Features/Benefits of Soil Stabilization Drying Beds - Directly supports end loaders allowing them to drive directly on the sludge drying bed without destroying the sub grade. - Loading, cleaning, and grading time is significantly reduced. - Reduces the permeability of the native subgrade soils. - Establishes a clear distinction between the sludge removal and subgrade. - Reduction in the amount of grading required at the site, due to enhancement of the strength of the existing soil. Contacts in California
Griffin Soil http://www.griffinsoil.com/home

Politics in Sludge disposal

Area leaders are watching closely as Kern County voters prepare to consider a measure that would stop Los Angeles from dumping sewage sludge on farms in the Central Valley county. There is cause for concern, but not necessarily alarm, Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster said, because in late 2004, the county passed an ordinance regulating how and where sludge may be used as fertilizer. Sludge generators must jump through hoops to get permission to bring human waste to the county, he said. And they may only ship waste that has undergone vigorous treatment. Diane Gilbert, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles' Bureau of Sanitation, said the nation's second largest city generates 238,000 tons of sludge annually, more than 99 percent 21

12/31/2009 of which is trucked to a 4,688-acre farm the city grows alfalfa, wheat and corn on in Kern County. The harvested crops are used to feed dairy cows, not people, she said. Gilbert said there are few options within Los Angeles County because, since 1987, ocean disposal has been banned and landfill space is limited. Incineration is not an option, either, because that would aggravate the city's notorious smog. In recent years, Kern fields have been absorbing one-third of California's sludge, most of it from Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, according to Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter. "I can understand Kern County's sensitivity," Buster said. "They have been getting (sludge) from every direction -- huge amounts of it." But Buster said a ban might not survive a court challenge. He said it is the opinion of Riverside County lawyers that such a measure would be declared unconstitutional because "you can't chop things off at the county line when you're dealing with business."

Contact Information
From Diane Gilbert, diane.gilbert@lacity.org. City of Los Angeles Biosolids EMS Program Objectives for 2006-2007. The City of Los Angeles, CA has established new biosolids program objectives for 2006-2007. The objectives were developed to meet the program policy, long-term goals, and provide continual improvements. We invite you to view the objectives and provide feedback. We value your comments and your interest in our program is greatly appreciated. To view the program policy, goals, new objectives for 2006-2007, and objectives accomplished in 2005-2006, visit: http://www.lacity.org/san/biosolidsems/program.htm.

CONVERGENCES FROM OTHER TECHNOLOGY SECTORS TAKING PLACE IN WATER TECHNOLOGY AREAS

Candidate Interviews Could you identify areas of convergence from other branches of high technology that may have products/services that can be utilized in the water technology area? Jerry Rai, AquaPhyd (Startup entrepreneur) Silicon Valley software companies need to get more involved. For example, we need to see innovations such as soil moisture monitoring systems being developed. We also need to improve methods of assessing ROI on new technologies.

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Carolyn Remick, Executive Director, Berkeley Water Center The water/energy nexus could actually create the crisis in water, and force people to pay attention given that such a significant amount of energy is used to move water. Alex Bayen, Assistant Professor, Systems Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Berkeley, is exploring links with mobile phones. Visit this web page for more information: (http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/~bayen/research_Bayen.html#Lagran gianSensors) Sandy Walker, SolarBee (Startup entrepreneur) I believe the water/energy nexus is an important area of convergence. Is there sufficient energy to treat and move water, and meet the demands on our infrastructure for water? Example - desalinization is very expensive and consumes a great deal of energy. Peter Williams, Chief Technology Officer, Big Green Innovations Group, IBM In my view, they include: computer networking, computer analytics, visualization, and the semiconductor/nano science side, and desalination membranes. Managing large networks of water pipes is not dissimilar from managing smart grids. And the convergence of the smart grid area to water use and technology is another example. John Colombo, Porifera, Inc. (Startup entrepreneur) In general, the smart monitoring, as in smart grid, infrastructure is in place it can be easily transferred to water. At a micro level, technology is converging from the semiconductor industry, creating filters that are 400 sq. ft. in area. Current technology is piggy-backing on some of this existing technology. Chris Kennedy, President, NanOasis Inc. (Startup entrepreneur) Again, our company, NanOasis, is using nanotechnology to address the cost of dealing with water treatment issues.

A.

R&D ORGANIZATIONS, EXISTING CLUSTERS AND POTENTIAL CO-OPERATION COMPANIES WORKING IN THE WATER SECTOR CALIFORNIA
The Emerging Technology Group at PG&E

IN

Next tactical steps for relevant Finnish companies involve building relationships with one or more of the following organizations:

Water technology 'gurus' from the water utilities, which will address approximately 40% of California's water challenges Water technology labs at Stanford and US Berkeley
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Two corporations such as SAP and IBM Initial Suggestions University of California o Berkeley Water Center, Carolyn Remick, o UCLA Water Center, Yoram Rubin, Eric Hoek o UC Davis o Western Energy Efficiency Council

Corporations Intel, IBM, Lockheed o US Navy o Lawrence Berkeley National Labs o Tony Bernhardt, Physicist; Angel investor, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

National Labs

Recently funded startups

Sixteen of the worlds top 50 water technology companies, based on The Artemis Project competition are based in California. The Artemis Project sponsored the first Top 50 Water Companies Competition to identify the leading game-changing technologies that provide venture grade investment opportunities in the water sector. The competition goes beyond identifying visionary or exciting technology to assess a company's ability to become an industry leader through market opportunity coupled by a depth of intellectual property and know-how. The Artemis Project Company Rating Matrix combines these measures with an evaluation of the company management team and its investors. The judging criteria included ipCapital Group's proprietary patent scoring algorithm, ipDimensional Scoring, which objectively ranks companies within a particular sector based on the relative value of its patents please visit: http://www.theartemisproject.com/competitionpage.html for the full list of companies. The companies are listed below with links to their websites. NanoH2O HydroPoint Membrane-based Water purification/Nanotech Automated irrigation/ Evapotranspiration

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Globe Protect, Inc. Aqua-PhyD, Inc. Calera Corporation PAX Water Derceto, Inc. Green Wireless Systems, Inc. Clean Water Technology, Inc.

Physical water purification/Acoustic water purification Physical water purification Beneficial use of waste Disinfection/Water quality Water treatment plant management software Moisture sensor/Automated irrigation Onsite waste water treatment/Beneficial waste harvesting

Crystal Clear Technologies, Inc. Water purification/Nanotech Cyber-Rain, Inc. American Micro Detection Systems, Inc. Green World Solutions Ocean Pacific Technologies GO2 Water Moisture sensor/Automated irrigation Water monitoring GIS-based water distribution software/Automated irrigation Pump optimization/Energy recovery Wastewater solutions

Falcon Waterfree Technologies, Waterless urinal LLC

CALIFORNIA WATER INDUSTRYS ECOSYSTEM

The California Water Industry There are four aspects of the water issues in California:

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1. a.

Water Production and storage: Dam and Reservoir Management

California has a long history of political battles over water rights and rates. Some of these battles have even threatened to split the State in halfinto Northern California (who has water) and Southern California (who consumes more and doesnt want to pay for it.). Many in the Northern half of the state resent state wide taxes that subsidize the Los Angeles thirst. For more than a century, federal, state and local governments dammed, dredged, diked and diverted California's waterways to promote growth and prosperity in the arid West. Today there are more than 1,400 dams in California and the state is one of the largest economies with one of the densest population areas in the world. It is also one of the most important agricultural centers of the United states: 20 percent of this developed water is used by cities and industry with the other 80 percent used for agriculture b. Desalination

Increased Ocean Desalination projects are one response to critical water shortages. The Southern California population areas, San Diego, Greater Los Angeles and Santa Barbara are all ocean front communities. In California, a $250 million desalination plant is proposed for

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Long Beach. The plant would produce as much as 50 million gallons of fresh water daily. However, in order to be cost effective, the plant is budgeting to get their electricity for 30-50% less than the going rate. The plant's water would sell for $800 per acre-foot, which is $300 more than imported water and $650 more than local groundwater. c. Aquifer management

The Central Valley of California contains the largest basin-fill aquifer system in California. The valley is in a structural trough about 400 miles long and from 20 to 70 miles wide and extends over more than 20,000 square miles. The trough is filled to great depths by marine and continental sediments, which are the result of millions of years of inundation by the ocean and erosion of the rocks that form the surrounding mountains. Sand and gravel beds in this great thickness of basin-fill material form an important aquifer system. From north to south, the aquifer system is divided into the Sacramento Valley, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and the San Joaquin Valley sub regions, on the basis of different characteristics of surface-water basins.

The Central Valley is one of the most important agricultural areas in the world. No single region of comparable size in the United States produces

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more fruits, vegetables, and nuts. More than 7 million acres are currently under irrigation. During 1985, crop irrigation accounted for 96 percent of the surface water and 89 percent of the ground water withdrawn in the Central Valley. d. Water quality and control- Safety Water is a regulated utility resource that is heavily regulated. Unfortunately, this is often without a lot of centralized coordination. There are over 300 water districts (see appendix) throughout the state and an elaborate matrix of State agencies that interface, regulate and provide staff support for each of them. For practical purposes, they are the economic buyer for any and all water projects within the State. Some are duplicated at the state level. The State Environmental Protection Agency in its various bureaucratic manifestations oversees and approves each of these projects. Recently, environmental issues have also had a profound influence on water politics. Pollution, endangered species and the environmental impact of dams or other modifications to the natural environment have mired many projects into a bureaucratic black hole. 2. a. Water delivery and Processing Aqueduct and pipeline management

Residents of California rely on three types of sources for their drinking water: surface water (rivers and lakes39%), desalinated water from the ocean1%, and groundwater (underground aquifers60%). Some communities are fortunate enough to be near both a surface water source and a groundwater aquifer. Groundwater provides 60 percent of all water supplied to Californians and is usually pumped from aquifers underlying local communities. In places where there is not enough local surface or groundwater to meet customer needs, water suppliers purchase water from other areas and transport it through many miles of pipelines and aqueducts. This imported water is delivered through facilities developed by state, federal or local governments. The Central Valley Project (CVP), the State Water Project (SWP), the Colorado River Aqueduct, and many local and regional projects supply water when and where it is needed. b. Water Processing and Delivery

The California Water industry is a complex mixture of public organizations and private companies. They are part of a $400 billion a year global water management industry. At the top of the stack are the government agencies that regulate and control all utility companies in the State.

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Some of these organizations have state-wide jurisdiction. Some have local jurisdiction. Others have jurisdiction over specific projects such as various watersheds or dams. These groups approve all water projects in the state: thus they are the penultimate economic buyers. The State Water Resources Control Boardpart of the California Environmental Protection Agency, oversees and coordinates all of these groups. http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/. c. Water Company oversight (rates, contracts) The State board is divided into nine regions. There are 540 departments of water organized around 340+ water districts. These oversee 145 private water companies and 70 municipality owned water plants along with another 70 water treatment and waste management plants. The 200+ water companies also report to the State Public Utilities Commission which oversees consumer issues such as rates. Some of these are public utilities and others are private, under contract to provide water or management to various localities. Both groups are heavily regulated. The water companies are also economic buyers for various projects though they require approvals from the relevant Water District Boards or agencies relevant to the project. There is a parallel matrix of Irrigation Districts that oversee agricultural areas throughout the State. Separate organizations monitor Industrial water usage. d. Consumer services and education (conservation)

Los Angeles is a coastal desert able to support at most 1 million people on its own water; the Los Angeles basin now is the core of a megacity that spans 220 miles (350 km) from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. The regions population is expected to reach 41 million by 2020, up from 28 million in 2009 Water conservation is the predominant response to drought conditions. While conservation in general can be encouraged, the swimming pool and green lawn mentality of Californians is short fused and this is not a viable solution to accommodate long term water needs. e. Planning

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on November 9 signed a $11.14 billion water bond bill, which is part of Californias historic multi-bill package designed to overhaul the states stressed water system. The bill is designed to give Californians more reliable water sources and restore

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the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which supplies water to two-thirds of the states 36.7 million residents.

The Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010 provides $455 million for drought relief; $1.4 billion for regional water supply projects; $2.25 billion for Delta restoration and sustainability; $3 billion for water storage projects; $1.79 billion for watershed conservation; $1 billion for groundwater cleanup and protection projects; and $1.25 billion for water recycling and conservation projects. 3. a. Water Reclamation and control Waste and Sewage Management

The challenge is that a considerable portion of the California infrastructure is aging and built in an era before such concerns were figural. Now, the potential expense is overwhelming citizens. The Los Angeles Times ran an article on Oct 12, this year decrying a potential cost of over $1,000 per MONTH per household to update the Malibu sewage system. Because of pollution to the water table, they MUST replace a system of septic tanks with a centralized wastewater treatment system. b. Pollution

The United States has made tremendous advances in the past 25 years to clean up the aquatic environment by controlling pollution from industries and sewage treatment plants. Unfortunately, we did not do enough to control pollution from diffuse, or nonpoint, sources. Today, nonpoint source (NPS) pollution remains the Nation's largest source of water quality problems. It's the main reason that approximately 40 percent of our surveyed rivers, lakes, and estuaries are not clean enough to meet basic uses such as fishing or swimming. NPS pollution occurs when rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation runs over land or through the ground, picks up pollutants, and deposits them into rivers, lakes, and coastal waters or introduces them into ground water. Imagine the path taken by a drop of rain from the time it hits the ground to when it reaches a river, ground water, or the ocean. Any pollutant it picks up on its journey can become part of the NPS problem. NPS pollution also includes adverse changes to the vegetation, shape, and flow of streams and other aquatic systems.

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NPS pollution is widespread because it can occur any time activities disturb the land or water. Agriculture, forestry, grazing, septic systems, recreational boating, urban runoff, construction, physical changes to stream channels, and habitat degradation are potential sources of NPS pollution. Careless or uninformed household management also contributes to NPS pollution problems. The latest National Water Quality Inventory indicates that agriculture is the leading contributor to water quality impairments, degrading 60 percent of the impaired river miles and half of the impaired lake acreage surveyed by states, territories, and tribes. Runoff from urban areas is the largest source of water quality impairments to surveyed estuaries (areas near the coast where seawater mixes with freshwater).

The most common NPS pollutants are sediment and nutrients. These wash into water bodies from agricultural land, small and medium-sized animal feeding operations, construction sites, and other areas of disturbance. Other common NPS pollutants include pesticides, pathogens (bacteria and viruses), salts, oil, grease, toxic chemicals, and heavy metals. 4. Environmental Protection and impact analysis

California Environmental Protection Agency, oversees and coordinates all of these groups. http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/. The State board is divided into nine regions. There are 540 departments of water organized around 340+ water districts. These oversee 145 private water companies and 70 municipality owned water plants along with another 70 water treatment and waste management plants. Recently, environmental issues have also had a profound influence on water politics. Pollution, endangered species and the environmental impact of dams or other modifications to the natural environment have mired many projects into a bureaucratic black hole.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Laura Shenkar, Founder and Principal of The Artemis Project, is one of the foremost global experts on corporate water strategy and the application of advanced water technologies in commercial and industrial markets.

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Ms. Shenkar works with leading global corporations - including Wal-Mart, IBM and Novozymes - on the development and execution of their water management strategies. She also assists advanced water technology companies in bringing new innovations to market, such as smart irrigation, advanced cooling towers, high-efficiency filtration, on-site recycling and water capture systems. www.theartemisproject.com/about_managementbio.html Alfredo Coppola has over 20 years of business development and management consulting experience in the information technology sector working with early-stage companies and with global companies such as Corel, Adobe, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, Paramount Pictures, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Since 2004, Alfredo has worked as an international management consultant with the US Market Access Center (USMAC) in Silicon Valley, where he helps international high-tech companies with US market expansion strategies. Prior to US MAC, he held executive positions at a global marketing agency, e-Storm International, with headquarters in San Francisco and offices in Paris and Singapore. Before e-Storm Alfredo was president and co-founder of two Canadian digital media companies, where he established offices in Ottawa, Toronto and San Francisco, California. http://www.usmarketaccess.com/operations-team/alfredo-coppola-director-businessdevelopment.html Ken Jacobsen served as a principal consultant in the Pocket Intelligence Program at SRI International in Menlo Park, California. The Pocket Intelligence Program was a cross matrix multi-client research, development and consulting group focused on emerging technologies for mobile computing and communications. He was also on the Technical Advisory Board for Samsung for seven years. Curtis Wright 2002-present: Councilmember (and former Mayor) of the City of Monte Sereno. 2008-2010 Director of West Valley Sanitation District, Member of CASA. 2008-present Commissioner on Santa Clara Valley Water District 2002-present Board Chair of West Valley Solid Waste and Recycling JPA board. 2009-present Commissioner on Santa Clara

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APPENDIX
ABOUT
THE

INTERVIEWEES,

AND THEIR ORGANIZATIONS

Jerry Rai, Director, Aqua-Phyd Email: jerry@aqua-phyd.com Telephone: 949-228-0630 Website: http://www.aqua-phyd.com/company.htm Aqua-PhyD, Inc. is based in Irvine, California. The Company has developed a non-chemical water and soil treatment technology that addresses water shortages and water quality issues. Aqua-PhyD was founded in 2004 with a "Green" company water conservation agenda. However, understanding the need to prove its business model and technology in a clearly defined market, the Company first targeted the high profile US Golf industry where significant volumes of fresh water are used daily. Today, the Aqua-PhyD technology is in use on several golf courses. Each course has demonstrated a reduction in soil compaction, saving on water consumption, and conspicuous, visual evidence of greener, healthier turf. In 2007, Aqua-PhyD entered agriculture enabling growers to stretch limited water supplies. In addition, Aqua-PhyD has proven to provide a number of benefits to agriculture leading to healthier plants, increased nutrient availability, decreased salt accumulation, and greater yield. Carolyn Remick, Executive Director, Berkeley Water Center Email: remick@berkeley.edu Telephone: 510.642.5322 Website: http://bwc.berkeley.edu/home/about.html

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The Berkeley Water Center promotes and supports collaborative, water-related research within the Berkeley research community. Our external partners --industry, government, and non-profits -- contribute to the vision of the research and benefit from the outcomes, particularly as the research is applied to improve public health and environmental conditions.

Sandy Walker, California Regional Manager, SolarBee Inc. Email: sandy@solarbee.com Telephone: 916 847 8811 Website: http://www.solarbee.com/ SolarBee, Inc. is the #1 World Leader for improving water quality in reservoirs in a green; and sustainable manner. Its SolarBee machines use solar power instead of grid power, and they reduce or entirely eliminate the need to ever add chemicals to a water reservoir. SolarBee invented solar-powered long-distance reservoir circulators in 1998 and named this technology "SolarBee" in 2001. In 2002, the high flow (40,000 lpm / 10,000 gpm) machines were developed which allowed the technology to be expanded from small wastewater ponds to large lakes. In 2004, the large heavy-duty brushless motor was developed with a battery system for day-and-night operation, and the metallurgy was upgraded from 304ss to 316Lss stainless steel for longer life. In 2005 and 2006, a digital controller was developed with an on-board GPS receiver, data logging, flash-card programming to fine tune the performance for each reservoir, LED diagnostics, and a SCADA radio-link output for remote machine monitoring. High wave machines were also developed to withstand harsh conditions in extremely large reservoirs. Peter Williams, Chief Technology Officer, Big Green Innovations Group, IBM Email: peter.r.williams@us.ibm.com Website: http://www-03.ibm.com/technology/greeninnovations/

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IBM's Big Green Innovations unit is an in-house incubator for IBM's environmental businesses, focused on carbon, water, alternative energy and computational modeling). Big Green Innovations The IBM Big Green Innovations team applies advanced materials science, physics, modeling tools, materials science, physics, and integration expertise to address emerging environmental management opportunities. By collaborating with clients that have a global presence in water and energy related problems we can bring innovative perspectives the reach across ecosystems to solve problems none of us could have solved individually. The team is presently focusing its development of offerings in Advanced Water Management, among many other areas: Advanced Water Management encompasses a broad agenda from availability and quality to distribution and consumption. Our technology and expertise can help water utilities, agencies, and private industry improve water quality and water system performance. By collaborating with clients to provide them more accurate and timelier data on water operations, IBM can help clients proactively manage provisioning for human, industrial, and agricultural consumption leveraging tools like IBM Deep Thunder. Understanding weather impact on water management can help optimize the management of complex water environments. IBM will also work with organizations to develop nanotechnology-based water filtration systems and other products that address the challenge of providing potable water in a world where water is becoming a scarce resource. John Colombo, Director of Business Development, Porifera, Inc. Email: john@poriferanano.com Telephone: (925) 422-0931 Website: http://poriferanano.com/

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Porifera Inc. was founded with the goal of developing membranes with vastly superior permeability, durability, and selectivity for water purification and other applications such as carbon sequestration. Our vision is to use carbon nanotubes to improve membrane performance, enabling affordable and plentiful fresh drinking water worldwide. Our R&D team includes scientists and engineers with over 25 years commercializing advanced materials, environmental, and membrane technologies. The company was founded in 2008 in the San Francisco Bay Area based on technology exclusively licensed from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Bradley Stone, Chair, Chemistry Department, San Jose State University, and Technical Board of Advisors for AC Research Lab Email: bstone@science.sjsu.edu Telephone: 408-924-5000 Websites: http://ncs.science.sjsu.edu/helpdesk/directory/profile.asp?id=46, http://www.acresearchlab.com/home The AC Research Lab commercializes the HelioMist product line, an award winning energy savings technology to improve the air conditioners performance and reduces the electricity usage. Michael Adackapara, Supervising Water Resource Control Engineer, Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board Email: madackapara@waterboards.ca.gov Telephone: (951) 782-3238 Website: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb8/ The State Water Resources Control Board (the State Water Board) was created by the Legislature in 1967. The mission of the Water Board is to ensure the highest reasonable quality for waters of the State, while allocating those waters to achieve the optimum balance of beneficial uses. The joint authority of water allocation and water quality protection enables the Water Board to provide comprehensive protection for California's waters.
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Chris Kennedy, President, NanOasis Inc. Email: ChrisK@NanOasisInc.com Telephone: 408 644 2375 Website: http://www.nanoasisinc.com/ One of the worlds great needs is to increase the supply of inexpensive drinking water. NanOasis is developing a fundamentally new approach to lowering the cost and energy requirements for desalination and other water purification applications utilizing carbon nanotubes to make reverse osmosis membranes having breakthrough properties.

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II)

CALIFORNIA DROUGHT STORIES

The following articles give some vital statistics on the current California water crisis, from supply to financing strategies. Drought Hits California's Already Tight Water Supply, National Public Radiohttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91372101 Farmers vs. Fish Amid the California DroughtTime Magazine, http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1814128,00.html, Delta congressman leery of water legislationContra Costa Timeshttp://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_13852378 Californians asked to spend more during unprecedented spree of water spending-- Contra Costa Timeshttp://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_13852484

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III)

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE FUTURE: SMART, CLEAN AND GREEN WATER MANAGEMENT
April 2009

Preamble The genius of science and design in the 21st Century is the discovery of smart, clean, and green ways to capture the value of resources. Smart because they unlock the complex designs of nature and use information and signaling to achieve efficiencies. Clean because they capture and use resources and methods that dont involve significant externalities in extraction or disposal. And, green because they rely to a much higher degree on vegetation, and in the process begin to restore the natural ecosystem and its wide and deep benefits. Purpose To bring together organizations that share the goal of rebuilding Americas Cities and Towns of the Future through implementation of smart, clean and green water and related infrastructure management. Goals Smart, clean and green infrastructure in Americas cities and towns can protect and restore water resources and ecosystems, reduce energy use, and improve public health and the quality of life for residents. The undersigned organizations support: Use of smart, clean and green engineering and natural systems design to build and rebuild Cities and Towns of the Future; Investigation and demonstration of models to incorporate 21st Century engineering and design into existing centralized and resource-intensive infrastructure, buildings and communities, Demonstration of smart, clean, and green technologies and management strategies in urban, suburban, and rural areas and at the site/building, neighborhood, municipal, and watershed scales; Development of advanced monitoring and realtime control systems for watershed and infrastructure management;

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Assessment of the benefits and costs of using innovative water management approaches. Determine the impacts these alternatives have on energy and material use, air quality and other resources. Evaluate the ecological and ecosystem impacts of these practices on water resources, soil health, biota, and overall community sustainability, Implementation of economic incentives for adopting smart, clean and green technologies and designs, including standards, labeling, rebates and tax credits, full cost utility pricing and infrastructure grants and loans; Funding of scientific research leading to the development of more efficient and clean technologies and designs, community development strategies, and policies; Support for CleanTech investments by companies in new technologies and markets for provision of services, treatment, recycling and reuse; Creation of Green Jobs through workforce development for design, installation, and maintenance of new infrastructure and buildings; Development of new models for incorporating smart, clean, and green approaches into federal regulatory, economic development, and funding programs. Development of policy mechanisms, guidance and other tools to assist states and local governments understand, design and implement more sustainable (smart, clean and green) water management systems Promotion of integrated water resource management programs that utilize a water balance approach at the watershed scale to optimize, to the maximum extent technically feasible, the management and use of stormwater, wastewater and drinking waters to reduce ecological impacts, energy consumption and green house gas emissions.

21st Century Infrastructure and Buildings Smart, Clean, and Green The design model for Cities and Towns of the Future includes: systems designed to use the right water for the right purpose, i.e., systems designed to differentially treat water based on the use based on the assumption that not all water needs to be treated to potable water standards
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prevention of pollution before it gets into the waste stream (including the re-engineering of some products through green chemistry to mitigate or eliminate ecological damage); reduction of energy needs by avoiding pumping and long-distance transport of water and wastewater, i.e., the use of decentralized onsite treatment systems where appropriate; the selection of water infrastructure that has the lowest embodied energy footprint based on the lifespan of the system (construction and operation and maintenance) wastewater recycling and non-potable, fit for purpose reuse instead of disposal; rainfall harvesting and reuse to supplement potable water supplies, where safe and appropriate to maintenance of minimum ecosystem streamflows and restoration of healthy watersheds; energy, chemical, and nutrient recovery from wastewater; habitat and natural system restoration; re-vegetation to restore evapotranspiration capacity and to promote aquifer recharge and pollutant removal through soil based vegetated systems; green infrastructure in urban areas to help beautify cities and revitalize neighborhoods elimination of excessive water supply system losses associated with the typical potable-quality water supply systems.

Smart, Clean and Green Infrastructure Benefits Smart, clean and green infrastructure and designs have the following benefits for the nation: Water security More efficient use of water and implementation of systems to reuse and recycle water can lower the per capita use of water dramatically and facilitate protection of supplies for all potable and non-potable uses;

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Cleaner water New technologies can keep toxic chemicals out of surface and subsurface water sources and the ecosystem, and reuse recovers nutrients from treatment plant effluents; Restored ecosystems functions Engineered and natural systems designs can restore ecological functions in urban and suburban cities and protect natural systems in rural areas and towns; Efficient resource use Distributed small-scale infrastructure and integrated building design can reduce energy use and recover resources from wastewater; Climate moderation Reductions in greenhouse gases and restoration of evapotranspiration cycles can moderate trends in global warming and reduce the city heat island effects by reducing temperatures;

Green jobs New infrastructure and design will create millions of new jobs, ranging from science and engineering to manufacturing, installation, and management in low-income urban neighborhoods as well as rural communities; Economic competitiveness America has fallen behind many other countries in these areas, but can restore its scientific and engineering leadership and rebuild high-tech manufacturing for exports to both developed and developing countries if it starts now in earnest; Community revitalization Improved air quality, moderated temperatures, green job development, green schools, hospitals and housing, restored parks, vegetation, and urban rivers will enhance the quality of life in cities and towns; Cost savings Integrated water and energy engineering and design can lower costs and enhance the value of infrastructure and building in cities and towns.

Background Traditional water management has relied on a low-tech, industrial-scale engineering and economic model mostly developed in the 1800s. With a goal of public health protection, big pipe systems were built to transport clean water into and wastewater out of urban neighborhoods.

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In recent years, however, a concern has been growing that this paradigm of big-pipe water management is not sustainable, both from a natural resource and an economic perspective. The appropriation of huge volumes of water from the ecosystem and its release as partially-treated effluent into rivers, lakes, and oceans has been increasingly disruptive to those ecosystems. Population growth, climate change, agricultural practices, energy and other practices will challenge this approach further. Signs of stress are seen in falling groundwater levels and decreasing dryweather stream flows (and unnatural peak flows during wet weather), destructive eutrophication of lakes and estuaries, disappearance of wetlands, increasing dead zones in coastal areas, and other catastrophic changes in hydrological functions. Climate change is expected to exacerbate patterns of droughts and heavy rainfalls, putting both water supplies and flood control measures at risk. Reductions in evapotranspiration from vegetation destruction are being studied as potentially significant contributors to global warming. Drinking water systems lose huge amounts of water (a US average of 20%) from their distribution pipes, existing treatment technologies were not designed to eliminate emerging biological and chemical contaminants that are increasingly found in sourcewaters, and treating all water to new and more stringent standards is both increasingly difficult and expensive. Except for the small amount of water needed for potable uses, the delivery and treatment of entire, ever increasing, supplies is extremely wasteful of energy, chemicals and money. Most cities and towns have been unwilling to charge ratepayers the full cost of repairing and replacing the existing, often inadequate infrastructure, so collapsing pipes and breakdowns in delivery systems and treatment plants have become more frequent, while innovation is minimally on the radar screen. The 2007 Baltimore Charter for Sustainable Water Systems asserts an alternative approach to water management that mimics and works with nature. Natural systems create an abundance of value and diversity, where species cooperate and one species waste is another species resource. These naturally-balancing ecosystems have been steadily deteriorating under a century-long highly-disruptive human extraction and use of resources in the industrial era. An emerging paradigm relies instead on design principles found in nature: in particular, integrated systems, efficiency and reuse, and adaptation to local context. Many of the new high-performance treatment technologies, such as membranes, mimic biological and chemical designs that

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scientists are discovering in nature (biomimicry). Just as recently found in the energy arena, there are alternative approaches that can restore natural resource patterns and functions found across a landscape. These new design approaches create a wealth of services and benefits at the local level and can help restore the ecological and societal well-being of the global Commons as well. Opportunities also exist in integrated design, rather than in narrower specialized thinking and practice. To paraphrase, the sum of the conventional parts in the traditional approach has been much less than the whole in infrastructure services. Integrated design can increase productivity of the larger system, while also serving the separate functional needs of the parts. Another resource to be tapped from nature is the efficiency and highperformance of its organisms and systems. Biologists and chemists are looking more and more to nature for models to re-engineer products and processes. Membranes in nature, for example, are inherently more efficient than those used in water and wastewater treatment, because of active rather than passive transport mechanisms inherent in biological versions. Finally, as Ian McHarg wrote in the late 1960s, by locating activities in the most appropriate places in a watershed, natural resource streams of value can be tapped with less cost and disruption. McHarg laid out guidelines for locating farms, ports, forests, wildlife corridors, cities, etc. There are lessons to be learned, as well, from networks of nodes and links in nature that assure resilience and adaptability to external shocks to the system. A birds-eye view of the new infrastructure would reveal networks of decentralized, repurposed, and at times hybridized systems. Some of the innovative treatment and resource recovery technologies would be embedded in subdivisions, apartment complexes, or individual homes and offices. Other functions would be taken over by vegetative green infrastructure, such as green roofs and walls, trees, and swales along roads and restored streams, riparian areas, and wetlands. Water and sewer lines might be slip-lined and repurposed for potable or reclaimed water, water storage and distribution, and heat recovery. Monitoring and control technologies would be key elements in managing these systems and in protecting public health and the environment.

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These engineered and green networks mimic the natural systems of nodes and links in nature, where water both recycles and supports life at a local scale, but also is a linkage and transport mechanism across a landscape and into the atmosphere. Adopting these systems in cities and towns can cost less to provide water and sanitation services than current approaches and can also add significant benefits in terms of air quality, energy savings and production, recreation, beauty and aesthetics, increased property values, and jobs. Innovative pricing, incentives, and new performance-based regulatory mechanisms will be required to ensure that these sustainable practices are adopted and that the remaining watershed and global externalities are also addressed by developers, homeowners, industries, and municipalities. Some leading-edge infrastructure experts are now suggesting that these networks of engineered and green energy and water systems need to be integrated and also be co-engineered with transportation, solid waste, buildings, and other urban infrastructure management. The lessons of nature are that such integration can lead to significant synergies of design, cost-savings, and an abundance of positive benefits for society. For example, an eco-block incorporating architectural innovations, wind and solar power, green roof and wall cooling, rainwater harvesting, water reuse and energy recovery, and nutrient recycling into community gardens, can be nearly off-the-grid in both energy and water, and can be located at transportation hubs. These new designs of infrastructure may cost less in dollars and will both improve the quality of life in urban communities and begin to protect and restore the ecological Commons. Paralleling the shift in technologies will be a shift in the institutions and markets for resource management. Municipal utilities evolved for each single-service monopoly in the form of separate centralized systems for water supply, stormwater transmission, and wastewater discharge (and in some cases energy generation/distribution). But embedded and green infrastructure nodes in homes, subdivisions, and commercial establishments engage a wide range of private firms, non-profit groups, and other city agencies (such as parks and recreation, housing, job training, etc), and the developer and property-owner will have many more choices for technologies and design and ongoing maintenance services. Municipalities and other local governments can anticipate more complex and highly-productive new roles in coordinating municipal utilities and agencies internally and in overseeing the new private and non-profit sector externally through ordinances, incentives, education, and inspections.
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A new policy framework for cities and towns of the future will be necessary to maximize the strengths of new markets, but also to direct those markets toward protection and restoration of the Water Commons, rather than to commodify water. Current policies protect public health in important ways, but also impede the discovery of efficiencies and adoption of innovative technologies and designs. Market forces do need to be unleashed, but only if goals, incentives, and safeguards are in place to advance the public interest, including the health and functioning of ecosystems and communities. Finally, the solutions to water management in the 21st Century will require a high level of interdisciplinary collaboration and broad public engagement. Here also, nature serves as a model for the benefits of collaboration and cooperation in society, as opposed to the specialization and hyper-individualism of the 20th Century. Networks of conversations and pilot projects will serve as the foundation for creative invention and enhancement of the Common Wealth. Supporting organizations -- in progress For information, contact valerie.i.nelson@gmail.com or pschwartz@cleanwater.org Valerie I. Nelson - Coalition for Alternative Wastewater Treatment Paul Schwartz -Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund Neil Weinstein - Low Impact Development Center Tom Groves - National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association Mark Shannon and Rich Sustich - U. S. Strategic Water Initiative Jennifer Newland - Canaan Valley Institute

Mark Modzelewski - Water Innovations Alliance

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