Four technologies that save water AND money

When sustainable technologies save resources and lives, it’s a win. When they help save/make money in the process, that’s when you have a real win-win.

These are four, of many, technologies that do just that across the world

1.  Fog water harvesting

Yes, it is exactly what you think it is. You take some fog, add a bit of science (i.e. large nets that collect water droplets from fog) and voila! you get water out of the process. It’s being successfully implemented across the world in places such as Morocco, Chile and Peru.

2. Bhungroo (quick translation - straw)

For technologies to work in rural India, they have to be cost-effective. A bhungroo i.e. a special pipe collects excess water during the Indian monsoon (a season of heavy rains in India) and stores it in a large aquifer which is then used in drier seasons. The cost of this comes to about 1,000 to 2,000 CAD and has shown to triple the income of the farmers. That's a double thumbs up from YourSustainableAccountant.

3. Water credit

Well this isn’t a technology per se, but it is a powerful enabler. Affordable loans are given out to solve water related problems by organisations such as water.org which help people dramatically improve their health and standard of living. This form of micro finance has been used in Asia, Africa and Latin America. (Fun fact - The co-founder of water.org is Matt Damon)

4. An App - EyeOnWater

There is always an app for all our problems. This one is quite neat and was launched in Fresno, California. It helps people monitor their water usage (and probably berates them for splurging H₂0) and suggests how to cut consumption. It also provides a daily graph showing the time of the day when the consumption of water is the most. Simple and effective, just how life should be.

References

1. Marquez, J., & Spencer, K. (2018, May 23). Turning Fog into Water Transforms Women's Lives in Morocco. Retrieved from https://www.kcet.org/shows/earth-focus/turning-fog-into-water-transforms-womens-lives-in-morocco

2. Peerzada, A. (2018, May 25). Saving flood water to get through the droughts. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-44071895

3. Rodriguez, R. (n.d.). Fresno has a new app to help you save money and waste less water. Retrieved from http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article211611949.html