Water Treatment Technologies

What happens when you combine fluid mechanics, differential equations, and public restroom design? 🚾 You get... the world's first splash-free urinal. 🚽 I'm totally geeking out over the latest from researchers at the University of Waterloo and Weber State University who have cracked a century-old design problem: urinal splashback. By solving the "isogonal curve problem" and using some seriously impressive math, the team created two new urinal designs — the Cornucopia and the Nautilus — that keep the urine stream under a critical impact angle (∼30°) to virtually eliminate splash. ✅ 95% less splash than modern urinals ✅ Better hygiene and accessibility ✅ Saves millions of liters of cleaning water daily ✅ And yes... a cleaner experience for everyone involved Even better: they also invented the "urine-no" — a hostile anti-urination wall that maximizes splashback to deter public urination. (Talk about fluid dynamics weaponized 😂.) The moral of the story? Sometimes the solutions to big problems (like global sanitation and water conservation) start by rethinking the "small" stuff — with a little physics and a lot of creativity. 🔗 Full (and fascinating) paper in the first comment below 👇 #Engineering #Water #Wastewater #innovation

This Nobel Prize-winning chemist invented a machine capable of harvesting clean water from even the driest air. He’s scaled this technology up into units that can produce 1,000 litres of drinking water a day It can produce up to 1,000 litres a day using minimal energy and no centralised infrastructure! The system designed by Omar Yaghi at University of California, Berkeley, College of Chemistry works by using specially engineered materials that capture moisture from the air and turn it into drinking water. Developed by his company Atoco, the units are about the size of a shipping container and can run entirely off low-grade thermal energy, which means they can operate even when electricity and water systems fail. Yaghi says the technology could help communities hit by hurricanes or droughts, especially small island nations in the Caribbean where storms can knock out water infrastructure for weeks. So solutions like this could be a lifeline for the 2.2 billion people worldwide that lack safely managed drinking water. Tap like and follow to hear about more solutions helping communities access clean water.

Today at #AdoptAI, I thought back to the moment when artificial intelligence truly clicked for me. It didn’t come from a strategic report or a board discussion. It came from my teenage daughter. One evening, I caught her using Le Chat (France’s homegrown ChatGPT) while doing her homework. My first reaction was the one you would expect: a bit of parental panic of course. But then, I looked closer. She was not using it to cheat. She had uploaded her notes and was asking the AI to quiz her, acting as a study partner with infinite patience. That moment changed my perspective completely. I realized #AI really is about putting us back in control of our own progress, rather than merely replacing human intelligence. It is not a magic wand, but rather a very powerful catalyst to accelerate innovation and human expertise. At the same time, this experience reminded me of the importance of developing AI responsibly and ethically, and of carefully choosing when and how to use it. So, since we are on a quest to massively accelerate #EcologicalTransformation that delivers for our clients, I see AI as the means to multiply Veolia’s impact tenfold. How? We are already partnering with the world’s largest data center operators over 100 sites worldwide to transform these energy-intensive giants into agents of territorial circularity. ➡️ Instead of wasting the massive heat generated by computing power, we can capture it to warm nearby schools, hospitals, and homes, leading to +20% of energy reuse. ➡️ Instead of draining local water supplies, AI-enabled treatment systems can recycle cooling water, reducing the water footprint by up to 75%. ➡️ And instead of letting strategic metals go to waste, we can massively recycle them, getting up to 95% circularity. So yes, the AI boom will undeniably put tremendous stress on our natural resources. But yes, we have the tools to use AI itself to massively optimize the resource intensiveness, not only of data centers, but of all industrial activities. This is how we reconcile the digital and environmental transitions. By 2030, our obsession is zero waste, tracking every drop of water and every kilowatt in real time. At the end of the day, we will know that AI can succeed if we achieve a transition where its environmental benefits exceed the costs. I am fully confident that we can make it happen at Veolia, because we already are for many projects. Thank you to Adopt AI and Samantha Simmonds of the BBC for the opportunity to discuss this all-important topic. The future starts now!  

Dit is zo fascinerend. Een manier om koraalriffen te helpen herstellen is: het geluid afspelen van gezonde koraalriffen. Gezonde riffen produceren een symfonie van geritsel, gezwem, gebubbel, en zelfs als het geluid van gezonde riffen met speakers wordt afgespeeld trekt dat zeeleven aan, bijvoorbeeld koraallarven, die op hun beurt kleine vissen en weekdieren aantrekken, die grotere vissen en zeezoogdieren aantrekken, en zo verder. Dat kan riffen intact houden of zelfs doen groeien, suggereren meerdere recente studies. Het opent een nieuw vakgebied: bio-akoestica. Laat ook mooi de rol zien van geluid in ecosystemen, de belevingswereld van dieren, en een mogelijke manier om technologie in te zetten vóór in plaats van tegen de natuur. Mooi artikel op Atmos: “So long as the reef is healthy, that is. “Healthy reefs are louder [than degraded ones],” Lamont explains. “There’s more going on, there’s more sound types, and there’s more variation throughout the day. And fish can tell the difference.” Lamont’s research has found that, when the sound of a healthy reef is played through speakers on a patch of dead coral reef, fish flock to it. Twice as many fish, with 50% greater species variation, swim to and settle on that patch compared to a dead reef patch where these sounds are not played. His findings are part of a growing body of research showing that simply playing the sounds of a healthy ecosystem can bring a degraded one to life. This method is known as “acoustic enrichment.” Earlier this year, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution investigated whether acoustic enrichment could help rebuild the reef itself: would coral larvae move towards the sounds of a healthy reef? The answer was yes. When the sound of a healthy coral reef was played to them through speakers, coral larvae settled at an average rate 1.7 times—and up to a maximum of seven times—higher than when no such sound was played. Where these larvae settle, a barren reef is replenished or a new one can form and grow. Nature’s own sounds, then, could be a powerful tool in the race to restore natural habitats—especially coral reefs, which have suffered a devastating 50% loss since the 1950s. “Often we’re building new wild habitats, and hoping that wild animals come and settle in and make it a fully functioning ecosystem,” Lamont says. “If we can speed up the rate at which they’ll settle into that habitat, then the process of holistic restoration will, in theory, happen faster.” https://lnkd.in/e59MkT67 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻

We just finished mapping water risk for all 9,500 data centers on Earth. The results should worry anyone planning AI infrastructure. Over the past months, our team has been building the first global, facility-level assessment of data center exposure to water stress — combining hydrological modeling with the location of every currently identified data center worldwide. Paper is in progress, but the early findings are striking enough to share now. What we're finding: → 1 in 4 data centers today already sit in locations where water demand exceeds local supply for at least part of the year → That rises to 1 in 3 under future hydrological conditions — this isn't a distant risk, it's a planning horizon problem → The US hosts nearly 4 in 10 of the world's data centers, and 1 in 5 of those are already in water-stressed regions → 4 in 10 data centers globally sit in areas where they're drawing from the same water as cities' municipal supply — meaning growth here is a direct governance and permitting issue, not just an engineering one Why this matters for business decisions: Water risk is hyper-local in a way energy risk isn't — you can import power, you can't import a river. That makes site selection, water rights, and community relationships a bigger part of AI infrastructure strategy than most capacity-planning models currently account for. The companies that get ahead of this — through siting choices, alternative cooling, or transparent water accounting — will face far fewer stranded-asset and permitting risks than those that don't. Curious to hear how operators and investors in this space are already thinking about water exposure. #AI #DataCenters #WaterRisk #Infrastructure #Sustainability

Two engineers strapped a robot to an SUV and drove across the country to prove UV light could work in a real field. Adam Stager and Vishnu Somasundaram had been building UV light prototypes in a garage in Delaware. University research. USDA backing. Years of lab results showing ultraviolet light could kill crop pathogens without chemicals. Agriculture did not care. Then a strawberry grower on California's Central Coast gave them a shot: "Drive out here. Show me on a real field." So they did. They loaded the robots onto an SUV, lived in Airbnbs for months, and tested one question: Can UV light replace pesticides at farm scale? TRIC Robotics now runs Luna robots across 1,500+ acres of California strawberry fields. These are 40-foot autonomous machines. Each one covers 6 rows per pass and treats up to 30 acres per night. They work after dark for a reason. UV-C light damages the DNA of pathogens like powdery mildew, Botrytis, and spider mites. At night, those organisms cannot use sunlight to repair themselves. That makes the treatment more lethal. The numbers: ↳ 30 to 70% reduction in chemical pesticide use while maintaining yields ↳ Cal Poly peer-reviewed study: 97% reduction in spider mite egg hatch ↳ Lewis mite egg hatch reduced by 87% ↳ Targets harmful organisms while sparing beneficial insects and soil microbiomes ↳ Workers no longer exposed to chemical sprays Think about that. Strawberries are one of the most pesticide-heavy crops on earth. The default has been simple: spray more, spray often, and hope the residue washes off. Two researchers in a garage asked a better question: Why spray at all? TRIC uses a Robotics-as-a-Service model. Farmers pay roughly what they already spend on chemical treatments. No large upfront purchase. No new setup. They replace chemicals with light. The company raised $5.5M in seed funding in 2025. It started with a handful of robots. Now 9+ are deployed across Santa Maria and Oxnard, with Watsonville next. UV research has been around for years. The hard part was putting it on a machine that could work through the night, cover commercial acreage, and make financial sense for a farmer. That is the pattern I keep seeing when useful technology reaches people. The bottleneck is rarely the science. It is access. It is price. It is trust. And sometimes, it is two engineers driving a robot across the country until one grower says yes. What problem in your industry has everyone accepted as "just the cost of doing business"? Follow me, Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld, for sharp thinking on AI, leadership, and staying human. Source: tricrobotics.com, Peer-Reviewed Study (Highly Credible): Cal Poly Strawberry Center research on UV-C for mite control (using TRIC’s Eden & Luna platforms). DOI: https://lnkd.in/gfS785KG

The video captures a critical situation at a recent construction site—a partially completed subterranean concrete structure, likely a water tank, that appears to be floating or experiencing severe uplift. This is a textbook example of what happens when the design and construction procedures do not adequately account for hydrostatic pressure in high-groundwater conditions, especially during or after heavy rainfall. The Failure Analysis: • Issue Identified: The structure is lifting because the upward pressure exerted by the water beneath the base slab (uplift force) is currently greater than the structure's downward weight. • Contributing Factors: 1. Insufficient Dead Load: The tank is incomplete. It lacks its final dead load (the weight of the full structure, backfill, and sometimes the designed water content) needed to counteract the hydrostatic pressure. 2. Water Flow Control Failure: The video confirms that dewatering and drainage efforts were likely inadequate. Water has flooded the excavation, and the surrounding soil is completely saturated. 3. Hydrostatic Force: The upward force (Fu) is calculated based on the area of the base slab (A) and the height of the groundwater table above the base (hw). When Fu exceeds the structure's weight (W), the structure floats. • The Immediate Danger: While the sheet piles and shoring are still in place, the soil and water movement is highly unpredictable. Uplift causes stresses and potential cracking in the green concrete, and the structural integrity is compromised, creating a major safety hazard and leading to costly, time-consuming repairs. Lessons learn: • Never Underestimate Dewatering: Effective dewatering must be continuously maintained until the structure achieves its permanent resisting weight. • Prioritize Anti-Uplift Measures: This includes installing temporary relief wells, anchor piles (if designed), or ballasting the structure with temporary internal water until it is backfilled. • Thorough Site Monitoring: Real-time monitoring of groundwater levels and structural movement is crucial in wet environments. #ConstructionSafety #CivilEngineering #HydrostaticUplift #StructuralEngineering #SiteManagement

🌊 From Seawater to Tap Water – The Science of Desalination 💧 How engineers turn salty seawater into fresh drinking water using pressure, membranes, and smart energy recovery. ⚙️ Step 1 – Seawater Intake Pipes on the seabed draw seawater into the plant through screened openings. Formula: Flow rate = Area × Velocity Example: 1.5 m pipe × 1 m/s → 1.77 m³/s 🚀 Step 2 – High-Pressure Pumping Multi-stage pumps raise pressure to 60–80 bar to push water through the membranes. Formula: Power = (Q × Pressure) / Efficiency Example: 1.8 m³/s × 6 MPa / 0.85 ≈ 12 MW 🧪 Step 3 – Pre-Treatment Water passes through sand and carbon filters to remove dust, algae, and suspended solids. Formula: Filtration rate = Flow / Filter area Typical design = 5 to 10 m³/m²·h 💧 Step 4 – Reverse Osmosis High-pressure water passes through thin membranes that block salt and allow pure water. Simple Idea: Fresh water pressure > Osmotic pressure (≈ 27 bar) → RO operates at 60 bar to separate salts (99.5 % removed) 🔁 Step 5 – Energy Recovery The leftover brine still holds energy. Pressure exchangers transfer it back to incoming seawater. Formula: Efficiency (%) = Recovered Power / Input Power × 100 → System saves 30 – 40 % energy 🧂 Step 6 – Post-Treatment Pure water is too soft, so minerals (lime or CO₂) are added to adjust pH ≈ 7.5. Disinfection with chlorine or UV makes it safe to drink. 🏭 Step 7 – Distribution The treated water is stored and pumped to city networks, serving homes and industries. Example: One modern plant (e.g. Jubail SWRO – KSA) produces ≈ 400,000 m³/day = water for 1 million people daily. 💡 Key Takeaways • Flow = A × V • Pressure = Force / Area • Energy Efficiency ≈ 35 % recovery • TDS < 500 ppm in final water #Engineering #WaterDesalination #MechanicalEngineering #ReverseOsmosis #Sustainability #SaudiArabia #EnergyEfficiency #Innovation #Science #Water

Over the years working in chemical processing, one of the recurring challenges I’ve faced is with heat exchangers. They are essential for energy efficiency, but even minor issues can create significant downtime and cost. Not long ago, we encountered a serious fouling issue in one of our exchangers. The deposits were reducing heat transfer efficiency, causing higher energy consumption and forcing frequent shutdowns for cleaning. 🔍Instead of treating it as just another maintenance task, we carried out a detailed root cause analysis: • Reviewed process conditions and flow patterns. • Checked velocity and temperature profiles. • Involved both the operations and maintenance teams in the discussion. The findings showed that low fluid velocity was the main driver for fouling. By redesigning the piping layout and adjusting the operating parameters, we were able to: ✅ Increase turbulence and reduce fouling. ✅ Extend cleaning cycles from every 3 months to once a year. ✅ Achieve over 15% improvement in efficiency. For me, the key takeaway is that every technical problem is also an opportunity to innovate and improve reliability. Collaboration and data-driven decisions can transform a recurring issue into a long-term success.

British scientists have unlocked a game-changing solution to water scarcity by designing a graphene-based filter capable of turning seawater into safe, drinkable water almost instantly. Unlike traditional desalination systems that are expensive and energy-hungry, this lightweight filter uses advanced nanotechnology to remove salt and contaminants at the molecular level—with minimal power requirements. This breakthrough could revolutionize access to clean water in disaster zones, arid regions, and coastal communities where freshwater is scarce. It also opens the door to decentralized water infrastructure, where portable units can deliver clean water on demand without heavy logistics or massive plants.