New Way to Clean Water: Ecosystem in a Tank

Recently awarded the Asian Innovation Award 2007 by the Wall Street Journal Asia, Biolytix Water has developed a wastewater treatment system that uses 90% less energy and costs 30-50% less than conventional treatment systems (hat tip: Private Sector Development blog). Utilizing an organic wet soil ecosystem home to worms, beetles, and thousands of microscopic organisms, the Biolytix system recycles sewage and wastewater into clean irrigation water, thereby promoting water rate savings of up to 30 percent. While these Biowater tanks are currently being used in nearly 3,000 homes, projects and businesses across the Pacific region, Biolytix is working to adapt this model to help the 2.5 billion people in developing countries who lack formal sanitation infrastructure. To read more about how the inventor, Dean Cameron, developed the system, see this article in the Wall Street Journal.