The Weekly Dive #6

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A wave-powered device produces water from the oceans. What is the right amount of water you should drink every day? Can you ever drink too much water? SolarisFloat’s floating solar panels can follow the sun. Notpla edible packaging coming to you soon. Wastewater specialist IX Water launched a second crowdfunding round. This week, we are highlighting HydroDAO’s team member Ting Kelly. Learn about her background and why she devotes her life work to water.

Your weekly Bonus – How much water would make a planet a good contestant for human habitability?

This week’s quote:

“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.” – Henry David Thoreau

There’s time enough for everything
There’s always time on hand
At times I feel it pushing
Those times I take a stand

For time is an illusion
Persistent though it be
As time reveals the patterns
In timelessness I’m Free

For time is here to serve us
A constant, moving stream
I use it to my liking
I fish from it my dream

What’s New on Medium?

Oceanside Chat: Stuart Rudick and Seth Siegel talk Solutions for a Water-Starved World

Here is our second Medium post. We invite you all to share among your networks on social media to help us raise more awareness about the crucial work HydroDAO is taking on!

What’s New with Water?

‘Cold hearts’: New Airbus aircraft to be powered by hydrogen stored at -253°C 

The airplane manufacturer is developing cryogenic hydrogen storage tanks.

A company’s innovative floating solar panels stalk the Sun’s movements

The solar island comprises 180 movable solar panels that provide an increase in energy production by up to 40%.

A wave-powered device is aiming to produce drinking water from the ocean 

Ocean Oasis says it will enable “the production of fresh water from ocean waters by harnessing the energy of the waves”

UK start-up behind algae-based packaging bids for Earthshot glory

Notpla—whose mantra is “we make packaging disappear”—is competing with 14 other firms for five prestigious awards.

What’s New in the Industry?

Aleksandra: “Water circularity is a major step towards resilience”

Aleksandra is participating in the fourth group of the European Junior Water Programme (EJWP), and is sharing her experiences with Water News Europe.

South Florida students aim to help solve water issues

SeaLab is an on-campus, engineered tidal pool that will allow students to learn and test solutions to address the global water and sustainability issues.

Watersight Adds Global Companies to the AquaRing Water Monitoring Pilot Program 

AquaRing Field Test Begins at MEKOROT’s Water Monitoring Station in Northern Israel.

IX Water returns with a second crowdfunding exercise

Industrial wastewater specialist IX Water is gearing up to launch a new $2 million crowdfunding exercise on 27 November.

What’s New in the Science?

Do You Need to Drink Eight Glasses of Water a Day? It’s Complicated 

The evidence for this claim has largely been debunked. Past studies relied on people recalling how much water they drank, which has low precision.

Bruce Lee died after consuming too much water, claims a new study

A new study appears to reveal that Bruce Lee’s untimely demise was brought on by consuming too much water.

Researchers improve water filter systems using AI

The team replicated different patterns of materials and found arrangements that would let water through more easily.

Star Wars to science: Researchers harvest water from air to address shortages 

While vaporators are a figment of science fiction, the technology that makes them work may be moving closer to fact.

The HydroDAO Team: Ting Kelly

Ting is an oracular designer, writer and network weaver who walks the path between Silicon Valley and the East, the ancient world of temple arts and the new jedi leadership schools. She grew up in the living room of ‘Wired’ magazine founders and roamed the Playa of Burning Man starting at the age of 6. Ting has traveled the world with her anthro-futurist family photographing indigenous peoples craft and ceremony.

Ting imprinted her cellular memory of the ancient wisdom with her education in Silicon Valley giving her the rigor and discipline to ground big ideas into the present to shift us to a brighter future. After a 10-year career as an innovation designer and ecosystem researcher, she now offers her expertise to city governments, foundations and family offices, Fortune 100 executives, and startup founders. She recently created the Ritual Collective hosting over 25 immersive retreats, gatherings and workshops around the world. Her roots permeate deep on the coast of Norhern California, where she lives devoting her ritual practices to integral studies, calligraphy and cacao. She serves on advisory boards including: the Long Now Foundation, UN DP Innovation Accelerator, TACT Agora, Water Innovation Advisors and School for Traditions.

What’s in the Future?

Study Attempts to Unravel The Best Ratio of Land to Ocean For Exoplanet Habitability

Earth is about 29 percent land and 71 percent oceans. How significant is that mix for habitability? What does it tell us about exoplanet habitability?

Margaux Wilson

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LinkedIn

Location: Los Angeles, CA

I have environmental consulting experience working within the contamination assessment and remediation practice of a civil engineering firm out of Irvine, California. Our work involved evaluating the nature and extent of contaminants in the subsurface (soil and groundwater) at sites throughout Southern California and implementing remediation to reduce concentrations to California State Water Resources Control Board-approved levels.

Ben Wright

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LinkedIn

Company: 3M

Location: St Paul, Minnesota

Ben has served in a variety of roles within 3M, giving him a broad range of expertise including Corporate Venture Capital, Business Building, Mergers and Acquisitions, Strategy and Strategic Planning, Marketing and P&L Management; and New Product Development, Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma.

Outside of 3M, Ben served as Vice President, Marketing and Sales for Appareo Systems, LLC. As Vice President, Ben was responsible for leading Appareo’s Marketing and Sales functions as well as driving the company’s revenue growth. Under Ben’s leadership, Appareo Systems experienced significant revenue growth, which resulted in the company being named to the Inc. Magazine 500 – a compilation of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the country. Ben also spent nearly eight years in the Army as an Aviation Officer and helicopter pilot. During his time in the Army, Ben gained extensive leadership experience, including leading troops in combat.

Ben earned a BS in Systems Engineering from the United States Military Academy and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

The Weekly Dive #5

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The World Cup is here, but at what cost? About 13,000 gallons of desalinated water a day per pitch. Watch the recording of our Oceanside Chat with Seth Siegel. The UN just made a historic climate deal. A wastewater plant in France will now generate twice as much energy as it consumes. PFAS has now been found in students’ school uniforms. Researchers engineer a river that can be turned on and off. This week, we are highlighting HydroDAO’s team member Manoj Panjwani. Learn about his background and why he has decided to devote his life work to water.

Your weekly Bonus – Is high-tech farming the solution to slashing water consumption? 

This week’s quote:

For life and death are one,
even as the river and the sea are one.

From mountaintop rains
From mists on the shore,
From tears that we shed
A river does pour

It’s flowing downstream
It’s moving ’round rocks,
It’s flowing and growing
There’s nothing that blocks

Now gathered and mighty
It’s cut its own way,
Still aimed for the ocean
Where all rivers play

It does move
And arrive at the Source,
It’s splashing and crashing
It’s Joyous, of course

For Life, like the river
Moves through many forms,
Like droplets of water
It ever transforms

And death is a story
Of joining the flow,
Of bubbles becoming
One ocean, the ultimate
Letting go.

Oceanside Chat with Seth Siegel!

Watch the Recording of our Latest Oceanside Chat with Seth Siegel Now! 

Seth Siegel, writer, lawyer, activist, and serial entrepreneur, was our special guest last month.

What’s New with Water?

Qatar: the land where one sports pitch needs 50,000 litres of desalinated water a day 

Stadium 947 is fully demountable but the tournament’s overall environmental impact is raising concerns.

Water start-ups feature strongly in 100+ Accelerator’s new cohort

Find out which water companies have made the cut.

The UN Just Made a Historic Climate Deal. Here’s What You Need to Know

A fraught United Nations (UN) summit wrapped up Sunday with a landmark deal on funding to help vulnerable countries.

Vertical farming company Kalera using KETOS to monitor water quality 

KETOS SHIELD will be used across Kalera’s vertical farming operations to help ensure the health of crops.

What’s New in the Industry?

ENERGY POSITIVE WASTEWATER TREATMENT: MONTPELLIER’S MAERA €165M UPGRADE

A €165 million upgrade will enable a wastewater treatment plant in southern France to generate twice as much energy as it consumes.

Saudi Arabia Is Localizing The Water Desalination Industry

“Desalination” signs an agreement to mine brine water with investments from the private sector, to contribute to the GDP by 1.5 billion riyals annually in 2030.

Investments In Africa’s Water Sector Picks Up Momentum As Panel On Water Investments Begins

Heads of State and global leaders from Africa have united to call for urgent investment into Africa’s water and sanitation sector.

Ecolab announces Ecolab Water for Climate Program to help companies deliver on water goals

Research from the company finds 45% of global consumers think companies aren’t doing enough to address climate change.

What’s New in the Science?

‘Forever’ chemicals show up in students’ school uniforms 

Research has linked such chemicals, known as PFAS, to possibly harmful health effects.

Robots able to create a vortex for transportation of microplastics 

Researchers from Hanyang University and Inha University have introduced collective behavior of multiple swimming robots for delivery of thousands of cargos.

‘Butterfly bot’ is fastest swimming soft robot yet 

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed an energy-efficient soft robot that can swim more than four times faster than previous robots.

Researchers engineer a river that can be turned on and off

Researchers at the University of Sherbrooke, in Quebec, Canada, built an artificial river that can be turned off and on and whose elements can be completely controlled.

The HydroDAO Team: Manoj Panjwani

Manoj has over 25 years of international banking experience in developed and emerging markets across Asia, Europe and North America. As a member of HSBC’s International Management cadre, Manoj has held several senior leadership positions in wholesale and retail banking, strategy, and risk management.

Manoj is particularly adept at strategy development and implementation, and complements this with deep experience in front-line business. In addition, he has spent over a decade in Risk & Compliance where his expertise includes driving change and transformation, setting and leading the Risk agenda, and establishing a robust Risk Appetite and Governance framework.

Manoj is now engaged in the social enterprise sector and highly motivated to apply his experience and skills to support initiatives at the intersection of his interests in finance and social impact. He is particularly passionate about impact investing and other financing models, education, sustainability, and youth development. He also advises in the areas of strategy, risk management, and governance.

Manoj is part of the senior leadership team at OneShared.World, a dynamic global movement of stakeholders working across diverse cultures, communities, and generations to ensure a better future for humankind. He plays a key role in strategy formulation, building networks, and initiatives that address existential global challenges (WASH and Climate Change).

Manoj is also a member of Catalyst 2030, a global movement of social entrepreneurs and social innovators who share the common goal of creating innovative approaches to attain the UN SDGs by 2030. As a core member of the “Engaging the Private Sector” Working Group, he engages in initiatives that aim to create a mutually beneficial collaboration between the private sector and social enterprises. Sourcing capital flows and financing is a key pillar of this working group and Manoj is leading an initiative that seeks to create a ‘community of practice’ that will address obstacles to funding for social enterprises and provide access to diverse capital and finance solutions.

Manoj serves on the Board of Trustees at Knology, a research-driven think tank dedicated to studying and untangling complex social issues, and on the Alumni Advisory Council at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. In addition, he is a member of Impact Capital Forum in NYC, and Columbia Sustainable Finance Professionals Network.

What’s in the Future?

HIGH-TECH FARMING COULD SLASH WATER USE UP TO 70 PERCENT AMID HISTORIC DROUGHTS 

These systems help farmers track conditions on their land in real-time, and apply water and other inputs such as fertilizer exactly when and where they are needed.