The Value of Clean Water
Don’t think it’s possible to put a price tag on a healthy environment? Think again. Clean water is vital to the earth, but it can also have a major impact on a city, state or country’s bottom line.
Water is becoming a scare commodity – but it doesn’t have to be. More than 1 billion people around the world lack access to water and 2.7 billion deal with water scarcity for at least one month every year. Oftentimes when we hear about these issues in the United States, we imagine them to be in far-off places – but the California drought is proof that the clean water crisis hits close to home.
Water is scarce. Soon it will be a valuable commodity just for maintaining our lawns or washing the dishes. A sustainable water infrastructure is critical. Our research and development team is continually working on ways to make the reclaimed water we collect from waste cleaner and cleaner!
A naturally clean water supply can save big-time money. In 1989, New York City discovered its septic system that pumped water from the Catskill Mountains into the five boroughs was failing. They were faced with two options: Either improve water quality, or pay $8 billion to build a filtration plant, plus another $400 million each year to maintain operations. The city opted to invest $1.3 billion to build sewage treatment plants upstate, which would naturally restore the health of the Catskills watershed – a fraction of the filtration plant estimates!
Beaches, lakes and rivers attract tourists (a.k.a. big spenders). New York City’s investment in clean water, for example, restored natural habitat for trout and other game fish, and that attracted fishermen. In 2001 alone, fishing tourism produced an economic benefit of more than $2 billion for New York State. That’s the equivalent of 17,460+ full-time jobs. In 2014, the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint estimated that clean water would add approximately $6 billion in value to Pennsylvania’s economy each year, in part by attracting water sports enthusiasts.
Renergy takes a smart and sustainable approach to waste. We repurpose what’s already there, turning agricultural, food, industrial and municipal waste into clean natural resources.
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