For far too long, we have taken water for granted, assuming that it is forever abundant. But as the world population continues to grow and water scarcity becomes further widespread, innovation in the water sector is becoming a great need and gaining further attention. One company hoping to lead the charge in solving global water issues is OriginClear. They are best known for Water On Demand, a pay-per-gallon water recycling system that allows businesses and housing developments to clean their water on-site and pay for it like they would a utility bill. They plan to further develop and acquire new brands, acting as a springboard of innovation and launching companies into an ecosystem of brands that make the world a better place through water solutions.
Water On Demand was created as a way for investors to earn royalties on water treatment assets. Aptly referred to as Water Like An Oil Well™, the financial technology is inspired by master limited partnerships that have been highly successful in the oil and gas industry. OriginClear developed a line of prefabricated, roll-in, and roll-out systems to standardize the process. CEO Riggs Eckelberry shares, “with the rising need for local, point-of-use or point-of-discharge water treatment solutions, the Modular Water Systems licensed IP family is the core to a portable, integrated, transportable, plug-and-play system that, unlike other packaged solutions, can be manufactured in series, have a longer life and are more respectful of the environment.” The key component to the longer life cycles of the systems is the structural reinforced thermoplastic which allows for an estimated 75 to 100-years of use. The systems also have automated production capability and are more sustainable as they can be recycled and created from biomaterials. Riggs adds, “this is modern technology that enables self-reliant water treatment by businesses on a fully-outsourced basis.”
No stranger to innovation and technology, CEO Riggs Eckelberry is best known for turning struggling companies around after the dot-com crash. He went on to launch OriginClear, which at inception was extracting oil from algae to use in commercial fuels as a viable replacement for petroleum. After discovering that the same technology could extract water from sewage, the company pivoted into water recycling. Riggs shares, “what is known as the Technology Life Cycle, which is really a series of disruptive innovations, is now the life cycle for any business. We are all in a technology race, and we must think of how to disrupt or risk becoming irrelevant. Constant innovation is the price of survival.”
Technology and innovation management go hand-in-hand in running a successful business in the current landscape. Riggs shares, “Technology management ensures that a certain technology is repeatable, predictable, and scalable. While innovation management is about how to integrate novel concepts and ideas in an existing technology and is more outside the box.” Technology is tangible, while innovation is not. And it is possible to innovate with technology, but the tech itself does not create innovation. There has to a bigger vision. Riggs adds, “change is continuous in a modern-day business, and it can seem like almost an attention deficit disorder! Today’s business leaders need to be willing to manage this continuous change while maintaining the overall vision and continuity of the business.”
Riggs Eckelberry views OriginClear as the catalyst for great, disruptive technologies and brands within the water industry. Riggs shares, “our role is to come up with or acquire solutions to major problems in the industry, develop them, and launch them as world brands. Right now, that’s exactly what we are doing with Water On Demand. It is designed to solve major water infrastructure problems by enabling businesses in need to treat water without capital or expertise. We believe this will be a major disruptive force in the trillion-dollar water industry.”
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