Pentair and Water Sector Groups Collaborate to Advance Sustainable Water Reuse in Agriculture
May 24 2016 - 8:00AM
New Video Highlights
Urban Farming and Recycled Water Irrigation as Sustainable Approaches to Agriculture
DENVER - May 24, 2016 - The WateReuse Association,
Water Environment & Reuse Foundation, and Pentair, a global
leader in creating sustainable water solutions, have come together
to help advance the development of sustainable agricultural
practices by highlighting innovative farming approaches using water
reuse technologies in a new video released today in conjunction
with the 20th Annual WateReuse Research Conference in Denver,
Colo.
"Seventy percent of the world's water is used for
agriculture. As the world's population continues to grow, the
increased demand for food will put tremendous stress on the world's
supply of water for agriculture, " said Dr. Phil Rolchigo, Vice
President of Technology at Pentair. "Water reuse technologies can
help accelerate Mother Nature's process-rather than disposing
wastewater back to the environment, we can safely capture and
purify it so that it can be used over and over again in
agriculture, as well as other industries."
The video profiles two very different examples in
which water reuse technologies are used to dramatically reduce the
farms' water footprint, thereby helping to increase the efficiency
and sustainability of the operations.
In St. Paul, Minn., fish and plants are grown
together using aquaponics to develop a sustainable food system and
help build the economy in a part of the city that had previously
been considered a food desert. Urban Organics and Pentair have
collaborated to develop this state-of-the-art aquaponics facility,
and the produce and herbs are 100 percent organically certified by
the USDA National Organic Program.
The aquaponics farm is housed inside a former
brewery and uses a closed-loop, recirculating aquaculture system.
In this symbiotic relationship, the fish provide the nutrients for
the plants, and the plants help to clean the water for the fish.
The waste-filled water from the fish tanks is released through
gravity and seeps into a filtration system designed by Pentair. The
system removes sludge and leaves the water clean and filled with
nitrates. The water is then pumped into rows of vegetables growing
hydroponically, which removes the organic buildup and metabolic
byproducts in the water. The water is then returned to the fish
tanks and reused. This controlled environment uses less than 2
percent of the water conventional farming uses, and the produce
grows year around and nearly twice as fast as it does in the
field.
The second application featured in the video takes
place in Monterey, Calif. The project started as a salt water
intrusion barrier and has evolved into the largest agricultural
reuse irrigation project in the United States. Artichokes, lettuce
and strawberries are among the edible crops that are safely and
efficiently produced in this region. The Monterey Regional Water
Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA) works in partnership with local
farmers to make the program a success.
Since the 1940s, heavy agriculture and municipal
groundwater demands in Monterey's Salinas Valley have led to the
development of severe groundwater over-pumping, resulting in
saltwater intrusion. By using recycled water, growers no longer
have to pump groundwater from their wells for irrigation purposes.
Recycled water is distributed to 12,000 acres of farmland in
Northern Monterey County with an average of 60 percent of MRWPCA's
water recycled each year.
"All water is reused-either through the natural
water cycle or through technology," said WateReuse Executive
Director Melissa L. Meeker. "These two examples of sustainable
agriculture demonstrate how climate-independent water reuse
technology can make a significant impact on protecting our precious
water resources and securing our food supply."
The video can be viewed at www.watereuse.org.
###
Editor's Note: The WateReuse
Sustainable Agriculture video was produced with financial support
from the Pentair Foundation. Pentair has a working relationship
with Urban Organics. Pentair is not affiliated
with the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency's water
reclamation project or Ocean Mist Farms.
About Pentair plc
Pentair plc (www.pentair.com) delivers industry-leading products,
services, and solutions for its customers' diverse needs in water
and other fluids, thermal management, and equipment protection.
With 2015 revenues of $6.4 billion, Pentair employs approximately
28,000 people worldwide.
About WateReuse
The WateReuse Association is a not-for-profit trade association for
water utilities, businesses, industrial and commercial enterprises,
not-for-profit organizations and associations. Our members
represent more than 100 communities and 50 million utility
customers around the country.
About WE&RF
The Water Environment & Reuse Foundation is a 501(c)3
charitable corporation seeking to identify, support, and
disseminate research that enhances the quality and reliability of
water for natural systems and communities with an integrated
approach to resource recovery and reuse, while facilitating
interaction among practitioners, educators, researchers, decision
makers, and the public.
Contacts:
Rebecca Osborn - Pentair Communications
Email: rebecca.osborn@pentair.com
Tel: +1 (763) 656-5580
Zachary Dorsey - WateReuse
Communications
Email: zdorsey@watereuse.org
Tel: +1 (571) 445-5503
Carrie Capuco, J.D. - WE&RF
Communications
Email: ccapuco@werf.org
Tel: +1 (571) 384-2097
This
announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Pentair plc via Globenewswire
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