Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • How one utility powers its entire plant from wastewater

    A wastewater treatment facility in suburban Chicago has become energy neutral. By accepting waste from oil and other sources not normally treated together, the facility increases biogas that can power the plant. Besides saving energy, it saves the plant almost half a million dollars each year.

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  • Tiny Branson has plenty of water. But like other small rural delivery systems in Colorado, it must find a way to meet new state standards.

    Innovation is the key to resilience. In Branson, Colorado, the community of only 55 residents and with volunteer town council has taken on the massive task of bringing its water system up to compliance with the Colorado Department of Health. Because the state and federal government did not have the specific resources to assist Branson, the community turned to a locally developed, innovative water filtration system and an unorthodox funding campaign to pay for it.

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  • The Town That Extended ‘Smart Growth' to Its Water

    Haunted by a 1962 drought in the town of Westminster, Colorado, the city's planners now incorporate water data in their planning processes to ensure that they never face the same sourcing issues again. By breaking down the silos between its water management and planning departments, the town has figured out how to manage its finite water resources, even in the face of a ballooning population. Now, other towns are following suit.

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  • Biogas saves money at wastewater treatment plant

    Turning sewage sludge into usable biogas helps make wastewater treatment more efficient. A water treatment plant in the city of Medina, Ohio, produces net energy from sludge. The plant uses anaerobic bacteria and a thermal hydrolysis process to convert wastewater and sludge into usable byproducts, like biogas.

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  • Is there a beautiful, briny solution to the world's clean water crisis?

    As demand soars and climate change routinely throws cities into shortage crises, the availability of clean water is one of the most pressing challenges of the present and near future. Desalination has long been lambasted for being too expensive and polluting, but a new solar-powered prototype is putting forth a more sustainable, small-scale solution. Solar collectors boil water and then condense it separately from the brine and dirt so that it is drinkable.

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  • The Living Machine: Collier's 24-year water filtration experiment is a success

    An experimental water treatment plant in Florida has been performing as efficiently as other conventional treatment plants for the last 24 years. Known as the Living Machine of the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, it filters 6,000 gallons of wastewater per day and is inspired by how natural wetlands and marshlands filter water. While government officials were skeptical at first, the Living Machine continues to pass monthly inspections, is less costly, and is not as noisy so visitors can enjoy the wildlife in the sanctuary.

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  • How a laundry room revolutionized a New Jersey high school

    After high school principle Akbar Cook realized that students weren't coming to school because they were embarrassed about wearing dirty clothing, he created a school laundry room with 5 commercial-grade washers and dryers. He also started a program called Lights On that leaves the school open in the evenings on Friday's to offer a recreational space with warm meals for students who have working parents or have to take care of siblings. Grateful students say that Mr. Cook had a big impact on the school and the neighborhood.

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  • The Key to Nebraska's Water Conservation Success

    As the Ogallala Aquifer’s water level has declined in many states across the High Plains region of the U.S., Nebraska has almost fully maintained its water level by relying on National Resource Districts (NRDs). NRDs “develop integrated management plans for surface water and groundwater,” and its sustainable practices offer a model of how sustainable water management can thrive with local governance.

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  • Cities without sewers

    A nonprofit in Haiti called SOIL with a business arm called EkoLakay is bringing back the old-fashioned idea of a container-based sanitation system. Customers rent toilets with containers in them, use them, and return them to EkoLakay to then be converted into highly nutritious compost. Piloted in 2011, the program has been successful serving more than 1,000 households (growing by 40 every month) with a staff of 58 mostly local workers. They attribute their success to using "applied resilience thinking", having many actors at different levels, and constantly adapting to new solutions and knowledge.

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  • When public restrooms fail, rent them out as churches?

    On World Toilet Day in 2014, the Kenyan government promised to build 180 public toilets in an ambitious move to combat the issue of public sanitation. The program went well once the keys were handed off to the National Youth Service of Kenya as a means of income, but issues quickly arose that could not be resolved because of a lack of further funds. The youth has since transformed their toilets into a rental space for local churches, such as Christ Miracle Church for All Nations in Laini Saba.

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