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SPOTLIGHT: WATER INNOVATION
SunToWater Technologies: The Convergence
of Enterprise Facilities Management
and Water Security
O ver the past three years, early adopters have leveraged Generators—appliances that can provide an independent water
the Internet of Things (IoT) to provide corporate real source for commercial, residential, and government use.
estate executives, property owners and developers the
opportunity to make their Commercial Real Estate (CRE) invest- This year, SunToWater succeeded in leveraging best-of-breed
ments more connected, agile, secure, and of course, profitable. innovation and green practices to provide commercial real estate
with a solution to protect against: (i) Rising water prices, (ii)
Drought, aging infra-
structure, population Increasing water scarcity
demands, and the steadily that threatens local supply
rising costs associated (such as California, Texas),
with water have increased and (iii) Growing Water
business interest in water Contamination disasters
as an asset. In addition, (i.e. Flint, MI) that threaten
government sustainability human resources and op-
initiatives increasingly portunities for corporate
focus legislation and regu- growth and expansion. Of
lation on water usage. course, an independent
water supply also miti-
Water strategy began gates risks associated with
with simple conservation possible terror attacks and
methods and moved on acts of war.
to technology featuring water reuse systems, rainwater harvest-
ing, xeriscape landscaping, and ever-improving cooling towers. Air + Salt + Sun = Water
Optimizing water systems is good for the community and busi- This patented method of generating water is a three-
ness, leading to substantial, measurable returns for the industry. stage process that uses a Freon-free system to create a
dependable source of drinking water that is cost-effective and
The evolution of this connected paradigm for office, retail, data environmentally safe. All it takes is air, salt, and sunshine.
center, multi-family, and mixed-use assets is to become techno-
logically-enabled for Water Independence—the ability for each The process begins with a unit that is about the size of an air
property to make its own water and get ‘off the water grid.’ conditioner. This Water Generator is positioned outside of the
building or on its roof. Once activated, small, efficient fans blow
Already some properties have achieved power independence air over a natural salt-based element that absorbs water mole-
using solar panels. Today, a new technology is emerging that can cules from the air. Solar heat then bakes the liquid out of the salt,
produce a reliable and abundant source of water, fully scalable to and the humid air is then condensed and collected into a storage
millions of gallons per day and applicable to each phase of real tank and remineralized for human consumption.
estate development—raw land through full build-out.
The commercial generators, which are substantially larger than
The technology even allows a ‘stranded asset’ (such as a their residential counterparts, are designed to produce up to
developed but abandoned site, or a barren parcel of land) to be 4,000 gallons per day of pure drinking water that meets the stan-
readily converted into an ‘active asset’ (i.e. revitalized fresh-water, dards set by the World Health Organization, serving as a viable
lake-front property) by simply deploying a commercial Water and cost-effective solution for corporations, golf courses, retail
Generator. centers, universities, manufacturers, as well as oil and gas ‘man
camps’ around the world.
The ability for a business to own its own independent and se-
cure water source—and not depend upon local municipal water These units operate even in extremely arid or desert envi-
supply—is becoming known internationally as Water Security. ronments such as the Sahara desert and central Africa, or in
highly polluted conditions in areas such as Shanghai, Beijing,
Dallas-based company SunToWater Technologies has taken the and Mexico City. This capability carries significant value for
lead on the challenge to find a game-changing, cost effective,
sustainable water solution by creating state-of-the-art Water
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