The market
Chlorine is one of the most widespread elements in the biosphere, representing about 2% of the mass of water in the oceans. Global production reaches approximately 50 million tonnes for a turnover estimated at $ 30 billion in 2010. About 2.5 million tonnes worth just under 1.5 billion dollars are used for Disinfect water. More than 70 % of wastewater treatment plants in North America, Europe and Japan use chlorine as part of this process. These three markets represent more than two thirds of the chlorine used for water treatment in the world, but they have reached maturity and should not grow. Chlorine consumption increases by 9 % per year in the rest of the world.
The World Bank has embarked on a ten -year drinking water campaign with an investment budget of around $ 450 billion in order to make public drinking water accessible to at least half of the 1.1 billion citizens who do not have it today. China is the largest investor in water treatment factories, opting for large -scale installations. India has chosen a different path, focusing on small -scale water treatment centers. It is estimated that the number of companies offering their services worldwide and growth prospects are enormous. Worldwide, only 14 %of wastewater is treated in South America and Africa, this figure falls to 2 %. The average chemical cost of chlorine is $ 100 per cubic meter of drinking water. Siemens is the largest supplier of gas chlorine disinfection systems.
Innovation
Chlorine is the cheapest primary disinfectant currently available on the market. It has an unlimited lifespan and is easily available. However, the product is toxic. An exposure to more than four parts per million damages the lungs and although transport and handling are rigorously regulated, accidents may occur. Unfortunately, chlorine is not effective against the Giardia (a parasite that causes intestinal infection) and cryptosporidium (a microscopic parasite that causes diarrhea). Today, these are the two most common causes of diseases transmitted by water in North America. Recent studies have shown that the use of chlorine creates two by-products (THM and HAA) which are known causes of cancer. Although ozone and ultraviolet filters have completed chlorine to reduce health risks, their cost is considerably higher than that of chlorine, and therefore out of reach of millions of small treatment facilities that will have to be built in a near future.
Matías Sjögren Raab is an industrial civilian engineer graduated from the Catholic University of Chile in Santiago and completed his scientific training with an MBA from the same school. His exhibition to agro-industrial projects put it in contact with earthworms. Just as the first exhibition to this animal inspired Tom Szaky to set up his company Terracycle (Case 52), Matías realized that he was face to face with an innovation that would allow him to get out of the traditional trap of the cost of the work of audiences. After study, he concluded that a biofilter made from earthworms would ideally be suitable for the development of small water treatment plants. Not only would it eliminate the need for chlorine, active coal and flocculating agents, but it would also see an opportunity to generate additional income. This is one of the fundamental principles of the blue economy.
Matías then created Biofiltro LTDA, a Chilean supplier of water treatment systems. It has tested aerobic water treatment systems based on a verse filter that purifies water without creating sludge. Better still, the biological sludge produced by traditional treatment systems can be treated on site. As the production of biogas from this slurry is commercially viable only in large scale, the bioFiltre based on earthworms is positioned as an ideal alternative for small -scale installations which represent most of the demand in The world. The company then won the Green Start-up of the Year 2011 prize awarded by the Fundación Chile and Udd Ventures, the venture capital company of the universidad del Desarrollo private.
The first cash flow
The main competitor of the biofilter is the activated mud, which perhaps controls 95 % of the market. However, the first two commercial projects have confirmed that the investment cost is 30 % lower and, more importantly, that operating expenses decreased by 70 %, mainly thanks to a reduction of 66 % electricity costs. Then, on average, each cubic meter requires polymers and flocculation agents. None of this is necessary in the biofiltration system. In addition, each traditional treatment plant generates 500 grams of sludge per cubic meter treated, this system does not generate anything. The system reduces labor requirements, allowing some 15,000 land per square meter to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The additional advantage is that each cubic meter of treated water generates 60 grams of humus, a by-product whose demand increases. Although earthworms have been used as a drug in China, their use as stimulant of the immune system in patients who have undergone chemotherapy or who have been infected with AIDS was recognized in various studies. The combination of expense reduction on the one hand and increased income on the other is a change in game rules. This offers simple biofilotic technology high market potential.
The opportunity
The market for small water treatment stations is explosive. As the pressure is strong to produce more drinking water, one of the first obvious sources is worn water. In Chile, a country where 85 % of communities are already treated, the sanitation systems market still represents $ 450 million. The industrial wastewater treatment market exceeds 1.5 billion euros, stimulated by new regulations for cellars and salmon processing factories. The mining sector is another candidate ready for water treatment factories by biofilter based on earthworms. Thanks to the versatility of earthworms, which quickly adapt to different waste flows and toxicity levels that characterize each industry, performance can be guaranteed without genetic manipulation or chemical control.
Aristotle called earthworms The intestines of the earth, now it seems that this animal that most people cannot distinguish tail head, is the source of water from the earth. While the application in large -scale facilities would require a scale economy which is not ideal for a biological process, small -scale treatment offers an ideal opportunity for entrepreneurship. Matías is already extending its activities to all of Latin America and creating a first business in India and we hope that many will follow.
