S18 E5: Stop It Before It Hits the Sewer with Howie Honeyman

In this episode of the Smells Like Money Podcast, host Suzan Chin Taylor sits down with C. Howie Honeyman, the CEO, innovator, and solutions developer at Forward Water Technologies. They discuss a critical paradigm shift in industrial wastewater management: stopping the problem upstream directly within the industrial process stream, rather than treating water after it hits the municipal sewer system. Traditional industrial wastewater management relies heavily on energy intensive and expensive "burn, boil, and bury" methods, such as incineration, thermal evaporation, or deep well disposal. Forward Water Technologies changes the game by using low energy membrane technology to squeeze out 75% to 90% of clean, reusable water from difficult waste streams like reverse osmosis discharge and high strength brines. Key Discussion Points:- Shifting the Paradigm Upstream:Traditional industrial wastewater management relies heavily on energy intensive or expensive methods often referred to as burn, boil, and bury. This involves incineration, thermal evaporation, or deep well disposal. Forward Water Technologies tacks onto the end of existing process trains, capturing water from highly contaminated waste streams before it ever reaches the municipal sewer system.- Economic and Operational Benefits:Reusing industrial water does more than reduce disposal costs. In regions facing water scarcity, such as parts of Mexico and Canada, municipalities limit the amount of fresh water industries can extract. By reclaiming over 50% of their waste as clean water, manufacturers can increase production rates using their current capital, directly boosting revenue.- Overcoming Industry Skepticism:The water treatment industry has historically faced a flood of unfulfilled promises, making engineering communities highly skeptical of emerging technologies. Forward Water Technologies addresses this by making modest promises, over delivering, and offering paid, transportable commercial pilot programs so clients can see their actual waste being treated on site.- The Three Legged Stool of Adoption:Widespread adoption of water reuse technology is accelerating due to a perfect storm of three factors: increasing water scarcity, rising costs and restrictions on traditional disposal methods, and the economic incentive of extracting valuable minerals, like lithium salts, from concentrated waste streams.Resources Mentioned:Forward Water Technologies Website: www.forwardwater.comCreative Raven Website: creativeraven.comConnect with C. Howie HoneymanCEO / Forward Water TechnologiesEmail: [email protected]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/c-howie-honeyman-7a41b316/Website: ForwardWater.comI hope you find this episode as informative and as exciting as we have.Please let us know your thoughts about the episode!Connect with Suzan Chin-Taylor, host of The DooDoo Diva's Smells Like Money Podcast:Website: www.creativeraven.com | https://thetuitgroup.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/creativeraven/Email: [email protected] Telephone: +1 760-217-8010Listen and subscribe here to your favorite platform:Apple Podcast - Google Podcast - Cast Box - Overcast - Pocket Casts - YouTube - Spotifyhttps://creativeraven.com/smells-like-money-podcast/ Subscribe to the Podcast:https://creativeraven.com/smells-like-money-podcast/Be a guest on our show:https://calendly.com/thetuitgroup/be-a-podcast-guestCheck Out my NEW Digital Marketing E-Course & Coaching Program just for Wastewater Pros:https://store.thetuitgroup.com/diy-digital-marketing-playbook-for-wastewater-pros#WastewaterTreatment #WaterReuse #IndustrialSustainability #ForwardOsmosis #CleanTech #WaterScarcity #EnvironmentalEngineering #SmellsLikeMoneyPodcast