Why lose it when you can reuse it?

Forget green jobs of the future, Aquacell has been providing green jobs in Penrith for over a decade.

The local company produce, operate and maintain award-winning water recycling schemes. Their non-potable (non-drinking) greywater and blackwater recycling systems can be retrofitted or built into new developments and are sought after in municipal, industrial, commercial and residential settings. The recycled water can be reused for irrigation, for cooling towers, to flush toilets and more, all of which makes Aquacell an environmental champion.

And, with its design and engineering headquarters at Western Sydney University’s (WSU) Launch Pad and products in demand across Australia, North America and the Middle East, Aquacell is a Penrith Made champion too.

Aquacell was founded in the Blue Mountains by Colin Fisher in 1996. In 2008 the business relocated to Jamisontown and in 2015, became one of Launch Pad’s first tenants (see our feature story).

The company’s Sales and Marketing Assistant Hugh Fisher (Colin’s son) said the company jumped at Launch Pad’s offer of space.

“It’s a great facility for our design and engineering team and it’s closer to home for most of us,” he said. “As our business grew we opened a head sales office in Sydney, but we realised that if we centralised we’d lose valuable staff.”

Launch Pad also offers scope for collaboration with WSU.

“We’ve been able to make contact with key people in the industry,” Mr Fisher said. “We benefit from research opportunities and have had some fantastic interns come through.”

Aquacell employs 16 people in Australia across several locations – at Launch Pad, its manufacturing facility in North Rocks, head sales office in Milson’s Point and operations base in Melbourne – as well as six people in San Francisco at Aquacell US, a joint venture with Phoenix Process Equipment.

“Our products have really taken off in the Bay Area of San Francisco following a mandate that all new developments over 23,000sqm have to use onsite water reuse systems for non-potable water needs,” Mr Fisher said.

In the lead up to the 2016 ruling, Aquacell’s experience and expertise was sought by the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on how best to structure and implement the legislation.

Interest in the environmental and cost-saving benefits of recycled water systems is also gathering pace in Australia, and for good reason. According to Mr Fisher, Western Sydney itself provides a telling case study.

“The Western Sydney area is expected to gain 1.5 million new residents over the next 30 years,” he said. “We’re in a situation where no more water is available. Discharge to the Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers are at capacity and discharge to South Creek may not be possible due to ethereal flow.”

Aquacell believe decentralised water recycling has an important role to play in future water management.

“It provides an effective mechanism for unlocking previously undevelopable land and a source of non-potable water for toilet flushing, irrigation, and cooling towers. By using recycled water, we’ll be able to limit the strain on potable water supplies, while maintaining green spaces and playing fields.”

Recycled water systems could also play a pivotal role in the success of the future aerotropolis.

“The aerotopolis has already provided a number of opportunities for Aquacell because of sewer infrastructure limitations around the site,” Mr Fisher said.

Sewer infrastructure is scheduled to align with the opening of the Western Sydney Airport in 2016. For developers, a wastewater management strategy is a condition of approval for each site.

Aquacell blackwater treatment systems provide a decentralised alternative to traditional sewer infrastructure as wastewater is captured and treated on site for reuse, removing the need for centralised sewer infrastructure and allowing developers to accelerate their projects.

“These projects show how environmentally sustainable design can help streamline projects and accelerate development while at the same time have a beneficial impact on resource use,” Mr Fisher said.

“Australia is the driest habitable continent on earth, we should place a higher value on water and keep our potable water for drinking. As we say at Aquacell, 'why lose it, when you can reuse it?'”

Image: An Aquacell 60kL/day blackwater recycling system at NAB’s Melbourne headquarters, designed and built in Penrith.