‘Transformational’: Aussie invention trialled in drought-stricken US state of California

Aussie inventors are tapping into an unlikely source to “grow” water in a world-first trial in a drought-stricken state.

An Australian start-up is “growing water” in a world-first trial in drought-stricken California which they hope can be expanded to one day tap enough to fill 1.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The Botanical Water Technologies invention, pioneered in Victoria, harvests the evaporative condensate produced when fruit and vegetables are pressed and turns it into “plant-based” drinking water.

Botanical has teamed up with Ingomar Packing Company, one of California’s biggest tomato processors, to test out the technology before aiming to spread it across the US and India.

With tomatoes made up of about 95 per cent water, one of the harvesting units – operated in a 12m shipping container – can pump out half a million litres per day.

“Water is a wicked problem because it’s a local problem that has to be sourced and fixed locally,” co-founder and chief executive Terry Paule said.

“This is transformational … we’re at that proverbial tipping point.”

Botanical's chief executive Terry Paule.

Mr Paule invested in the business in 2017, which at that point was producing bottled water sold in Australia, before the Botanical team decided on a major expansion.

“We worked out that the volume of water that’s sitting invisibly in plants is something like up to three trillion litres a year,” he said.

Ingomar trialled a unit last year at its facility in the San Joaquin Valley, the epicentre of California’s water crisis in an extended drought that has only recently eased in winter storms.

A record 1394 wells ran dry last year, leaving households scrambling to find alternative sources, while state auditors warned the water used by almost one million Californians was unsafe to drink.

Ingomar chief Greg Pruett.

By the middle of this year, Ingomar plans to have a permit to provide water to Self-Help Enterprises, a community organisation that will transport it to vulnerable areas.

Ingomar could eventually add further Botanical units to produce up to one billion litres of drinking water each tomato season.

“We’re really kind of a global test case,” Ingomar chief executive Greg Pruett said.

He said the Botanical partnership would help communities with “extreme water challenges” and enable the company to be more environmentally friendly, ultimately delivering a “commercial benefit” as well.

The Botanical Water Technologies invention, pioneered in Victoria, harvests the evaporative condensate produced when fruit and vegetables are pressed and turns it into “plant-based” drinking water. Botanical has teamed up with Ingomar Packing Company, one of California’s biggest tomato processors, to test out the technology before aiming to spread it across the US and India.

Mr Paule said the company had developed a blockchain water exchange with Fujitsu to enable transparent and secure trading, with the water also to be sold to customers such as beverage makers, manufacturers, and tech giants needing it to cool their data centres.

He said they hoped to soon seal a deal with a private equity partner to produce hundreds of water harvesting units that could be installed at fruit and vegetable processors.

By 2025, Mr Paule said 200 Botanical units could provide water for 100 million people.