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University of South Australia start-up, Baleen Filters (technology of same name), are peer recognised experts in liquid/solid recovery and water re-use across industry, with more than 200 installations operating across Oceania since 1999. The company pioneers best practice in greener wastewater infrastructure and seeks collaboration internationally.Yuri Obst, Founder and CEO of Baleen, explains: ‘Visualise a future in which the Earth’s natural cycles and urban economies co-exist, marine outfalls transformed into Sewer Mining facilities with micro-plastics and other non biodegradables recovered (as recyclables) separate from energy-rich organic ‘‘waste’’ (for carbon-negative biogas production) and nutrient-laden ‘water’ reclaimed for irrigation.’All the water we have is all the water we will have. It is the same water since the dawn of creation responsible for the birth and re-birth of life on earth. A ‘‘once-use and dispose’’ mindset is simply not sustainable. Humanity is draining the land and treating waterways as waste dumps with widespread devastation. We must Close-the-Loop on the shoddy, inefficient, costly way we treat water and return the natural water cycle to the land if we seek to counteract the effects of climate change.‘Wastewater produced globally (disposed to marine environments) is estimated at 1,500 billion tonnes annually.’ UN WWAP 2003‘More than 15 billion tonnes of polluted water (rich in nutrient) flow through underground networks into the Ocean along the Continental US Coastline every year. Image: Hollywood sewage outfallThe Maritime Executive 2016Photo Credit: @Mikkel PitznerWATER SECURITY 069