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The 2019 Rich Earth Summit is Quickly Approaching!
by: Caitlin Perry
The Rich Earth Institute will be heading to Ann Arbor, Michigan this November to host the 2019 Rich Earth Summit!
This two-day event from Nov. 7th-8th, co-hosted by the University of Michigan’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will focus on discussing policy and regulation for implementing new technology for urine diversion and processing. The topics discussed will be used to create a regulation framework that can be used all over the country based on work done in Vermont by the Rich Earth Institute.
There will be a variety of presenters throughout the two days, starting with a keynote speech presented by Paula Kehoe, the Director of Water Resources for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Paula’s work in San Francisco has lead to the creation of programs dedicated to conservation and recycling of water, and new legislation allowing collection and treatment of alternative water sources.
The second day of the Summit gives presenters a chance to showcase breakthrough research and technologies as well as pilot projects that are currently in the works. Participants will also have the opportunity to have a look at how these technologies are being used today in an automated process during a tour of the G.G. Brown system in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. This system includes a urine diverting toilet and urinal, as well as its own urine processing equipment which stabilizes and concentrates the nutrients. Urine diverting toilets and other technologies for the home and building scale are beginning to become available, and these options will be presented during the second day.
Conor Lally, co-founder and president of Nutrient Networks, will be presenting at this year’s Summit, and says he is really looking forward to the new topics that will be discussed. “Past Summits hosted here in Vermont have mostly been focused on new research and technology,” said Lally. “This year’s Summit is looking at policy and regulation, and how people can find new regulatory pathways to begin to implement these new technologies.” Nutrient Networks and RECODE will be coming together at the 2019 Summit and guiding the formation of a task force dedicated to finding these regulatory pathways in order for people across the country to join the movement of alternative sanitation.
Visit the Summit page for more information and further details.
