Startup Focused On Home Wastewater Reuse With 'Biopipe'

Should every home purify its own wastewater? A startup from young Turkish entrepreneurs says yes.

Enes Kutluca, one of the founders, believes far too little wastewater is being reused. The global production of wastewater stands at about 165 billion cubic meters each day, and only about 2 percent gets recycled, according to Daily Sabah, an English-language daily newspaper published in Turkey.

"I think the wastewater treatment systems on the market have evolved in the wrong way," Kutluca told Daily Sabah. "There's no sustainable wastewater treatment system that is suitable for everyone. People are thinking wastewater treatment is a luxury to have in homes.”

Kutluca observed that the sewer systems of modern cities are not efficient. For him, that was the starting point for innovation.

"We collect all wastewater from all houses with sewage networks, build kilometers of collection pipes and giant wastewater treatment plants. All of these cost millions of dollars and they don't even use the treated water. We just let this usable water flow into seas and oceans. So, I started thinking that collecting wastewater from each house is not the best solution. What if I invent a wastewater treatment system that enables all houses to treat their own wastewater and reuse it again in their homes?" he said, per the report.

Enter Biopipe, a technology designed by Kutluca’s firm meant to solve this problem. Biopipe claims it is the world’s first and only sewage treatment pipe. How is works, as explained by Kutluca to Daily Sabah:

"Biopipe is the only innovative wastewater treatment system that does not produce sludge and it is patented in more than 55 countries. It is the result of years of research and development that has now become one of the most sustainable, eco-friendly and cost-effective wastewater treatment solutions in the world," he said and added: "Today treatment systems on the market are complicated, expensive and not custom designed. Biopipe has a simple, innovative design, which is based around a natural treatment mechanism, and performed inside a pipe with the help of good bacteria without the need for any additional chemicals.”

Kutluca claims that his technology is a cost-saver for governments and homeowners.

"Our claim is to help countries stop building sewage networks and giant wastewater treatment plants. Instead, people can apply Biopipe to every household so countries can save millions of dollars and reuse billions of gallons of reusable water,” he said.

The company announced in February that the technology will be offered to communities across Asia and Africa after it partnered with the water management network company Metito.

To read more about wastewater reuse methods visit Water Online’s Water Reuse Solutions Center.