Blue is the New Green

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That kind of regulation -- coupled with compelling economics -- has already helped Falcon Waterfree Technologies, another pioneer in restroom efficiency. If you are male, and you have recently heeded nature's call at Dodger Stadium, the Hollywood Bowl, the "Bird's Nest" at the Beijing Olympics, or the Taj Mahal, you may be familiar with its product. Falcon, founded in 2000, claims about 90 percent of the worldwide market for water-free urinals and revenue of more than $15 million a year.

Like WaterSaver, Falcon, headquartered in Los Angeles and Grand Rapids, Michigan, piggybacks on the existing sales and distribution networks of established partners in the sanitary equipment industry (it, too, has a partnership with Sloan in the U.S.). "In many respects -- on a significantly smaller scale -- we're really not unlike Intel," says James Krug, Falcon's CEO. "We are the technology that powers the urinals."

Here's how it works: Urinal manufacturers create the "bowl with a hole" -- a porcelain or metal unit designed with a smooth, easy-to-clean surface. A stainless-steel housing provides a perfect seal between the opening and a patented cartridge containing a biodegradable liquid with a specific gravity lighter than water. As soon as urine passes through the cartridge, this lighter liquid covers it and creates an airtight seal, blocking any escaping odor of urine and sewer gases. Unlike with conventional urinals, there is no "flush plume" to spread bacteria and no moving parts that require maintenance; cartridges just need to be replaced every 7,000 uses or so. "Pound for pound, our system is probably the most effective water-conservation device out there," Krug likes to brag. "It doesn't reduce water use by 10, 20, or 30 percent -- it's a 100 percent reduction. Each urinal saves about 40,000 gallons of water a year."

Falcon is backed by some very heavy hitters. Its founder and lead investor is Marc Nathanson, a cable entrepreneur and chairman of Voice of America in the Clinton administration. In 2006, Capricorn Management, an investment group founded by Jeff Skoll, eBay's first president, bought 25 percent of Falcon. And its board of advisers includes Al Gore, Richard Gephardt, and former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan.

Acceptance of a waterless urinal was once the challenge. Now the challenge is competition, including new rivals such as Kohler and Zurn. Still, Krug believes that by continuing to invest heavily in R&D, he is keeping ahead of the curve. And competition has its advantages, too. "When everyone else joins in," he says, "you know you've gone from fringe to mainstream."

Here's a fact: According to the American Water Works Association, 58 percent of urban water goes to landscape irrigation. And as much as half of that is lost or wasted because of evaporation, wind, or improper irrigation design, installation, maintenance, and scheduling.

Chris Spain, co-founder and chairman of Petaluma, California-based HydroPoint Data Systems, saw an opportunity in those lost 3.5 billion gallons. After selling a software start-up in 2000, Spain and two partners began plotting their next move. Water was especially attractive. "One, it seemed to be a huge issue that a variety of macro trends were driving to a crisis point," says Spain. "And two, there seemed to be a huge absence of focus, investment, and innovation."

They came across a company in Petaluma that had patented a compelling technology -- a system that used live weather data, rather than preset timers, to tell sprinklers when and how much to water crops, lawns, and commercial landscapes. They acquired the company, raised funds from angel investors, and went to work upgrading the technology. Now known as WeatherTRAK, the system uses data retrieved from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites that gather information from 40,000 weather stations across the country. WeatherTRAK's database and servers can accurately map weather conditions -- wind, humidity, and temperature -- for any given square kilometer in the U.S. Subscribers to the system (commercial users pay $225 per year) need only set a sprinkler controller with some information about the plants and topography of their site, and the system takes over, sending weather updates via satellite to automatically adjust watering needs to real conditions on the ground.

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Adam Bluestein

A former editor at Real Simple, Adam Bluestein writes frequently about innovation and new technology. He lives with his wife and two children in Burlington, Vermont.

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