WH2Osystems’s Forward Osmosis Recycling System (FORS) is the most reliable, compact, and cost-effective solution for decentralized water recycling. It was developed to maximize performances and to minimize footprints and costs, regardless of the wastewater source.
FORS has been validated at several sites including office buildings, U.S. military advanced operating bases, wineries, and scientific base camps in extreme environments. The following report summarizes the results of the validation testing of a 150 gal/day system completed by Stanford University: Report FORS Validation at Stanford University.
Some of the competitive advantages offered by FORS include:
Higher Water Purity – Unlike other onsite treatment systems, FORS rejects biological, organic, and inorganic contaminants and produces water that is potable or near-potable. Thus, no post-treatment is necessary to address odors in the bathrooms and any health risks.
Smaller Footprint – FORS can be accommodated in locations with limited floor space or tight clearance requirements and can be integrated into existing infrastructures with or without dual plumbing. As a reference, the footprint of a 4,800 GPD system is only 8’ x 8’ x 7’. Starting from 150 gallons per day, FORS is scalable to any size to meet the demand of a single building or of an entire campus.
Higher Reclamation Ratios and Resistance to Feed – FORS is capable of achieving water recovery ratios as high as 90% without being affected by the presence of high-concentrated solids or hazardous materials accidentally dropped down the drain that are deadly for microorganisms in biological systems, which would require extensive maintenance or even disable competing systems for long periods of time.
Environmental Conditions – The effect of external temperatures on FORS’s performance is negligible compared to most competing biological systems that see their water production rates significantly decreased at lower temperatures.
Lower Power Consumption – Compared to the main competing biological system, FORS’s power consumption is several times lower.
Higher Availability – FORS can be turned off for prolonged periods of time (such as Christmas holidays) and restarted without affecting its performance, unlike competing biological systems that require weeks prior to achieve their nominal operational performances.
Lower capital cost – The capital cost of FORS and its installation is lower than most competing biological and non-biological on-site treatment systems.
Lower O&M cost – FORS is fully automated and remotely monitored & controlled. Because of the simplicity of its operations and maintenance requirements, it does not need a trained on-site operator, unless specified by law. Moreover, FORS is pre-configured for artificial intelligence (AI) features. The predictive failure algorithms currently under development will result in even lower operating and maintenance costs.
Lower Carbon Footprint – FORS does not oxidize organic contaminants as occurs in biological systems. Thus, it does not directly emit any greenhouse gases.
Future changes in regulatory requirements – FORS offers the highest water quality of any of the competing systems. Thus, even in case “toilet-to-tap” legislation is passed sometime in the future (the State of California is targeting year 2040), the water quality requirements of the effluent will always be met. Moreover, WH2Osystems offers a certified potable-quality option as a retrofit to FORS.
Drought Resistance – FORS drastically reduces the impacts of droughts on the consumer. Drought emergencies usually lead to mandatory water consumption reductions that affect the revenues of local water districts, which are obliged to make rate adjustments.
