To help tackle the growing international water crisis, innovators have begun building water-saving startups. While there are already simple ways to conserve water in place, the rate in which scientists and engineers are uncovering worrying characteristics of graphene and other nanotechnologies, water-saving startups may be our best bet for the future. The sad truth is that in the U.S and even the U.K. there isn’t any real focus on water conservation, prompting several startup companies to step up and address this issue through water conservation and making use of water treatment and monitoring solutions.

Which water-saving startups are worth your attention? Check them out below:

Top Water Saving Startups

Smart Been – climate control for greenhouses. This startup sets up sensors with an online control panel and mobile apps which help control and analyze the greenhouse indices from remote locations. Smart Been was created by Edwin Baboomian, an Iranian-Armenian known for his solid experience in greenhouse management.

ANDalyze – technology that can detect both trace metals (copper, mercury, lead, uranium) and other chemicals. This approach can dramatically speed up the testing process, compared with traditional methods.

Thames Water Utilities – U.K.-based water and sewerage startup from Berkshire, N.Y. that provides clean water while removing waste for almost 25% of the U.K. population daily. They carry out more than 400,000 tests yearly.

Alvim Srl –  based in Italy, this company develops approaches for biofouling and biofilm monitoring. Their goal is to detect microorganisms that grow in pipelines, tanks and heat exchangers and to warn operators when these biocide level become dangerous.

American Water Works – a water and wastewater utility company that provides drinking water, wastewater, and water-related services to millions of people in the U.S. and two Canadian provinces. They operate on two fronts, regulated businesses and market-based operations.

Baswood – startup from Santa Barbara, California. Baswood was founded in 2004 to develop commercial biological waste treatment technologies.

BioGill – startup from Australia, they sell above-ground water treatment bioreactors. With a network of installers in Australia, New Zealand, India, Fiji, and Canada, their technology is being applied to wineries, breweries, food manufacturers, and detergent plants.

Ecochlor – founded way back in 2001, this startup obtained patents for a superior ballast water treatment technology. These patents encompass the US and International protection for the use of chlorine dioxide for control of aggressive aquatic species in the ballast water of ships. They installed their first commercial scale system back in 2004.

Emefcy – an Israeli company known for their modular technologies for wastewater treatment. They are particularly energy efficient as they use less power than conventional methods. Emefcy was founded in 2008 and their investors include Israel Cleantech Ventures, Plan B Ventures, Pond Venture Partners, True North Venture Partners, and GE Ventures.

Rachio – a startup/technology company out of Denver, Colorado who provide solutions to homeowners to provide beautiful, sustainable landscapes. Their first product is a smart irrigation controller which can be controlled via a browser or a mobile app.

Gradek Energy – startup company from Canada who developed an organic biopolymer bead that recovers oil. Toronto-based holding company is one of their biggest investors.

Also published on Medium.