During Hurricane Harvey’s rains in August, engineer Drew Molly and his colleagues at the Northeast Water Purification Plant in Houston waded through hip-deep water, did some quick calculations and with the help of a contractor — and at the behest of the city’s mayor – kept the plant operating and the city’s water system safe with just hours to spare.
It’s a heroic act that Molly and others in Houston want to avoid repeating. They hope to introduce new solutions to help advance new water ideas and demonstrate cutting-edge technologies at full scale. The Water Innovation Hub, a collaboration between the city and a non-profit called Accelerate H20, created just before Harvey struck, was formally kicked off in early December with a focus on resiliency. Hub personnel have already issued a call for skid-mounted, independent water treatment units, and throughout the next year will seek and evaluate new water technologies that can treat and produce water immediately after a flood or other disasters.