After 21 years of service, we are proud to celebrate the retirement of Bill Popp. Bill is a 21 year NSU veteran and a key member of our Site Services Team. We are lucky to have had Bill serve in many roles within the organization, most recently as a Maintenance Technician/Pipefitter. NSU will miss you!!
The New School – New York, NY
Alternate Water Sources: All wastewater (commonly referred to as “blackwater”) is collected and treated at The New University Center including water from toilets, sinks, showers, laundry, etc. Stormwater is also included as a source of reclaimed water after being detained by the vegetated green roofs.
End Uses: Laundry, toilet flushing, irrigation of the green roof, cooling tower make-up, and sidewalk maintenance.
Treatment System Size: 40,000 GPD
Potable Water Use Reduction: 74% (and 89% reduction in wastewater discharge)
Drivers: Education, Sustainability goals, green credential (Water Efficiency LEED points), and ROI.
Project Description:
Working with NSU, the New School installed conservation fixtures and an on-site water treatment and recycling system at The New University Center on 5th Avenue. The systems are designed to reduce water use by 74% and reduce discharge into the combined sewer by 89%. All wastewater (commonly referred to as “blackwater”) is collected and treated at The New University Center including water from toilets, sinks, showers, laundry, etc. Stormwater is also included as a source of reclaimed water after being detained by the vegetated green roofs. The University Center contains one of the largest in-building water recycling systems in New York City at 40,000 gallons per day (GPD). The University Center is one of the first buildings approved to reuse treated water for laundry. Other uses include toilet flushing, irrigation of the green roof, cooling tower make-up, and sidewalk maintenance. The University Center’s water resource management strategy including conservation fixtures and in-building water treatment and recycling system contributed to all Water Efficiency LEED points and several within Sustainable Sites along with Innovation in Design.
Drivers for Onsite Water Reuse:
Many communities worldwide are approaching, or have already reached, the limits of their available water supplies. Water demand exceeds sustainable supply in many areas and the current practices of diversion, consumption, use and disposal are depletive and destructive. The New School University adopted a “water fit for purpose” strategy to address this challenge where all sources of water were considered and all opportunities to reduce water use were identified.
Role of Public Utility in Project:
New York City played an integral role in the permitting and approval process. The onsite system is backed up by public infrastructure; therefore, allowing the two systems to work as one and discharge of biosolids to the city sewer. This eliminates the need for pumping and hauling and benefits the sewar system by pre-treating sewage prior to reaching NYC Treatment Plants.
Lessons Learned:
Hillsborough, NJ, March 12th, 2021 — Natural Systems Utilities (NSU), the nation’s leader in onsite water treatment and reuse solutions, today announced that Zach Gallagher has been named President and Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Gallagher, a 20-year veteran of the company, previously served as the Executive Vice President of Business Development since 2016. As President and COO, Zach will continue to lead Business Development as well as taking on more of the execution side of the business, including Engineering, Operations, and Site Services.
“Zach is an ideal fit for NSU’s President and COO. He is a proven leader whose contributions have been invaluable to the growth of our company – from both a business and cultural perspective,” said Bill Massa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NSU. “In addition to an impressive track record of strategic planning and execution, Zach brings a passion to his work that inspires and motivates our teams. I look forward to seeing all that NSU will accomplish under Zach’s leadership.”
Zach joined NSU as a Project Engineer nearly 20 years ago when the company was known as Applied Water Management. In 2007, he became a partner of Alliance Environmental serving as COO before merging with NSU in 2011. Over the years, Zach has held various positions within Engineering, Operations, Construction, and Business Development. He has a deep understanding of the business and is passionate about NSU’s services and solutions. Mr. Gallagher is a licensed Professional Engineer and LEED Accredited Professional holding BS and MS degrees from Rutgers University in Bio-Resource and Civil/Environmental Engineering. He is the past Vice Chair for the Board of Directors of the U.S. Green Building Council, NJ Chapter. He has over 20 years of experience with decentralized/onsite water reuse systems, has been published by Forbes and serves as a Guest Lecturer on the subject at multiple universities across the Country.
Zach Gallagher giving a tour
ABOUT NATURAL SYSTEMS UTILITIES
Natural Systems Utilities (NSU) creates value where others see waste. Since 1984, we have been an industry leader in water reclamation and reuse innovation. We currently manage 250+ onsite systems along with 150+ innovative/alternative Title V facilities across North America. Our award-winning approach features fully integrated and cost-effective solutions for water supply, wastewater treatment, and water reuse. Our reputation is built on best-in-class execution and focuses on long-term shared-value partnerships with the people and communities we serve.
**Article courtesy of XPV Water Partners**
February 17, 2021 (https://www.xpvwaterpartners.com/news/2021/02/17/nsus-wastewater-treatment-and-reuse-playbook-a-winning-esg-strategy)
“Keeping water local” is becoming widely embraced as a mainstream design approach by municipalities, businesses, institutions, and developers turning to privately managed water treatment infrastructure as an alternative to centralized services delivered by large-scale treatment networks.
Gillette Stadium-Patriot Place Complex in Massachusetts
“The industry is recognizing that discharging local wastewater into a river for somebody else to manage downstream is not a sustainable solution,” says Zach Gallagher, Executive VP of Natural Systems Utilities. “Keeping water local using onsite recovery and reuse systems delivers proven economic, environmental, and energy-saving benefits, while ensuring local water resources are available for future generations.”
Natural Systems Utilities (NSU), a leader in innovative onsite wastewater treatment and reuse solutions, has developed a successful approach for designing, building, financing, and managing decentralized treatment systems, and is currently operating more than 400 onsite treatment systems across North America.
Decentralized treatment systems, designed for keeping local water in local communities and reducing the amount of fresh water drawn, are becoming increasingly necessary. Privately managed decentralized systems are in use at business campuses, resorts, industrial parks, shopping complexes, and high-density residential buildings and developments.
“We provide the full solution customized for project specific conditions, ensure that it operates as designed, and take responsibility for performance through the entire life cycle,” Gallagher adds.
Award-winning showcase projects
Receiving more than 100 wastewater operations awards and national project recognition for sustainable design, NSU’s turnkey platform provides a range of Design-Build (DB) to Design-Build-Own-Operate-Maintain (DBOOM) approaches. NSU’s platform has enjoyed many high-profile project successes, ranging from the famous Gillette Stadium-Patriot Place complex in Massachusetts to the exclusive high-rise communities of Battery Park City in New York City.
“The Gillette Stadium-Patriot Place project came to us for the same reasons as many of our customers – their nearby centralized systems either lack adequate supply and discharge capacity or their facilities are located too far away to access centralized water treatment services,” says Gallagher.
NSU designed, built, and operates the water reuse system for Gillette Stadium – home of the New England Patriots football team –and the adjacent Patriot Place which includes restaurants, retail spaces and a convention centre. The system creates a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to produce high-quality reuse water for toilet flushing within the 68,000-seat stadium along with the surrounding Patriot Place. Treated water is also used to recharge the local groundwater aquifer and the system has recently been upgraded to provide reclaimed water for landscape irrigation.
“In contrast to Gillette Stadium,” says Gallagher, “the Battery Park City project involved a New York City area where the centralized treatment systems offered adequate wastewater capacity; however, the local governing authority had set-out a long-term strategy to introduce a new standard of environmentally responsible solutions that required using less material, lower energy expenditure and less water.”
Battery Park City in Manhattan
The high-rise buildings within the planned community of Battery Park City in Manhattan are served by NSU-designed, built, and operated water recycling systems. NSU’s approach – also adopted by several other high-profile buildings in Manhattan – cut water consumption by more than 50% and reduced wastewater discharge by greater than 60% compared to similar residential buildings in NYC. Today, the Battery Park City project is among the largest neighbourhood-scale sustainability initiatives in the United States.
Driving growth and ROI
“We are seeing multiple factors coming together to drive growth in our business sector,” says Gallagher. “Twenty years ago, developers had no choice but to install decentralized systems as it was the only option. The market evolved over time, and new projects emerged that were driven by Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) factors. Today, we’ve reached a threshold where our customers not only benefit from ESG but there is also a proven return on investment as the cost of water and sewer in many urban areas has doubled.”
Operators of centralized treatment networks are also recognizing the benefits of partnering with private on-site treatment operators, according to Gallagher. Decentralized treatment systems and facilities are now playing a larger role with easing the strain on centralized treatment plants grappling with aging infrastructure issues. Adding decentralized treatment capacity can help centralized treatment networks delay capital improvements while enhancing system resiliency.
New government mandates to maximize water reuse, minimize the “water footprint,” and return water to the community for purposes not requiring potable water can create daunting infrastructure challenges for centralized treatment networks, but not for decentralized systems. Gallagher says these mandates are creating a competition between tech campuses, academic campuses, and large employers to enhance their ESG programs and compete for the distinction of being the most “green.”
Leveraging the XPV portfolio
“There is a perception that private equity investors are simply providing money – but that’s not the case with XPV Water Partners,” says Gallagher. “XPV deeply understands the water industry and that’s a huge asset. They have thousands of industry relationships, and they have arranged multiple introductions that enabled us to pursue and win new projects.”
NSU recently partnered with fellow XPV portfolio company, LuminUltra, creating an online microbiological monitoring system with the ability to remotely and automatically conduct regulatory equivalent reporting. The development of this online microbiological capability, initially believed to be 5-10 years out, was significantly accelerated due to the companies joining forces and is expected to be “a game-changer,” according to Gallagher. Automated sampling opens up an entirely new market segment that did not previously pursue water reuse initiatives due to the high volume of manual samples that were required. Additionally, NSU’s long-standing partnership with Newterra (recently acquired from XPV by the Frontenac Company) drove significant synergies by combining Newterra’s wastewater treatment technology with NSU’s delivery approach, creating a complementary, differentiated, and high-value solution.
Gallagher adds “Communities lacking access to centralized infrastructure or seeking to maximize their ESG score have always been our bread-and-butter clients and will continue to be. We will bring them innovative, reliable and safe solutions that source all water locally, and reuse or return high quality water to the environment from which it came – that’s our job, that’s our vision, and that’s our passion. We will continue to reimagine what can be done with water.”
At their 2021 Annual General Meeting, the Built Environment Plus community recognized our very own Bruce Douglas for his exemplary efforts. For his tireless efforts, Mr. Douglas received the Living Building Champion Award. Built Environment Plus’ Associate Director of Community Engagement Ethan Vonderheide highlighted leadership efforts, “Thank you again for being an exemplary member for the BE+ community, and I know, in particular, the staff here greatly appreciates your participation.”
Natural Systems Utilities is pleased to announce the launch of our newly redesigned website, www.nsuwater.com. Featuring our updated brand, a new look, more information on our solutions and services, and a fully responsive layout for all platforms – we hope you’ll find it easier to navigate and find what you’re looking for quickly and efficiently.
Our goal with this new website is to provide our visitors with a simple way to discover more about our services and the solutions we are able to provide space agencies and commercial space companies around the world.
We hope you like the changes, if you have any questions or feedback, please let us know by contacting us. If you’d like to stay connected on social media, follow us on LinkedIn.
Lexington, MA: ConstructSecure, Inc., a cloud-based mobile platform that empowers clients to make smarter risk management decisions, has announced the recipients of its prestigious safety awards. Natural Systems Utilities, LLC has received the Gold Safety Award. This award is presented to companies that register a safety score between 85% – 95% in the Safety Assessment Program administered by ConstructSecure.“
Natural Systems Utilities, LLC has done a remarkable job of implementing a strong safety management system. In addition to keeping employees safe, safety performance of this caliber should reduce their insurance premiums,” says Garrett Burke, CEO of ConstructSecure.
The Safety Assessment Program reviews a company’s historic safety performance and current safety management systems. The platform normalizes data for vendor or contractor size and type of work performed. The program provides thorough, objective, and consistent evaluation of company performance so clients can identify, monitor, and manage risk smarter. The results provide a strong indicator of how a vendor or contractor values safety and a reliable predictor of future performance.
About ConstructSecure: ConstructSecure, Inc. is a global SaaS company. Our cloud-based and mobile platform empowers clients to make better risk management decisions. Proprietary algorithms developed at an Ivy League University, leverage safety, and financial indicators to accurately pre-qualify vendors. The data captured by our suite of solutions ensures that our clients, and their subcontracted vendors, are not only meeting regulatory standards but are approaching safety in a way that positively
impacts their number of injuries, loss rate, EMR, defaults, insurance premiums, and their overall financial health.
Happy Holidays from All of us at NSU!
“Proud to support this amazing event where the New England Living Building Collaborative is presenting a series of webinars on how water management, water efficiency, and water and energy nexus concepts can be incorporated into project planning, design, construction and operation.”
Join NSU at The 35th Annual WateReuse Virtual Symposium. Zach Gallagher, EVP will be speaking on “Emerging Trends & Drivers for Decentralized Non-Potable Water Systems (DNWS)” with a live chat scheduled for 11AM EST on Tuesday, September 15th. NSU will also be hosting a virtual exhibit during the conference.
Additional details can be found HERE.
