374Water

I am an experienced engineer who has successfully scaled innovative technologies from concept to commercialization over 20 years around the world in the chemical, renewable energy, and water industries. I have built rockets, engineered fuel cells, created electricity from the ground, converted CO2 into usable building material, and most recently founded 374 Water, which can turn the harshest of wastes into clean water and clean energy in just 4 seconds. my academic background is in chemical engineering and materials science. I am a father, husband and engaged citizen inspired by science and striving to make the planet a healthier, safer, smarter place for all.

374Water addresses our society’s enormous issues of waste and the negative externalities they create which are not taken into account in our current economic system to the detriment of our health and our planet. Our recovery units are a decentralized, modular, on-site solution offering clean, superior treatment for wet wastes offering a +90% recovery rate on minerals and water, and a step change from existing technologies focused only on volume reduction of 40% at most. 

The recovery systems use a novel supercritical water oxidation technology harnessing the amazing properties of water above its critical point and convert organic waste to energy, water, and CO2 in seconds. Systems offer a unique and flexible value proposition for municipalities, governments and the military as well as industrial, chemical, and agriculture businesses that aim to achieve a circular economy around water, waste, energy, and food.

A clean, healthy environment is critical for human survival. Yet environmental pollution continues worldwide costing society billions. ~9 million die each year because of air water and soil pollution. In developing countries,~4.5 billion lack access to safe sanitation which is the leading death cause in children under 5. The root cause of our substandard waste and environmental contamination problems is the limitation of existing technologies and the absence of a compact, cost-effective, on-site, superior treatment technology like the one 374 has created ($6B market).  In developed countries, centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) generate millions of tons of biosolids. These residuals are either reused as fertilizer or transported offsite for further treatment and disposal. Dangerous pathogens, PFAS or “forever chemicals”, drugs and microplastics are prevalent as contaminants. These lead to stricter regulation limiting reuse and driving up the cost of treatment and disposal. ($5.9B market). Industrial manufacturing (chemical, agriculture, CAFOs, etc) worldwide generates billions of tons of concentrated organic wastes that are pre-treated onsite and discharged to WWTPs; treated and directly discharged to water bodies; or transported offsite for expensive treatment and disposal of final residuals. ($6.3B market) 

We develop on-site wet waste (fecal sludge, biosolids, food waste agriculture, pharmaceutical & other industrial wastes) processors that provide superior, decentralized and cost-effective waste treatment that can be embedded within communities. We react waste with air above the critical point of water to convert ALL of the organics into clean reusable water destroying all pathogens and various micro-pollutants. Our treatment units operate continuously using only the energy embedded in the waste, producing clean distilled water for reuse as well as mineral fertilizer and at mid to larger scale actually produce electricity from waste heat which can be used on site and / or sold back to the grid. 374 has created an authentic circular system. We provide a very compact solution (three order of magnitude smaller than any biological based technologies) to treat waste on-site in a climate-adaptive, weather agnostic, and resilient manner. We are decreasing the environmental costs of traditional treatment methods by treating pathogens and non-biodegradable emerging contaminants like pharmaceuticals, forever chemicals (e.g., PFAS), plastics, and microplastics. While reducing GHG emissions, we are helping to protect air quality, terrestrial ecosystems, and our planet’s water resources.

There is ample evidence that environmental pollution disproportionately affects the poor, minority groups, and those underserved in our nation. Air, water, and soil pollution due to incineration, industrial manufacturing runoff, dumping, existing waste treatment, lax regulation, and a lack of transparency from waste producers too often results in those most vulnerable having to bear this terrible burden. The lack of access to safe sanitation is well documented in developing countries (~4.5 billion people impacted, drinking water contamination, roadside fecal sludge, etc) and unfortunately this too often disproportionately impacts children, women, the elderly, and last mile communities. 374Water is driven by the desire to provide environmentally sustainable solutions to the most challenging waste issues for the benefit of everyone, but in particular is inspired to provide a step change or “leapfrog” solution to those underserved and underprivileged groups. 374’s compact, decentralized, local treatment systems can be integrated into the heart of communities eliminating any concern of residual waste treatment pollution or “NIMBY” conflicts. In some scenarios in the US, 374’s systems could even be used to clean up “Superfund” sites, leading to renewed economic activity locally as well as safer, healthier communities for all.

We care deeply about protecting the future of our drinking water, especially for “last mile communities” whose health and safety are too often ignored. We have the potential to redefine the waste paradigm and believe we can bring change to build a more sustainable future. We have great technology and process, an Omni processor that relies on boundary science and solid engineering — driving the action needed to revolutionize the water industry with a resilient, decentralized infrastructure. It's not a patch! It’s a way to reinvent our waste treatment with fundamental science and a 21st century toolkit.

374Water began as a research project in 2013 at Duke University when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation selected Professor Deshusses as a Principal Investigator for its “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” with the mission to leap the developing world into a sustainable waste treatment future and advance circular economy thinking with a decentralized approach. We chose to investigate a fringe technology (Supercritical Water Oxidation or “SCWO”) that was originally developed to treat ammunition and chemical warfare agents with the vision that if we could adapt it to the sanitation market, it could provide a cost effective and scalable technology that could be deployed anywhere in the world.  The research project was a great success as we established a working pilot plant in 2015 which led the foundation to push us to commercialize the technology. We officially spun out of Duke and launched 374Water two years ago and have been active in the water and waste space, advancing the engineering design and creating the business ecosystem by forming strategic partners in the waste management, renewable energy, and global engineering spaces that will propel 374Water to dominate the market rapidly.

Covid-19 has demonstrated that the environment we live in matters. Greater efforts are needed to create resilient and sustainable solutions to secure our livelihood. Our mission is to protect our drinking water and create a healthier environment for the next generation. Awareness of where our waste goes for most people stops the moment they flush the toilet or take out their trash. Most have a binary mindset that doesn’t consider the benefits of a circular way of thinking. For decades the waste and water sectors haven’t received the attention they deserve and are too often overlooked by policy makers, investors, entrepreneurs, and our brightest minds -- we see it as our duty to change this and build a company that takes into account all stakeholders whether they have a voice or not and to serve as an example of how many additional benefits, whether economic, social, environmental, or otherwise can be created when societal challenges are approached from a circular point of view. 374 has the potential to create systems level change and I am passionate about sharing what the circular economy can really mean to the individual and to society. 

Kobe Nagar and Marc Deshusses are company founders and lead the venture with domain expertise in chemical engineering, chemical processing, environmental and odor control knowledge and energy generation expertise. Kobe in particular has a history of bringing new technologies to market and scaling up new innovative products. Both Marc and Kobe are at the forefront of SCWO as an emerging technology in both the academic and commercial communities and work hand in hand bridging the gaps between academia and its labs and the market where real world applications can be created. Marc and Kobe have been working together since 2017 and officially created 374Water in 2018 as a spin out from Duke University. Our association with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Duke University, the unique know-how we have developed in the past seven years, our capacity to work methodically and effectively with limited resources, and our ability to rally people and create excitement for our technology are some of the key differentiators of our team.

• Kobe Nagar - Co-Founder & CEO Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jacobnagar/

• Marc Deshusses - Co-Founder & CTO  Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/marc-deshusses-4955928/

In our minds there is no such thing as failure -- only obstacles on the road to success. We have many examples of having to overcome obstacles on both the technology and commercial sides. Most significantly perhaps on the technology side was overcoming the traditional challenges in commercializing SCWO technology. Scientists and researchers have been experimenting and building test systems for over 20 years, but no one had yet cracked the code so to speak. Traditional issues involved corrosion, plugging, and dangerous combustion possibilities due to the use of pure O2. By looking at each problem in a binary way, testing practices from other industries, technologies, and theories in related spaces, (and a bit of luck no doubt!), we were able to successfully create a working system.

Establishing a multi-national, multi-domain team is key to creating innovation. Being a young startup that relies on the talent of our employees to succeed, we understand the many reasons why everyone should feel welcomed, respected, supported, and fully valued participants in our workplace. Similarly, we understand why fair treatment, opportunities, for all people, and eliminating barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups must be actively promoted at every level of our company. Recently we have created a demo day where we educate and explain the global problem to a group of industry leaders which inspired everyone to see the value in our activities and catalyzed a drive to action to change the status quo.  

1000, 12000, 600,000 directly and millions indirectly 

Deploy 2 demo units next year to operating 100 units globally in 5 years. 

Working in a risk averse sector and the units high capital cost. 

Working with capital provides (debt finance) to reduce the initial capital investment and offer a BOT/BOO models. 

Waste managements companies, EPC firms, regulatory agencies and Water organization that have the needs and can help foster innovation. 

The initial business model focuses on selling turnkey treatment units (with a profit margin) and providing after-sales services to support the units’ operation (remote monitoring, spare parts, maintenance, and upgrades). Over time, we are looking to introduce a “sanitation/treatment-as-a-service” business model through public-private partnerships in a BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) or BOO (Build, Own, Operate) contract. Our GTM plan focuses on selling systems to biosolids management companies and wastewater contractors for coastal cities, locations with high real-estate costs or high landfill tipping fees. Stakeholders include key influencers, EPC firms, legislators, supervising authorities and professional organizations.

The initial business model focuses on selling turnkey treatment units (with a profit margin) 

We are looking to elevate our global waste problem to a higher priority and catalyze a real change towards a more sustainable future. Support from The Elevate Prize and MIT Solve will assist us in meeting relevant strategic partners and advisors, as well as gaining exposure to investors, impact funds managers and organizations that are looking to address the sustainable development goals, ultimately propelling our project and innovation to create impact at scale.