Read the full case study here.
Water is the most precious resource on Earth. But with more and more storms, floods, and droughts, it’s not always where we need it. The UN says 4 billion people—half the world’s population—face severe water shortages at least one month a year.
Botanical Water Technologies (BWT) from Australia found a way to recover the water usually wasted making alcohol, juice, ketchup, and sugar. BWT estimates 3 trillion liters of water are wasted this way every year. If that water were recovered, it could be reused, commercially sold or gifted to people who need it most.
The company had a working process for capturing, purifying and creating the world’s most sustainable drinking water with technology housed in shipping containers and connected up to existing systems that process fruit, vegetables, or sugar cane. The next challenge was creating a marketplace for buyers and sellers of plant-sourced water that would support three different transactions:
- Sales of actual water for food, beverage and other manufacturers
- Sales of “water impact credits” (WICs) to help fulfill corporate water stewardship goals
- Bulk donations of water to the world’s most vulnerable people
BWT asked Fujitsu to develop a world-first: Botanical Water Exchange (BWX) that securely tracks every drop of water from producer to end consumer. That exchange is powered by the leading open-source framework for enterprise blockchains, Hyperledger Fabric.
The BWX exchange went live in the second quarter of 2022. The platform is now testing all functions and features with a selection of key partners in the U.S., Australia, and India. A standard water harvesting unit (WHU) can harvest ~460,000 liters or ~122,000 gallons per day. The BWX doesn’t only allow producers and buyers to trade. It also covers production planning, logistics planning, and value chain management. In addition, it interfaces with the WHU’s software for audit and certification purposes, tracing over 170 touchpoints and sensors per WHU.
The Hyperledger Foundation team worked with Fujitsu and BWT on a case study covering the business plan, technical requirements and implementation details. The case study also highlights plans to build out the network and expand the ecosystem, including creating a real-time wall display that quantifies the amount of water harvested and delivered, along with the positive impact made to people and the environment. The goal is to deliver water to 100 million of the world’s most vulnerable people by 2025.
Read the full case study here.
