The Waterly
"The Waterly" is a weekly all-things-water newsletter we share with our community covering the latest innovations and investment deal flow in the water sector and recent news on climate change and water-related crises.
This week, Wrangler launches a pair of jeans that uses 99% less water to produce. There is a huge inflow of new capital into climate funds from the likes of Jeff Bezos. The US and China announce significant new pledges as PwC declares climate change the biggest global problem we've seen since World War II. New drinking water contaminations are reported in Michigan and Northern California. We are honored to introduce you to our WELL Advisor Robert Slovak, a true pioneer and leader in the water industry who created the first commercial use of Reverse Osmosis purification technology!
Tech & Innovation
This Superyacht Can Cruise Emissions Free Thanks to Viking Age-Inspired Sails
Kurt Strand is back with another superyacht design that is bound to blow you away. The new 528-footer (161 m) beauty is aptly named Norway as she was inspired by the longships of the Viking Age.
Wrangler® Launches Its Most Sustainable Denim Yet, Featuring Planet-Friendly Fiber Made from Textile Waste
Wrangler®, a global icon in jeanswear and casual apparel, today announced that it has teamed up with Infinited Fiber Company.
No Electricity? A New Cooling System Uses Sunlight and Saltwater
A new experimental electricity-free cooling system is under development in Saudi Arabia. All the system requires is salt and sunlight to cool a space or refrigerate food at temperatures of 3.6ºC.
Corporate & Deals
Philanthropists pledge $5 billion to save threatened species
The Wyss Foundation and eight other philanthropic organizations pledged Wednesday to give $5 billion by 2030 to protect biodiversity around the planet, the largest-ever private gift for conservation.
Bezos Puts $1 Billion of $10 Billion Climate Pledge Into Conservation
A year after announcing the Bezos Earth Fund, the Amazon founder detailed how some of the money would be spent.
AQUAFORTUS BACKED TO DRIVE THE ZLD WATER REUSE MOVEMENT
Water recovery technology company Aquafortus Technologies has secured Series A funding of $7.5 million from deep tech venture capital firm DCVC for its patented zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology.
Our Portfolio Companies
Bryan Eagle, Champion of Sustainability & CEO at Glanris to speak during TEDxMemphis
The 2021 TEDx Memphis conference theme is Ctrl+Alt+Dlt, a simple computer function most of us are familiar with.
Water & the Environment
Big Pledges From China and the U.S.
On Tuesday came significant new pledges from the United States and China, rivals on the world stage and also the two biggest economies and two biggest emitters of planet-warming gases who, in many ways, hold the keys to reining in global warming.
Climate change is biggest global problem we’ve seen since World War II, says PwC chairman
“We need 8 billion people to make this a personal cause. The world has never seen a challenge like this probably since World War II,” said Moritz.
Young climate activists join Greta Thunberg for first major Fridays for Future strikes of pandemic
Young people around the world spilled into streets, city squares and local parks on Friday, following the call of Swedish teen Greta Thunberg, for the first big, in-person, coordinated climate protests since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
‘The challenge for us now is drought, not war’: livelihoods of millions of Afghans at risk
After years caught in the crossfire between the Taliban and security forces, farmers in Kandahar face a new threat, as water sources dry up.
PFAS and Chemicals
A Black town’s water is more poisoned than Flint’s. In a white town nearby, it’s clean
The water at her Benton Harbor, Michigan, home had started coming out of the tap looking “bubbly and whitish”. When she filled a glass with it, she could see matter floating around inside. “I became very concerned,” she recalled in a recent interview...
Toxin Levels Spike, Prompting Drinking Water Emergency in Northern California
Cyanotoxins in the state’s second-largest freshwater lake soared this month amid a hot, dry summer.
Bringing The Power Of Law To The People
Erin Brockovich: "Meet Vivek Maru and Sonkita Conteh, co-founders of Namati, a movement for legal empowerment around the world powered by cadres of grassroots legal advocates. Instead of relying solely on lawyers, they started a global network of community paralegals."
Robert Slovak has devoted his life to advancing the science of water. He leveraged his astronautical and mechanical engineering degrees to develop and market Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology with his brother Jack. They founded Water Factory Systems in the early 1970’s.
Their successful innovations encompassed home and office RO drinking water systems, bottled water production, laboratory purification, hemodialysis, seawater desalination, microchip production, bottled water production, water vending, and spot-free vehicle washing.
In 1989 Water Factory Systems was purchased by CUNO Inc, and then sold to the 3M Corporation, which continues to market many of their original products.
Today, Robert is founder of Water and Wellness, a curated collection of innovative water products, backed by decades of research that purify and structure water, remineralize water with marine sea plasma and energize water with molecular hydrogen.
Robert is an active member and leader of our WELL Community. He is the key source of many of our water innovations and relationships. Cheers, Robert!