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Rethinking Water Infrastructure How Source Separation Technology Could Improve Real Estate Development
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Date:
12 Sep 2025
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The real estate industry faces mounting pressure from water scarcity, aging infrastructure, and rising utility costs. While developers traditionally view water management as a simple “pipe it in, pipe it out” equation, innovative technologies are emerging that could significantly change how buildings handle wastewater, and create new opportunities for cost savings and environmental differentiation.
Kimmerly Nace, CEO of Brightwater Tools, has spent over a decade developing solutions that challenge conventional thinking about building water systems. Her company, spun off from the nonprofit Rich Earth Institute in 2019, focuses on what’s called “source separation,” treating different waste streams at their origin rather than mixing everything together for centralized processing.
“There’s a real gap in the timing of when people think about building and construction and when they need to be talking about water,” Nace explains. “It should be right up front. There are still a lot of assumptions that pipe it in, pipe it out, everything is going to be fine on both ends. This is just so not real at all.”
The Technology Behind Source Separation
Brightwater Tools has developed a patented freeze concentration system that handles high-strength liquid waste from buildings. The technology separates water from nutrients, creating a concentrated, sanitized fertilizer that can be transported to farms and greatly reducing waste volume.
The system suits buildings with 50 to 100 units, requiring about the footprint of two parking spaces. It captures urine separately from other waste, a significant step, as urine contains 80% of nitrogen and 55% of phosphorus that typically overwhelm municipal treatment plants.
“If you capture urine separate from everything else in your building, just capture it and treat it, you can remove a whole lot of the nutrients that cause problems down at wastewater treatment plants,” Nace notes.
European municipalities have piloted this approach through the ANCHOR project, tracking data from five source separation installations across multiple countries for over a decade. These projects use vacuum flush toilets connected to centralized digesters, creating what Nace describes as “tighter and tighter circles of nutrient, energy and water efficiency.”
The economic results have been compelling; these European installations were driven by municipal cost considerations rather than purely environmental motivations, and the data show significant savings from energy capture and reduced waste management costs.
Market Opportunities and Challenges
For real estate developers, the technology presents several advantages. In water-scarce regions like southern Phoenix, where building permits are limited, source separation systems could enable development in previously unbuildable areas. The technology also relieves capacity constraints at wastewater treatment plants, where 15% are at or above capacity.
“There are parts of the whole country where water is so scarce or there is no water to build,” Nace explains. “But if you put in systems like ours, you can start to build, and you can start to inhabit places that have little water or don’t have any wastewater infrastructure.”
The installation requires dual piping and specialized toilets, either vacuum flush or urine-diverting models. While this adds complexity to new construction, vacuum flush toilets are advantageous for conversions since they can be placed anywhere in a structure without gravity-fed constraints.
However, retrofitting existing buildings can be very challenging. Nace’s assessment of Vermont schools showed most were built on concrete slabs with central bathrooms, making retrofits nearly impossible.
Regulatory Momentum Building
The regulatory landscape is shifting. Cape Cod is a strong case, where nitrogen pollution from septic systems has created environmental and economic pressures for regulatory change.
“Cape Cod has for years and years incredible bad nitrogen pollution issues. Their estuaries are polluted, and it’s a tourist area. So they have this huge amount of population in summer, and they can’t handle it,” Nace describes. “By the end of August, it smells bad there when you’re trying to go have a vacation.”
The EPA and funding from sources including the Gates Foundation are accelerating alternative systems. Similar coastal pollution issues from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral create a large market for innovative solutions.
California’s progressive water reuse regulations and requirements in cities like Bangalore, India—which mandates on-site water reuse and waste management, show how regulations can drive source separation adoption.
Market Positioning and Future Outlook
Nace sees the technology on a path similar to solar panels or advanced HVAC systems—once niche, now standard. The key is getting to developers and architects early in the design process, when integrated water management can be effectively incorporated.
“People should think about it at the beginning, at the onset, like right at the beginning,” she emphasizes. However, she notes a knowledge gap between innovation and industry awareness, especially among architects and developers.
The company is validating its technology through installations in Michigan, France, and Vashon Island near Seattle. With continued National Science Foundation funding and growing regulatory support, Brightwater Tools is positioning itself to serve the real estate industry at scale.
For developers in water-constrained markets or seeking environmental differentiation, source separation technology offers a way to reduce costs, meet regulations, and access previously unbuildable sites. As water scarcity intensifies and infrastructure costs rise, the “pipe it in, pipe it out” approach may no longer be viable.
The question for the real estate industry is not whether water management will evolve, but how quickly developers will recognize the advantages of getting ahead. As Nace puts it: “Twenty years from now, this will be very much part of what people are considering.”
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