Mike Markus + Donnel Baird: From Wastewater to Retrofitting

What would you say to the idea of drinking a tall, cool glass of wastewater? On the face of it, it sounds, well, yucky. But it turns out you’ve probably been drinking it all along. There’s good technology now for extracting impurities and making even the dirtiest water potable. And some water districts around the country are taking this technology to scale. This week on Sea Change Radio, we dig into the archives and hear from Mike Markus, the General Manager of the Orange County, California Water District. Orange County’s practices may represent the high water-mark for the re-use of H2O. Then, we speak with Donnel Baird, the founder and CEO of BlocPower, a startup that uses technology to retrofit buildings in financially underserved communities. Baird explains BlocPower’s business model, tells us what inspired him to start the company, and talks about the challenges that the current political environment brings.