The global water industry is estimated at a whopping $350 billion, and while Philadelphia might be an unexpected leader in this burgeoning field, The Water and Environmental Technology Center headquartered at Temple University, is quickly becoming recognized as a global technology hub.

In partnership with the University of Arizona and funded in part by illustrious grants from the National Science Foundation as well as investments from the private sector, Dr. Rominder Suri wants to change how the world sees, and values, Earth’s most precious resource: Water.

While this innovation is local, the implications are global, as covered in Flying Kite’s article on the subject, Philly’s water world attracting investment, innovation:

Think about [water] treatment plants, with infrastructure built many years ago, and ill equipped to handle some of the chemicals that now show up in every stream. Dr. Rominder Suri, Director of the Water and Environmental Technology Center, studies emerging contaminants and develops technologies to identify and treat a wide range of chemicals in water. Caffeine, for example, is everywhere. In every stream, you will find traces of the stimulant. A far greater regional threat is runoff from coal mining and natural gas drilling operations. Concerns about fracking are on the rise, and a big reason is the effect on water quality.

“There is not only a shortage of water but the quality of water is generally not good,” explains Suri. “Industry needs high purity water for manufacturing purposes, which are on the increase due to globalization” (hence the development and commercialization of water treatment technologies). The supply of water is finite, and with simple population growth, water becomes less and less available per capita. Water efficiency is a major issue globally, yet the dynamics and factors that go into each region are different.

The mission of the WET Center is to “develop technologies and methods to detect, understand, mitigate and/or control emerging contaminants (ECs) as well as other traditional contaminants in the environment that can adversely impact water quality and the environment. The vision of the WET Center is to minimize any adverse effects of ECs and other contaminants on human health and/or the environment.”

Since speaking at TEDxPhilly in 2010, Nic Esposito a farmer, community organizer, storyteller, and now, self published author(!) has been quite busy! His first book, Seeds of Discent which came out in April 2011, was cultivated by the community through a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign. Parting from the typical political and instructive tone of the genre, this novel instead tells the human story of living sustainably.

Nic is already working on his next book focused on soil management and what he has coined “habitat change” which will “take these ideas a step further from global warming and focusing on the ideas of resource and soil depletion that are just as detrimental.”

Get Inspired and Check Out Nic Esposito’s TEDxPhilly 2010 Talk:

How do you sow the seeds of change? Nic Esposito speaks emphatically to the audience at TEDxPhilly about urban farming happening right here, right now. Nic has set up community gardens in West Philadelphia, where residents take control of their own food security and local economy through the production and sale of agriculture.

Nic has created a bunch of grassroots organizations in Philadelphia. We blame his green thumb. He co-founded Philly Rooted, which pretties up those pathetic empty lots. He also founded and runs Philly Corner Stories, helping Philadelphians tell their corner stories.

Tyler School of Art at Temple University will be hosting a Feast of Forage with horticulturist Nance Klehm on Sept. 21. Considering the streets of North Philadelphia as a wild urban garden of edible and medicinal plants, Klehm will lead a walking tour of sidewalks, parking lots, and brown field sites where a smorgasbord of earthly delights are waiting to be harvested.

In related news, The New York Times wrote an article on the urban foraging debate in New York City’s parks. Access the article here.