The WaterHub at Emory is an onsite ecological water reclamation treatment facility at Emory University capable of reclaiming ~400,000 gpd, displacing 40% of campus water needs and reducing overall demand on water-stressed Metro Atlanta. The first system of its kind installed in the US, WaterHub mines wastewater from the campus sewer system and repurposes it for beneficial reuse using hydroponic reactors (with submerged fixed-film) and reciprocating wetlands. The system is capable of displacing up to 146 million gallons of potable water with recycled wastewater annually, nearly 40% of total campus water demand.
The project has won numerous awards, including a Grand Award for Engineering Excellence from the American Council of Engineering Companies, the 2015 WateReuse Innovative Project of the Year award, and Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Atlanta E3 award (liquid assets category), to name a few. Emory University also received a 2016 US Water Prize for the WaterHub project. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy called WaterHub at Emory “a model for us all.”