Machine Turns Food Waste Into Water

With newly-developed Eco-Wiz technology, your leftovers could be used to wash floors, water house plants and even do your laundry. Photo: Flickr/jbloom

A Singapore startup is perfecting a technology that can turn food waste into water, according to recent news reports.

Renee Mison, 48, was semi-retired when she came upon the Korean-made food waste-to-water machine. The former marketing professional found so much potential in the idea that she left her dreams of leisure behind, bought rights to the machine and used it to start her own company, according to an article published on Wednesday by The Jakarta Globe.

Mison’s company, Eco-Wiz, has since invested more than $380,000 in research and development to improve the functions of the decomposer machine – which turns old food waste into sludge water, according to the article.

Thanks to developments, the decomposer – also called The Eco-Wiz – can now turn sludge water into dry compost or “cleaner water” that can be used to wash floors and water plants, the paper reported. One ton of food waste generally produces about 267 gallons of water.

The company has installed decomposers at several hotels, including InterContinental Singapore. The decomposer, which can stand alone without being connected to a drainage system or water supply, helps clients cut back on waste and save cash in the process, Mison said.

“In Singapore, for every ton of waste you send to the landfill, you have to pay a rather high disposal fee,” Mison told The Jakarta Globe. “Our clients have found that they are getting savings of 70 percent on disposal fees after taking into account the purchase of the machine.”

Eco-Wiz has signed an agreement with a Thai research company to improve the microbes that are used to process food waste into water – a move that could allow the machine to perform its task faster and more efficiently, the paper reported.

Higher performance could allow the company to market its product to food factories, supermarkets, schools and property developers and create an in-home solution that could turn garbage disposal waste into water for washing machines, Mison told the paper.