{"id":499,"date":"2022-09-01T15:54:43","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T06:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/workmill.jp\/en\/?post_type=webzine&p=499"},"modified":"2023-09-06T11:20:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T02:20:33","slug":"wota-maeda-water-infrastructure-20220901","status":"publish","type":"webzine","link":"https:\/\/workmill.jp\/en\/webzine\/wota-maeda-water-infrastructure-20220901\/","title":{"rendered":"Reforming Water Infrastructure – Yosuke Maeda (WOTA)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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According to some theories, Europe first started developing modern water and sewerage systems more than 500 years ago. However, there are still people all over the world, including in some parts of Japan, who struggle with issues related to water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith how much technology has developed in the modern world, why is it so hard to spread sanitation?\u201d According WOTA Co., Ltd. CEO Yosuke Maeda, that\u2019s a question he has been wondering about ever since his college days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the vision of \u201celiminating all kinds of limitations for people and water,\u201d WOTA has developed an autonomous decentralized water circulation system powered by AI technology called \u201cWOTA BOX.\u201d Through the implementation of this product, clean water can be reused within the device without the need to connect water pipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This life changing invention received the Good Design award in 2020. It is currently being applied to increasing numbers of applications such as disaster area use and COVID-19 infection prevention countermeasures. In the previous installment, we talked to Mr. Maeda about what kind of impact the WOTA BOX could have on lifestyles of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving to Manufacturing Industry Water Circulation Systems<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WORK MILL: Could you please tell us about the differences between your WOTA BOX and water services systems used up until now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maeda: What we\u2019re trying to do is achieve the water processing value chain which has always been created through a civil engineering model using a manufacturing industry approach. For example, the district heating and cooling system in Nishi-Shinjuku is on the largest scale in the world, and the buildings are connected by ducts and all the waste heat is handled centrally. This is a civil engineering model heating and cooling system which functions with a single large system for the city as a whole to which individual buildings are connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, is external air conditioning units are used, they can be removed and used in other places when no longer needed. The manufacturing industry model offers the same kind of flexibility as the external units in this example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is purely an example, and I\u2019m not saying one of them is necessarily better than the other, but by shifting water infrastructure from a civil engineering model to a manufacturing industry one, I think we can open up new possibilities. Some possibilities are utilizing mass production and providing cheap access to people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Yosuke<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2015Yosuke Maeda<\/strong>
Born in Tokushima Prefecture in 1992. Graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan University Faculty of Engineering Department of Architecture, then earned his master degree at the Department of Architecture in the Graduate School of Engineering at the same university. Took an interest in biological research starting in early childhood and conducted an experiment using \u03b3-polyglutamic acid derived from fermented soybeans to purify water and presented the results to The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan during high school. Began working on product and system development for major housing equipment manufacturers and digital art companies starting from his time in undergraduate and graduate studies. Started his own company afterward, and after developing and selling an algorithm for energy conservation controls for buildings, he was hired as the COO of WOTA Co., Ltd. Currently serving as the CEO of the same company and aiming to achieve an autonomous, decentralized water circulation society. Recipient of the University of Tokyo President\u2019s Award for Students, Good Design Award (Prime Minister\u2019s Award), and \u201c30 UNDER 30 JAPAN 2020\u201d award (sponsor: Forbes JAPAN). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maeda: Think of the process of the automobile spreading throughout the world. Another example is the way refrigerators suddenly became available all over Japan after World War II. Every time people\u2019s lifestyles were transformed in an instant like that, the manufacturing industry was always in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water services construction up until now has created a water treatment facility in an area separated from the city, then connected the places people live to it with pipelines. However, the environment and land conditions differ for each city. Some examples of these differences include uneven terrain, mountains, and the conditions of roads. Laying out water systems requires new blueprints to be drawn up each time. Once the ground is excavated according to these plans, if stone is found mixed into the soil this stops the construction and a new blueprint is needed for the applicable area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have nothing but respect for the people who have carried out these difficult jobs. On the other hand, continuing to build water and sewerage systems in mountainous areas isn\u2019t realistic as Japan\u2019s population continues to dwindle through the next 100 years. I feel that the time is coming to consider a new style. We are getting an increasing number of inquiries from municipalities struggling with financial challenges related to maintaining their water and sewerage systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"WOTA
\u2015The white device in the center is the \u201cWOTA BOX\u201d autonomous decentralized water circulation system. In the shower tent to the left, you can take a shower with hot or cold purified water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maeda: What we are working on is to replace the operation management of the water treatment plants built up by our predecessors with digital technology. In addition, we are creating models of the individualized operation management technology used up until now to preserve it. It sounds extreme, but what I want to do is make water treatment systems like home appliances. Using the same common specifications and mass production, we can reduce the cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy are you in the water treatment business in modern Japan?\u201d That\u2019s a question I get a lot, but there\u2019s plenty of synergy. There is no other country with water treatment technology standards as high as Japan\u2019s right now, and the foundations for the manufacturing industry are already in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Are iPhones Common, and Water Treatment Not?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WORK MILL: Mr. Maeda, you took on the role of CEO at your company in 2020. Were you already focused on the ideal form of water systems even before that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maeda: I\u2019m from Tokushima Prefecture, which has the worst water and sewerage accessibility of any of the 47 prefectures, and there were lots of areas without either running water or sewerage services in the western part of the prefecture where I grew up. That also caused me to see availability of water and sewerage services as one of the differences between the city and the countryside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was much demand and many discussions made around me to build more water systems. In the midst of this, I had the chance to see the process of building these systems and experienced how difficult the construction is. Things like how you have to avoid any buried rock you find and that there\u2019s no way to know where a rock could be without digging are some examples of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say the first modern water and sewerage systems were created more than 500 years ago. However, in spite of the fact that water is absolutely essential to daily life, there are still places in the world without access to these systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, it took only around 10 years for smartphones to reach the farthest corners of Africa. I visited the village of the Maasai tribe in Kenya at the end of 2019, and they had 4G service and battery solar systems there. Everyone was using smartphones like it was the most normal thing in the world. And yet, they still travel long distances to reach wells where they can collect water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Yosuke<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

WORK MILL: So you pondered the simple question, \u201cWhy can\u2019t the problem of water access be solved?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maeda: Something else happened that caused me to see the question in a more abstract way. On March 10, 2011, when I was notified of my acceptance to university, I moved to Tokyo. The Great East Japan Earthquake happened the very next day. Then we lost water because of the earthquake. I was struck by how weak the urban infrastructure was and how different the city people\u2019s attitudes toward water were. Even with water services stopped, no one tried to use water flowing in nearby rivers, and no one even knew what that water could be used for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my hometown, everyone knows the quality of the water in the rivers and they pay attention to it, thinking \u201cif something happens we can use this.\u201d When we have fresh vegetables in the summer, people think \u201cthe water over there is cold, so let\u2019s chill them in it.\u201d If you\u2019re out walking in the mountains and get thirsty, people know that \u201cthe water flowing from the mountain surface over there tastes sweeter than the water here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the city however, no one thinks about these things at all, and the only connections people have with water are buying bottled mineral water from the convenience store. People really don\u2019t look at the Kanda River and think \u201cI\u2019d like to use that for something.\u201d That experience caused me to start thinking about people\u2019s relationships with water.<\/p>\n\n\n

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