Hashing out the future of blockchain for the water industry
Riggs Eckelberry, chief executive officer of OriginClear, explained to GWI how water utilities and industrial users outsource water treatment projects, not wanting to take on responsibility for projects themselves. Inconsistency of performance-measuring methodologies used to calculate payments to service providers, the challenge of working across international borders, and the necessity of making payments through central authorities slows down processes and creates risk.
“Smaller service providers have difficulty expanding because capital isn’t readily available due to verification slow-downs,” explained Eckelberry. “With fiat currency there has to be this whole accountancy. Blockchain creates a zone where coins can move much more rapidly, in much fewer steps. If we overlay smart currency, you can plug in smart contracts without any currency barriers or country barriers. It tremendously de-risks the finance of water projects.”
OriginClear plans to initiate an ICO for its WaterChain platform later this year. “We’ve decided to do it all under US Securities law so we’re being extremely compliant,” said Eckelberry. OriginClear will carry out its ICO under the JOBS Act, a law intended to help small businesses to raise funding by easing regulation of securities. “I’m a strong advocate of operating under the regulatory umbrella,” asserted Eckelberry. OriginClear expects to release the WaterChain white paper by the end of March 2018.
When discussing the future of WaterChain, Eckelberry exercised caution, emphasising how the project was dependent on the success of the ICO. “ICOs take $600,000 to $800,000 to put together, so we’ve got to have a really good white paper. That’s where our highest priority is right now,” Eckelberry told GWI.
