A SPECIAL PRODUCERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ® CALIFORNIA Dairy & Livestock
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Drought, water restrictions drive innovation in tech By Manola Secaira Ashish Shah is drinking water to prove a point. When he explains his project to people, he finds it’s often the most efficient way to show proof of concept. “If you have 30 seconds, you can explain it real quick,” Shah said. “If you have five min- utes, then they might even drink it with you.” The larger need they’re looking to fulfill, he said, is being a one-stop shop for farmers figuring out how to adapt their processes to their water needs: “Our goal is to be out of your hair. We’ll take care of your water while you focus on your core business.” BioFiltro’s patented technology uses red worms, inset, to process dairy manure water so it can be reused as irrigation water. At Dennis Verhoeven’s Tulare County farm, sprinklers apply wastewater to a mixture of wood chips and worms, a key step in the process of treating the water.
Projects to find new uses for wastewater have become more common, especially as California farmers grapple with drought and tightening water use restrictions tied to the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. It’s a constant balancing act of planning crops around water they think they’ll have and using it efficiently while complying with state law and trying to keep costs down. Despite the challenges, farmers’ increasingly urgent need to reduce water use has attracted new business ventures and more creative solutions for recycling wastewater. “You always see companies and entrepreneurs and innovators kind of show up where there’s opportunity,” said Ben Montpetit, who chairs the viticulture and enology depart- ment at the University of California, Davis. Montpetit said the university used Revida’s technology to process wastewater from the UC’s research winery during last year’s harvest. He said the winery always tries to be more sustainable, so leaning into new technologies comes naturally. But testing new technology at a research winery might come more easily than doing so at a winery operating under commercial pressures. He said cost will likely be a big factor in
Shah’s company, Napa-based Revida Water, processes wastewater from places including wineries and dairies for reuse. Similar projects have existed for years, often focusing on getting the water clean enough that it can be used for irrigation. But Shah’s process makes such wastewater drinkable. It’s why his kids sometimes jokingly refer to his product as “cow poop water.” “They get a kick out of it,” Shah said. Shah said his company is the first to do so. Although the concept can be hard to imagine, Shah said it’s proven to be safe. Revida’s technology ushers the wastewater through a series of steps—including filtration and introducing specific microbes—that have been used in treatment processes before. “We didn’t reinvent the wheel or the science on this. We just put together what was already there,” he said. Not all clients will need their water to be drinkable, he noted. Revida’s process allows them to decide at what level they want to treat their wastewater.
See WASTEWATER, Page 11
10 Ag Alert May 6, 2026
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