For immediate release: Tuesday  February 14, 2006
Boston, MA—Practical Applications, Inc. (PAI) has designed and built a custom Graywater Recovery System for use in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences building at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The system resides in a  411,000 square foot building located on Sidney Street in East Cambridge.
Graywater systems are primarily designed to capture and recycle water from rain water draining from the roof of the building. This system is unique as it also collects water from process equipment for reuse. Once the system treats the water and removes
any foreign objects,  it is then sent back into the plumbing system for use in flushing toilets. Since the system was built into the main design of the building, it was cost effective install a separate graywater piping system to supply water to all the building toilets.
The cost benefits associated with the system are immense. The system has recovered approximately 1,000,000 gallons of water since startup in May 2005.  By recycling 4,000 gallons of water per day, or over 1.5 million gallons over the course of a year, this MIT building will save over $20,000.00/year in water and sewer costs. Practical Applications, Inc., project lead engineer, Gary Broberg, denoted that the system incorporates many unique design features to minimize operating costs and prevent toilet fixtures from damage as is often common with recycled water systems.
In particular PAI utilized UV light treatment help remove bacteria and prevent odor issues.

Boston-based Practical Applications, Inc. specializes in the design, installation, and maintenance of industrial process water and wastewater systems. The company provides services and support to a wide variety of industries in the United States and abroad.
Its turn-key, skid-mounted treatment systems and system components are available worldwide.