Founded in Algarrobo by industrial civil engineer Pablo Cassorla, this technology startup specializes in the design, integration, installation, and maintenance of water purification and reuse systems for various purposes, tailored to each client's needs. They recently secured funding from the Aster accelerator, which will allow them to develop more solutions for the mining industry in northern Argentina.
The embryonic phase of Remote Waters began to take shape when civil industrial engineer Pablo Cassorla was pursuing a postgraduate degree at Columbia University. There, in the United States, he worked in a federal laboratory conducting research for the Department of Energy, and was presented with the challenge of developing a low-cost and sustainable desalination project. With a classmate, he won the competition, which gave him the momentum to envision a larger-scale solution.
In Chile, Remote Waters was legally established in 2018, after participating in a business model workshop where Cassorla discovered an urgent need for water in rural areas, as urban areas already had access to the service. With CORFO Seed funding, Cassorla designed an initial prototype to validate her project, which aimed to provide a technological solution for making water extracted from the desalination process available through reverse osmosis.
“After finishing the prototype, we won Startup Chile, and with that, we created our first commercial product. In early 2020, we made our first sales with rural projects,” says Cassorla, CEO and co-founder of Remote Waters. However, the initial desalination process evolved into a much more ambitious proposal: developing technological systems for treating and purifying water from different sources. That is currently Remote Waters ' focus , in addition to reusing water for various purposes.
According to the engineer and co-founder of the company, “we saw that there were water pollution problems in the interior and we started treating them with other technologies. We expanded from north to south in Chile and developed different treatment systems. We began to specialize not only in one element, but in providing a comprehensive water service to the communities.”
Remote Waters: an adaptable solution
Founded in Algarrobo, Remote Waters is no longer a family business, but an international company with over 20 projects, mostly in Chile, and others in Peru and Guatemala. They specialize in the design, integration, installation, and maintenance of water treatment, purification, and reuse systems.
The solution is adaptable to any type of project and community: country clubs, housing developments, schools, condominiums, rural organizations, and others. The equipment is installed, each with its own specific method depending on the project, and can be leased, purchased directly, or through a leasing system (whereby Remote Waters helps the client secure financing from banks of their choice).
The process consists of several phases, but the basic thing to know is that Remote Waters asks the client to select the water source (sea, river, lake, well, reuse, spring or other); after which, it is determined how contaminated it is, a process in which the firm can collaborate; and finally the client chooses what type of water they want to obtain after the process (drinking, irrigation, hydroponics, bottled water or other).
“The main thing is to listen and see what the community has. There are many who don't have electricity, so we integrate renewable energy to supply that; there are others who don't have tank or storage systems; others who don't have trained people, so we train them and automate the systems; and others who don't have financing, so we channel resources from corporations so they can compensate the communities in this type of project,” explains Pablo Cassorla.
Regarding water reuse specifically, Cassorla adds, “We created a filtration system based on used filters, where we give it special treatment. We can reuse greywater (from sinks, showers, washing machines, and other sources) thanks to the regulations that came into effect in 2024. Previously, it was illegal to reuse shower water. Now it's mandatory for new non-residential buildings over 5,000 square meters,” the entrepreneur explains.
In this way, the industrial civil engineer explains, “we achieve greater efficiency in water consumption for the communities and reduce the amount of water being withdrawn. That is our way of contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation.” The secret lies in the fact that “we leverage our experience in desalination to modify and combine it with an affordable treatment system that not only generates water savings but is also compact and doesn't require modifications to existing infrastructure. Furthermore, it can offer a return on investment, because sometimes people think that being sustainable is an expense rather than an investment,” he adds.
Cassorla explains that, in most cases, the systems are installed on-site, depending on the nature of the project requesting the service: “We do a pre-integration: the electrical cabinet, the control system, etc., and we take everything we can with us. We try to buy locally. The project is assembled at the client's location, and there it is tested, installed, commissioned, and the water is analyzed to verify that the promised quality is as expected.”
Not all the resulting water is potable. “There are many water regulations,” Cassorla points out. Indeed, there are regulations for irrigation water, greywater, industrial water, and the machinery used also has its own regulations (cooling towers, for example). And besides that, there is potable water. Clients tell us what they want to use it for, and we advise them on how to comply with the regulations. For example, in Chile, greywater reuse can be used, according to regulations, for industrial purposes, irrigation, and for flushing toilets,” he adds.
According to Cassorla, there are three flagship projects located between the Tarapacá and Maule regions. The Algarrobo project, the first prototype, is noteworthy because it was in a rural area without access to sanitation services, where people draw water from wells and water trucks. The second is in Majada Blanca, in the Punitaqui commune of the Coquimbo Region, where Remote Waters trained people in a joint project with the Amulén Foundation , whose aim is the development of vulnerable communities through access to water. The third project, involving hydroponics, was carried out with a mining company in the north, where the company purified spring water that contained a contaminant and made it available for food production.
Aster's financing
A key factor in Remote Waters' expansion has been its participation in the "Aster Demo," an event organized by the prestigious startup accelerator Aster, based in Antofagasta, northern Chile. The company, founded by Pablo Cassorla, was selected as part of Aster's portfolio and stood out among the six finalist startups, securing an additional $20,000 in funding.
“Being with Aster requires us to be in the north. In fact, Remote Waters moved its headquarters to Antofagasta to be closer to mining clients. We've always been based in the regions, never in the capital, so the taxes generated from sales stay in the regions. The financing with Aster allowed us to obtain funding to conduct pilot projects in the north. It helps us connect better with the ecosystem so we can continue learning. We can contribute to the communities in the north, through the mining companies, by giving them the opportunity to reduce their water footprint through reuse in their camps and operations, replacing water trucks,” explains the CEO of Remote Waters.
Regarding short-term plans, Remote Waters intends to expand its services to include water audit consulting and extend its franchise to other countries. Regarding the first point of the water audit, Cassorla explains that it consists of “showing them how to save based on their consumption, identifying the problem, and demonstrating the impact of addressing a portion of it.” On the second point, the goal is to have “distributors where maintenance services are provided by Remote Waters franchisees, enabling them to respond quickly to customer needs through local staff.”