Five Questions With: Constanza and Margaret Lengerich

"Even though our system can remove 16 chemicals from water we will focus first in the most toxic contaminant and introduce our arsenic water filtration system."

Operated by two sisters, Margaret and Constanza Lengerich, HMSolution was recently named a semifinalist in the Cleantech Open Northeast Accelerator Program. The Providence company’s mission is to protect cities, communities and homeowners from the health effects of toxic contaminants, such as arsenic. Currently, they are focusing on the water suppliers for their technology, for which they have two patents pending. They expect to bring their product to market next year.
While Margaret was studying at Brown University, she became interested in arsenic water contamination after learning that many countries in the world, including her own home country of Chile, as well as the United States, are exposed through their drinking water. The business was incorporated in 2013. At the end of last year, they also began studying the Chilean market.

PBN: Can you also tell me about the strides you have made in the past year as a company?
CONSTANZA LENGERICH:
During the past year we have refined our business model through more than 100 interviews to potential customers and partners, and by participating in two renowned accelerators – Cleantech Open and Social Enterprise Greenhouse. We have received funding support through grants from Venture Well in the U.S. and from CORFO Chilean government funds through Startup Chile and UDD Ventures Incubators that have allowed us to validate our technology, by building a second-generation prototype and performing more than 100 laboratory experiments.

PBN: Tell me how your business began and how many employees you have?
MARGARET LENGERICH:
I became interested in arsenic water contamination after learning that many countries in the world, including my home country Chile and the U.S., are affected by this problem; 200 million people in the world are exposed to the health effects of this toxic chemical by their drinking water. Then, when I discovered a new technology, developed by Professor Joseph Calo and his research team at Brown, that could solve this problem at a significantly lower cost than the current solutions, I committed myself to solving this problem and bringing the technology to the market. In December 2013, I decided to start the company to provide arsenic removal equipment to commercial, residential and industrial markets and founded HMSolution (Heavy-Metal Solution). A couple of months later, I asked Constanza Lengerich to join the company as the co-founder and chief marketing officer as I knew she would bring valuable skills in market research and marketing. We also have in our team, a chemical engineer, who works part-time for the company and provides support in product development.

PBN: What interested you particularly in arsenic contamination? Is it a big problem in Rhode Island – do any particular areas have higher levels than others? What are the dangers?
CONSTANZA LENGERICH:
Through our market research we have learned the severity of the arsenic problem worldwide. Arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater and as a by-product of industrial activity, and not only the U.S. and Chile are affected, but 70 other countries as well. Moreover, countless research by the World Health Organization, the National Health Service and other organizations have proven that the ingestion of arsenic even in small doses can produce cancer, type II diabetes and developmental delays in children. A recent study made by Columbia University in several schools in the state of Maine found direct link between arsenic consumption and lower IQ in children exposed.
In Rhode Island, there hasn’t been cases found of arsenic in groundwater. However, bordering states are highly affected, such as New Hampshire, Maine, Central Massachusetts and Central Connecticut. In the U.S. as a whole, 37 states are affected by arsenic water contamination including Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, California, Texas and the Great Lakes area.

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PBN: Tell me about the Cleantech Open Northeast Accelerator Program – what does being named a semifinalist mean exactly?
MARGARET LENGERICH:
The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest cleantech accelerator in the world, and they choose the most promising clean technology startups to become semifinalists of the competition. The program consists of four months of acceleration providing training, mentoring, infrastructure, relationships and funding opportunities to help grow startups into world-class cleantech companies. As a semifinalist of the Cleantech Open, we had the opportunity to receive valuable guidance from the most experienced advisors, connect with potential partners and validate our business model.

PBN: How does your company remove arsenic from water – do you focus on any other heavy metals?
CONSTANZA LENGERICH:
Even though our system can remove 16 chemicals from water we will focus first in the most toxic contaminant and introduce our arsenic water filtration system. Our equipment is an iron-based adsorption system that continuously generates filtering media inside a fluidized bed for about five years. In the fifth year of operation the source generating the media will have to be refilled. Through more than 100 laboratory experiments, our technology has demonstrated to have five times lower operational costs than the current solutions for arsenic remediation and can remove arsenic below 2 parts per billion. Bear in mind, the federal standard is below 10 parts per billion. We have also verified the effectiveness using raw water from a homeowner’s contaminated well in New Hampshire. Our water treatment equipment does not need filter replacement until the fifth year of operation and it does not require the addition of chemicals. The current solutions need to replace the filter every six to 12 months. Our water treatment can also remove lead, mercury and 13 other toxic chemicals.(It is expected to be available early next year).

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