AQUALOOP Greywater System Installed at Gilead Sciences HQ in Foster City, CA

The AQUALOOP system is designed to treat an average of 950 gallons per day.

FOSTER CITY, CA – In 2019, AQUALOOP greywater treatment system was installed at Gilead Sciences headquarters in Foster City, CA and has been running for 5 years.   Ecovie Water Management, LLC and it local northern California representative, Heat Transfer Equipment Inc. (HTEC) designed the custom greywater system to collect water from health center showers and lavatories to be used for toilet flushing.  

The AQUALOOP NSF 350 certified system at Gilead Sciences is designed to treat an average of 950 gallons per day of shower water from the health club on the campus and then use it for toilet flushing.  

We thought it would be good an update on one of our systems that has been running for a few years.  We are happy to report things are going great.

The AQUALOOP system at Gilead Sciences is designed to treat an average of 950 gallons per day of shower water from the health club on the campus and then use it for toilet flushing.  HTE has been doing regular quarterly and works with the site maintenance staff to make sure everything runs well.  

From October 2023 through April 2024, monthly grab samples were taken for key water quality parameters.  Here is a table of results which compare influent and effluent water quality for the Gilead system as well as data from the 2016 Aqualoop NSF 350 certification test.

At Gilead, the influent BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and e.Coli were higher going to the system, meaning the water was dirtier for these parameters.  Nevertheless, after Aqualoop treatment, the effluent going to the holding tank was as good or better than during the NSF certification test.  TSS (Total Suspended Solids) was cleaner at Gilead and also came out at a good level, meeting NSF 350 standards.

Bill McCabe reports that maintenance consists mostly of just membrane cleaning every 3 months.  The system has remote monitoring which allows him to keep tabs on things.  The only troubleshooting that was needed which a time in 2022 when the aeration settings had to be bumped to maintain water quality, but it mostly runs without a hitch.  The Aqualoop system can be adjusted if incoming water quality requires it.  In this case BOD was higher than expected, so the system was adjusted to compensate.  The Gilead maintenance staff is happy with the results.

Ecovie Water Management is the exclusive US distributor for AQUALOOP greywater systems and is Florida based.

Heat Transfer Equipment is based in Half Moon Bay, CA and is the northern California manufacturer’s representative for Ecovie.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.