INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — What started as technology created for ballast water in ships far from the Tahoe Basin has now transformed into an innovative way to hopefully save billions of gallons of water a year.

Halogen Systems is an Incline Village based company that is getting ready to make a move to Reno to expand on their advanced and environmentally friendly chlorine sensors that have advanced into wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities.

The company began creating sensors for ballast water in ships to prevent invasive species in water, and after transforming a once singular use sensor into technology that can be used in a variety of water types, their sensors were able to adapt and grow.

Each Halogen sensor measures five different data points: TRO, Oxidation Reduction Potential-ORP, pH, salinity and temperature. In drinking water, the chlorine measurements are taken rather than TRO.

Sales Executive Michael Travis Silveri explained that the sensors will help save billions of gallons of water per year by eliminating the waste stream.

“What that means,” said Silveri, “Right now, on every single plant in America … you have a little bit of water being pulled off the main [pipe] and then it goes down a drain and it’s like leaving the hose on all the time.”

The reasoning for this lies in the inability to put regular sensors directly on pipes, which Silveri and his team have achieved.

Silveri explained how at some centers, the waste stream accumulates at least 69,000 gallons of water per year, with the highest amount ranging near 345,000 gallons.

With the Halogen Systems sensor, it’s estimated that at least four million gallons of water will be saved through eliminating this tiny stream.

Silveri said that normal amperometric sensors require a certain level of salt among other things to continue taking measurements, but creating the company in Tahoe allowed them to experiment with other types of waters, including fresh water, to create a universal measuring tool for ships and boats alike.

“It allowed us to make a more robust sensor, whereas we wouldn’t have had that pure water to test it,” said Silveri. “It wouldn’t have allowed us to grow and make that sensor as robust as it is.”

Now, Halogen Systems is excited to move forward in creating safe water for all, and that starts with going mainstream.

“We would like to be able to install throughout the water grid,” said Silveri. “We don’t have a waste stream, and we have very low power consumption. We could basically install a sensor in the pipe and then run off solar power and then radio back the measurements to the plant.”

This tactic allows the team to give more immediate feedback, receive more immediate data, and have a better understanding of what is going on in the field.

For more information, visit their website at halogensystems.com. For information on their ballast water sensors, visit their website at halogensys.com.