Aaron Morency

Taking it further: decentralized water

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While I was in Chile in 2014 it was a time when some of the first cryptocurrency events started happening and a group of the masters came to speak and hang out at a property investment retreat. One of the advocates who sits on the board of several noticeable companies was saying that his angel investment group was focusing on the “decentralization of all things.” That comment stuck with me.

If you think about what Wikipedia or Uber or Airbnb has done to our economy, you’ll begin to see what I think the point was. It’s not just about ending the Fed.

Project that forward a little more and I can see a world where people have the option to collect and clean water for consumption and distribution or at least the ability to choose where to get their water from. This changes things, right? We have choices available: do we want to input work (time, money, innovation) and get compensated in return, or does it sound nice to have a marketplace available where you can choose what’s best for you? The producer and consumer both win in these new distributed ownership scenarios.

So, as I continue to iron out this whole idea, some of the commenters on the June 14th post have questions I’d like to address. The context is mostly around decentralized water and a current water advisory by the city of Salem where I live.

First I’ll start with a comment from Ted Lemon:

“First, if Salem has a water treatment problem, why isn’t anything being done about it?”

The city of Salem is addressing the problem both with a work around (imported water) and exploring new treatment options for toxins at the source. Number 11 on their FAQ site addresses this question in more detail specifically.

Next I’ll jump to Tiff’s questions:

“I’m really curious to hear how this is possible. Like how do you decentralize water? What would it take? What would people have to do in their homes to make this possible?”

So, since water is a natural resource, at some point we all have to go down to the river to scoop out a few buckets of water to bring back home so to speak. Except we are a little more advanced now so most of the water gets pumped out of underground aquifers. This is better for a few primary reasons: (1) the ground acts as a natural filter for the water and (2) since the source is underground it is harder to contaminate. So the act of decentralizing water is simply for more individuals to figure out how to collect water within the constraints that they have.

When I say “constraints,” it is loaded. There are legal constraints, technical constraints, physical constraints; on and on. We could probably get away with collecting a few buckets of water before someone stopped us but that wouldn’t get us very far if the average daily consumption rate is 90 gallons.

For individual homes the collection could be by rain, extracting water from the air, surface water, the ocean, or a combination of solutions. This will depend heavily on laws within the jurisdiction and the available water sources, coming full circle to the constraints. Next, a water treatment system is needed to further clean the water for consumption. This is where more creativity and innovation will come in. In the case of Salem, if more than just the public municipality were producing clean water, we could go to the next producer with a different water treatment process that may not be experiencing the same issue with cyanotoxins to get clean water. The process might be superior or maybe their source is better, whatever the case is, at least the market would have another option.

And this brings us to the second question from Ted to wrap it up:

“And second, suppose that you were to achieve this decentralized water supply. Doesn’t this mean that now people who can afford to treat their water will have clean water, and everybody else will have no water? Or if you keep the old municipal water system around, but everybody who can afford to opts out of it, doesn’t that mean that it will just keep getting worse, until eventually the water is no longer safe for anybody to drink?”

These are some fantastic points and I’m glad they were brought up. If the theory of decentralization were to work perfectly, everyone would have their own source of water and their own treatment process. In reality this is utopian, but the idea of distributing the asset as much as possible is still a good idea in my opinion. Not everyone has the resources or desire to own a nice enough car to drive for Uber, but it’s still a good option for people to make money or get a ride.

In essence, the idea of using a home to create surplus clean water is no different than what Uber did with vehicles and rides. Homes were chosen specifically because it is where the majority of people already spend most of their money, why not use some of that capital to generate income? On an individual bases we can decide to produce enough clean water and power just for the one home or perhaps offer an alternate water source to a small neighborhood. With more diversity, the market can decide what is most valuable; whether it’s quality, taste, cost, or something else.

The municipal water systems aren’t going away anytime soon. If more individual homes start offering alternatives, beginning with the more wealthy, and the general public becomes under-served, I have a feeling that some enterprising new leader will swoop in to close the gap. Why not? The demand is a given.

 

P.S. Thank you all for your generous comments and contributions. I ask that you bear with me as this idea gets flushed out. It’s a jumbled mess in my brain and I’m using some of these posts as an outlet to understand it better. If somethings doesn’t make sense, you’re probably right. Keep asking the obvious questions and challenging my ideas, that’s what I need :)

Determining what comes next: it’s up to you

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As usual, I sit here with a blank screen in front of me wondering, what will this become?

I can remember some of the first experiences with writing like this, it was almost a spiritual practice. I knew that there was a particular zone I wanted to be in because that was where the good words came. I now know that zone to be presence and it’s still sometimes a challenge to be in.

The feeling of being stuck is what immediately comes next. We’re brought up in a society where there is a clear path. “Here, follow this process and we promise, you’re going to have a great life.” Que the end of college and…

… still waiting…

Being in this space is tough. We’re taught to know what the right answer is and worse, what comes next. 3rd grade comes after 2nd, college after high school, retirement after putting in your time. It’s no wonder why we panic at the thought of, “I don’t know.”

Conversely we can be taught to accept the space or even, maybe, be eager for it.

When it’s up to you, it’s up to you, only.

Seth Godin is so kind as to teach us the process in What To Do When It’s Your Turn (And It’s Always Your Turn). But it’s not a “how to” book because it can’t be, it’s more like a map.

With a map you have to first determine where you are and then determine where you’d like to be. From there, you can figure out how to get there. But you have to remember: it’s up to you.

When things get hard, as they inevitably do, our instinct is to ask the teacher (or boss) and that’s where we fail. Art doesn’t happen with permission. Innovation is a product of your genius not some permission based set of guidelines. The map must be analyzed by you and you alone. No other being is qualified to tell you where you are and where you’d like to be and what path you’ll take to get there. It’s up to you.

Settling into this space of uncertainty might feel tough at first, until it doesn’t. Breaking the rules is a part of it. Not listening to others is a part of it. Pretty much the opposite of everything you were taught in school is a part of it.

When you find yourself scared just think, “Ah, I found it, this is the space I’ve been looking for,” and keep working.

Beauty transcends what is known. Let it be, enjoy the ride… send us a postcard.

Bring contribution back home

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I was reading a book called The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success when the idea of using peoples homes as a means to produce decentralized drinking water and power came to me. The idea promptly sequestered itself but the intention was still there. Here we are, almost a year later and Salem, the town that I live in, has had a water advisory going on for about 3 weeks now. Apparently adults are okay to drink the water, but kids and small pets aren’t. I can’t stop thinking about how it would be different if the water wasn’t centrally treated, stored, and distributed.

In order to decentralize these assets, I needed a small enough scale to be meaningful, and homes are where people put a lot of their money, but it’s not an investment. I’m wondering how we can turn that around.

Power plants and water treatment facilities already exist at a large scale, but the internet and advanced technology has allowed us to disperse the mechanisms while simultaneously providing even more leverage. Meaning that I have more technology right now, literally, at my fingertips than anyone else has in history, and I’m a normal person.

That’s the sort of advancement I’d like to bring with clean water and power being generated at a smaller scale by more entities. Imagine your home producing enough power to keep the lights on, air conditioning running, while charging the car. Or enough clean water to bathe and drink.

This is completely different from putting your money into a black box (read: 401k) and hoping that the story your broker told you about 8% returns and “putting your money to work for you” wasn’t a complete lie. Water and power are real assets, worth real value. Just take a look at your monthly bills if you don’t believe me.

It’s for people who are sick of speculating on value in a market that’s as volatile as trust. It’s to regain a sense of contribution in an age of consumption.

The idea is raw but the purpose is deep.

It has been over a year now and here’s the truth

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I can remember back in February 2017 when I stopped blogging. Actually it wasn’t too big of a deal or anything, just something going on in my head.

There was a lot going on at the time and I wanted to use the time otherwise. This is likely a common theme. A few months later I found myself back on the site, dressing it up to be “better”. I wanted to sell something; my services.

Take a look around, what do you think?

Meh, yeah that’s what I think too as I look now.

I remember after finishing it and showing it to some friends and their feedback was, “It sounds great, Aaron sounds like this badass guy, but what are you doing for me?”

Ouch. That hurt.

Sure, to some extent I really did have a unique experience. I really did do some good stuff. But none of that which happened in the past guarantees future results. I was living in a fantasy of how my life should be.

Recently I was listing to the audio version of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. It’s a harsh look at tendencies of millennials. It spoke a lot of truth to me and instead of using my auto response of, “yeah, that is how most of my generation is, but not me,” I allowed the thought to enter my head that maybe it was for me. Narcissism, over glorifying, little care for others unless it gets me fame and fortune.

Fuck.

That was me.

Gary Vaynerchuk talks about eating shit in your 20s. I think he means it.

I didn’t eat shit in my 20s. I was one of the very few in 2009, a tough time in the job market, who landed a good job after college. In that job I advanced exponentially both financially and in “status” over the next 4 years. Sure I was doing a good job or whatever, but I surely wasn’t eating shit.

That job fucked me up. The ghost Aaron that I was projecting was WAY better than the real Aaron and other people weren’t buying into it. After hearing my story they’d go, “Yeah, yeah, you’re just like everyone else and your shit doesn’t stink. We get it.” And then they’d move on to the next person who wasn’t so self absorbed.

All of this to say: I’m 31 now (almost 32) and I’m eating shit. My life isn’t that interesting and I don’t even know what this is for or who it’s for. Please stop reading unless you get a little chuckle, find some truth, or if your Facebook is broken or something. I’m gonna be over here on my archaic fucking website spouting some truth because I can’t handle the lies anymore.

Thanks for reading my shit ;)

Opportunity in the unknown

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“Tell me what the risks are.”

Planning for unknowns might be one of the most beneficial things to do in our projects; maybe even in life.

But qualifying or quantifying the risks are not the ultimate goals.

Being in a place where we are accepting of the condition of surprise is ultimately the skill that is valuable.

When you are willing to be in uncertainty, without panic or discomfort, is precisely when the power to decide and act are in your hands.

Learn to be calm when others are fearful and open your opportunity.