Pinellas clean water company appoints 'Shark Tank' star to board

OriginClear, a Clearwater-based "clean water innovation hub," says in a Thursday news release that businessman Kevin Harrington has joined its board of advisers.

Harrington, an original "shark" on ABC's "Shark Tank" and a co-founding board member of the Entrepreneur's Organization, will work with OriginClear to increase water recycling rates in America, according to OriginClear officials.

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That effort will involve "enlisting an army of us" — America's everyday investors — through crowdfunding, to develop "water independence programs," ones that don't involve government water, for industry and agriculture, the company says.

"Once a government monopoly, the business of treating and reusing sewage water is going private," OriginClear officials say. "Local industries and communities are now treating-in-place, enabling large-scale recycling while also responding to the challenge of water scarcity and climate change."

OriginClear says its approach is dramatically simple, using a downsized "pod" technology, "all to serve the new breed of treat-in-place commercial water recycling and treatment systems," the company says.

Harrington says local control will improve water recycling.

"The OriginClear team has a unique approach to the water problem – it's called local responsibility – and I'm honored to advise the team on how to get America involved in making the water revolution happen," says Harrington.

OriginClear says that if industrial and agricultural water reuse increased to 15% from the present 1%, the freshwater available for residential use could more than double.

"We have severe water shortages, and our water table is critically low in many places," says Riggs Eckelberry, OriginClear CEO. "And yet, we recycle less than 1% of the water we treat. Meanwhile, cities are overwhelmed and underfunded. The solution is to enable businesses to treat their water right where they use it — which gives them the unique ability to recycle right on the spot."

"Kevin is passionate and quick — he understood our approach right away," says Eckelberry. "We are proud and excited that Kevin has joined the cause."

Harrington helped produce well over $6 billion in global sales, the launch of more than 500 products and the making of dozens of millionaires, according to OriginClear. Harrington previously ran a restaurant and bar in St. Petersburg and his lived in the region. 

Kevin Harrington Enterprises will be compensated with fees and options to purchase stock in OriginClear and Water On Demand, the firm says.

Origin Clear also revealed it has entered into an agreement to merge "with a Nasdaq 'blank check' company," likely referring to special purpose acquisition company, or a SPAC.

A SPAC is a shell company already traded on an exchange like Nasdaq. SPACs look for another developing company to absorb, and then to grow as a larger publicly traded company with a innovative product to sell.