The WaterHub is a private enterprise, the brainchild of a Virginia company called Sustainable Water and built and operated by the construction and engineering firm Reeves Young. The Emory WaterHub was the first of its kind when it opened in 2015, Hamilton says, and a second one is now being built in Virginia for the giant tobacco corporation Altria Group. At Emory, the WaterHub connects directly to a wastewater outflow pipe and recycles it into water for boilers, heaters, coolers and toilets. It can handle 400,000 gallons a day. Up to 50,000 gallons are held in reserve, and excess water can be pumped back into the DeKalb County water supply.