California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
Five teams have been selected to share $125,000 in the first phase of the More Water Less Concentrate Prize Competition by the Bureau of Reclamation. In California, Pacifica Water Solutions, LLC was one of the winning teams.
The $825,000 More Water Less Concentrate Prize Competition launched in October 2020 to support development of innovative, affordable, and environmentally sound solutions to reduce the volume of concentrate and generate more usable water from inland desalination plants.
The other four winners are:
- AIL Research (Hopewell, New Jersey)
- Olin – Harmony – MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
- Membrion, Inc. (Seattle, Washington)
- University of Texas at El Paso Center for Inland Desalination Systems (El Paso, Texas)
“Water demand is growing, and the sustained and recurring periods of drought highlight the need for more usable water,” said Chief Engineer David Raff. “Solutions providing affordable, environmentally sustainable, and efficient inland desalination systems will make it an attractive option compared to other alternatives in locations where traditional sources of water are inadequate.”
During the next phase, the finalists will receive additional prize awards, up to $90,000 each, for meeting specific milestones as they develop their prototype. The submitted prototypes will be tested, and their performance evaluated at Reclamation’s Water Quality Improvement Center at the Yuma Desalting Plant next year.
To see the selected project titles and learn more about the competition, please visit https://www.usbr.gov/research/challenges/morewater.html.
