Five Ways NAWI is Advancing Water Treatment and Desalination Technologies

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Five Ways NAWI is Advancing Water Treatment and Desalination Technologies

Innovative water treatment and desalination technologies hold promise for building climate resilience, realizing a circular water economy, and bolstering water security. However, more research and development is critical not only to radically lower the cost and energy of such technologies, but to effectively treat unconventional water sources. Conventional water supplies, such as fresh water and groundwater, are typically used once and thrown away, rendering this valuable and finite resource inaccessible for further use. Since its launch in 2019, the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) has made strides in developing new technologies to economically treat, use, and recycle unconventional waters (such as brackish groundwater, municipal and industrial wastewater, and agricultural run-off), which could point to a future where water equity and security is accessible to all.

Led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory  (Berkeley Lab) and supported by the United States Department of Energy, NAWI is a five-year, $110 million research program and public-private partnership. NAWI brings together over 1670 individual NAWI Alliance members, over 400 partnering organizations, and numerous water research facilities.

“NAWI is driving breakthrough research to reduce the price, energy costs, and greenhouse gas emissions of new water technologies,” said Peter Fiske, executive director of NAWI. “Our work also bridges cutting-edge research with real people and places, such as producing secure, reliable, and affordable water for communities that are most in need.”

“NAWI is driving breakthrough research to reduce the price, energy costs, and greenhouse gas emissions of new water technologies”

– Peter Fiske

NAWI’s robust research portfolio spans analysis for water-energy grid integration to development of algorithms, models, and adaptive process controls for resilient operations. Now in its third year of operation, NAWI is supporting pilot projects that will treat unconventional water sources to provide usable water in real-world environments. Many of the pilot projects partner directly with communities and groups that have historically been underserved by existing water supplies. Each project will also generate a range of data sets usable by other researchers seeking to advance the field of data analysis and automation, and fault detection in water treatment systems.

These 5 NAWI pilot projects are transforming water treatment and desalination technologies.

Attached link

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2023/09/06/five-ways-nawi-is-advancing-water-treatment-desalination-technologies

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