Veolia and Partners Choose Winners of Water Management Technologies Contest

Invisible bubbles to help the oil and gas industry recycle water, growing a valuable mineral from wastewater and using food waste to remove contaminants from water are the game-changing technologies that will improve global water management, according to Veolia and its partners

These are the three winners of the “Pow! emPowering Opportunities in Water” competition, selected by Veolia, The Water Council and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). The new program helps startups to fast-track their water-related ideas by connecting them to Veolia and water industry experts who can support their company’s services, products and ideas.

The winning companies are:

• Nano Gas Technologies, a Deerfield, Illinois-based water technology company that infuses nanobubbles of oxygen and other gases to support the recovery of oil and gas while recycling water.
• Nutrient Recovery and Upcycling (NRU), a Madison, Wisconsin-based resource upcycling and sustainable nutrient management company using a phosphate recovery technology to extract brushite from wastewater.
• WAVVE Stream, a Houston-based water high-tech startup using a biodegradable gel made from food-grade material to help remove heavy metals and nutrients from water.

Philip Abraham, senior vice president of Veolia’s global research and innovation, says the competition is another way in which Veolia and its partners can improve global water management “by providing access to markets, pilot sites, research and innovation, technical partners and professionals who can bolster the winners’ ideas and experiences.”

Each winning company will receive support from Veolia, the Water Council and WEDC to help bring their ideas to market, including:

• $25,000 cash prize from Veolia
• $15,000 cash prize from The Water Council and WEDC
• $10,000 tuition to The BREW (Business. Research. Entrepreneurship. In Wisconsin.), The Water Council’s Business Accelerator that includes water technology experts and mentors
• Access to faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School for Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Marquette University
• Business model and operations training through The Water Council
• 12 months of free office space in Veolia’s suite at the Global Water Center in Milwaukee, along with access to the Global Water Center’s Flow Lab
• Exchanges and mentoring with Veolia experts, along with exposure to actual field challenges, and,
• Leveraging Veolia’s network to potentially deploy solutions in other geographies.

Pow! is the first corporate water technology accelerator part of The Water Council’s BREW Corporate, an expansion to the existing BREW accelerator program.

The three companies were selected from a group of applicants looking to address one of four challenges including: smart-data technologies, resilience and sustainable water management, watershed management, and disruptive water innovation.

In other efforts to help bring innovative water management technologies to market, last month General Electric and Statoil announced the winners of their second open innovation challenge, which used crowd sourcing to find technologies that reduce fresh water in shale oil and gas production.

The four winning startups included include water treatment via a nano-sponge, ice crystals and an evaporator tornado, as well as high-powered laser beams that make pipes super water repellent.

Source: Environmental Leader

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• Integrated Water Management
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• Water Management