The Water Council has announced the winners of its fall 2023 Tech Challenge, connecting water innovators with established water technology companies.
The winners of the Tech Challenge were chosen by participating sponsors. The challenge helps to facilitate potential partnerships and bring exposure to new ideas and technologies in the water industry.
The fall 2023 challenge sought solutions in the areas of PFAS detection, PFAS treatment or destruction, and non-destructive assessment of pressurized pipes.
Winners were selected from a record number of submissions from eight countries. Two of the winners previously participated in The Water Council’s BREW Accelerator programming.
“We are encouraged to see start-ups taking advantage of all the innovation programming The Water Council has to offer,” said Karen Frost, The Water Council vice president of economic development and innovation. “It’s exciting to see these companies connect with large corporations to help them reach the next steps in their journeys.”
The challenge’s sponsors, A. O. Smith Corporation, Badger Meter and Watts Water Technologies, chose the challenge topics and selected the winners to receive $10,000 prizes:
- Aquagga (Washington, USA) for its PFAS destruction technology.
- Searen (Ohio, USA), for its PFAS extraction/concentration technology.
- Pipesonic (based in Canada with a U.S. headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis.) for its tools that conduct non-invasive assessments of watermains.
Aquagga participated in The Water Council’s BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator in 2022. The program offers virtual and in-person programming for late-stage water technology startups. Pipesonic was launched in June 2023 by alumni of The Water Council’s original BREW and BREW 2.0 programs. It recently completed full-scale demonstration projects in Canada and Wisconsin.
