The Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a new prize, aligned with the recently announced Water Security Grand Challenge. The Waves to Water prize is a 4-Stage competition that offers up to $2.5 million in cash prizes, with a goal to demonstrate small, modular, cost-competitive desalination systems that use the power of ocean waves to provide clean drinking water for disaster recovery and for remote and coastal communities.
Over almost two years, the prize will provide innovators a pathway from initial concept, to technical design, to prototype, to field testing systems that provide clean, abundant drinking water using only waves as a power source.
The initial concept stage has $200,000 in prizes, with up to $10,000 in funding for up to 20 winners. DOE is seeking interdisciplinary solutions that are modular and easily transportable, and ultimately can serve the clean water needs of remote communities or aid in disaster relief scenarios.
More information on specific guidelines for submissions and rules of the competition can be found here.
The prize is the first to be launched by DOE under the White House-initiated Water Security Grand Challenge – a DOE-led framework to advance transformational technology and innovation to meet the global need for safe, secure, and affordable water.
