In many areas, particularly in the Western United States, existing fresh water sources are fully allocated or over-allocated. When inland communities are evaluating potential sources for new water supplies, desalination is often overlooked or not considered due to its perceived high cost. A major cost factor is the additional handling, disposal and/or treatment required to manage concentrate streams. Further, in the disposal of concentrate, significant and desirable additional water resources are also lost. Reclamation is seeking innovative solutions for reducing the volume of concentrate requiring disposal from inland desalination systems in an affordable, environmentally sustainable, and efficient manner to make desalination an attractive option relative to other alternatives in locations where traditional sources of water are inadequate. Solutions can be novel technologies or approaches which build upon existing technologies. This is a multi-phase competition spanning over the next two years. Solvers with the most compelling solutions will be provided an opportunity to participate in the final phase of the competition to test their prototype technology as part of a demonstration event at Reclamation’s Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility (BGNDRF) in Alamogordo, NM.
Partner Organization: United States Bureau of Reclamation
Awards: $825,000 in total prizes
Open Date: October 28, 2020
Close Date: March 31, 2021
Frequency: Once
For more information, visit: http://www.morewaterlessconcentrate.org/