The U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office challenges innovators to develop wave powered desalination systems for the Waves to Water Prize. The Waves to Water Prize is a 5-Stage, $3.3M contest designed to accelerate the development of small, modular, wave-powered desalination systems capable of providing potable drinking water in disaster relief scenarios and remote coastal locations.
The prize supports the integration of existing and novel wave energy generation technologies with water technologies that can deliver effective, consistent, durable and low-maintenance water delivery systems. The prize seeks to identify the ideal scale of wave energy innovation paired with water technologies that can serve niche markets such as disaster response, and advance the state of both wave energy devices and desalination technologies that could provide value in other markets as the technologies mature.
PRIZE STAGES
The prize has five stages, aimed to support concepts through demonstration, with the final stage culminating in an open water testing competition at Jennette’s Pier, where the systems will produce clean water using the power of waves.
$3.3 MILLION IN CASH PRIZES
The five stages of this prize will distribute a total of $3.3 million, and will provide access to testing and demonstrating solutions out in the ocean in the final DRINK Stage.
PRIZE GOALS
The purpose of this prize is to incentivize the creation of wave powered desalination systems that meet the following goals:
Flexibility in Varied Wave Conditions: Competitors must develop systems that can survive harsh wave conditions and operate under different wave conditions and different sites without major tuning to ensure operation at a wide variety of locations. All solutions that make it to the DRINK Stage will be evaluated at an open-water test at Jennette’s Pier, which experiences average- to low-energetic wave resources.
Easily Deployed: Systems must be able to be deployed in less than 48 hours, addressing the ability to deploy quickly and easily in a disaster response scenario where there is large uncertainty around site conditions.
Ship in a Standard Container: Technologies must fit into a predefined container. The internal dimensions of the container are approximately 41 x 44 x 35 inches—to standardize the shipping constraints that face many disaster response and recovery scenarios.
Operate without Environmental Degradation: Brine discharge, or other salt concentration issues from the process of desalinating water will need to be managed without creating environmental issues.
Deliver Minimum Water Quality: TThe maximum total dissolved solids (TDS) quantity for this competition is 1,000 mg/L.
For more information on the prize and the rules, please review the official rules for the application process and instructions for competing.
Guidelines
Who can participate?
Please review the official rules for the application process and instructions for competing.
If you want to subscribe to updates on the prize or have any questions, you may use the contact feature on the HeroX platform, or .
We’re also looking for ideas on how to best structure this contest to attract ground-breaking solutions that will support the marine energy and desalination industries. If you’re not interested in competing but want to help develop and judge the prize, .
Tune in to an upcoming webinar hosted by an American-Made Network Power Connector on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11am ET. More details and registration info is below.
CMU SCOTT INSTITUTE HOSTING IP WEBINAR
Power Connector the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University is hosting an informational webinar on intellectual property (IP) and patent processes for innovators and startups. The webinar, From Idea to Invention to Intellectual Property: What Startups and Innovators Need to Know, is on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at 11 a.m. ET.
Tune in to hear about IP best practices from legal experts at the national law firm and Network member Babst Calland, as well as Scott Institute entrepreneur Jay Whitacre. This webinar is free and will also have a Q&A session.
Thank you for continuing to engage with one another on this site, and we certainly encourage everyone to work together and with us to advance solutions to better understand our ocean!
However, as a reminder, per Appendix 1— Additional Terms and Conditions Section 1 of the Official Rules Document, you and your submissions “will be disqualified if they contain any matter that, in the sole discretion of DOE or the Prize Administrator, is indecent, obscene, defamatory, libelous, lacking in professionalism, or demonstrates a lack of respect for people or life on this planet.” This extends to any material posted in the Forum or other comments posted to this HeroX platform. We do monitor the Forum, and all other comments. We will also remove any material that falls underneath these categorization as well.
We hope you are all keeping safe during this time, and please stay engaged with the prize over the next few months while we work to prepare for the next stage of the prize.
Thank you to the entire Waves to Water Prize Community for your engagement and interest throughout the DESIGN Stage. The Prize Administration Team is determining winners and expects to make a public announcement in the next month.
We appreciate your patience as we work through this process and look forward to announcing our DESIGN Stage winners soon!
At EERE, we understand that due to the coronavirus outbreak, many of us have had to make adjustments to our business operations and practices in order to safeguard the health and safety of our communities. Due to the extraordinary circumstances in which we now find ourselves, EERE is reevaluating prize timelines. Further information coming soon.
