Bureau of Reclamation explores new ways to increase impact of water treatment technologies

Reclamation participated in FedTech's Spring 2019 Startup Studio exploring the market for its new membrane that will reduce replacement costs for water treatment and desalination

Written by: Peter Soeth

Reclamation technology transfer coordinator Samantha Zhang, chemical engineer Saied Delagah and FedTech entrepreneur Darrel Frater at 2019 Startup Studio.The Bureau of Reclamation has several patented and patent pending water treatment technologies to treat and purify water, wastewater and seawater. To help bring these solutions to market, Reclamation participated in FedTech's Spring 2019 Startup Studio Pitch Day on June 6 where diverse teams will present their findings on potential customers and markets.

FedTech is a Washington, D.C., based startup accelerator managed by Hyperion Technologies that works with more than 30 federal labs and universities around the country. They paired Reclamation's water treatment technologies with a diverse entrepreneur and mentor team experienced in this technical area.

During the water treatment process, chlorine is used to prevent algae and other organisms from degrading the membrane, but chlorine rapidly degrades these membranes. The new polyamide membrane chemical formulations developed by Reclamation are resistant to chlorine degradation, which increases the life of the membrane and lowers the replacement costs for desalting plants.

You can learn more about this event and technology transfer at Reclamation by visiting www.usbr.gov/research/technology_transfer/.

Published on June 07, 2019