White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
More Water, Less Concentrate
Open Date: October 28, 2020
AWARDED: September 9, 2022
Awards: $825,000 in total prizes
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CHALLENGE >>
News Release:
Reclamation awards $250,000 to winners of More Water Less Concentrate
The More Water Less Concentrate Challenge is a public competition focused on discovering innovative, affordable, and environmentally sound solutions to reduce the volume of concentrate and generate more usable water from inland desalination plants.
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 Yuma Desalting Plant in Yuma, AZ. Learn more about Yuma Desalting Plant >>.
ARCHIVE: MORE WATER, LESS CONCENTRATE 2016
Launch: December 13, 2016
Awarded: April 4, 2018
