Three Winners Named for The Water Council’s Tech Challenge

Milwaukee, WI, Jan. 3, 2024 – The Water Council is pleased to announce the winners of our fall 2023 Tech Challenge, chosen by our leading participating sponsors to help solve real challenges in the water sector.

The Water Council’s Tech Challenge connects water innovators with leading water technology companies, facilitating potential partnerships and helping new ideas and technologies gain exposure in the industry. The fall 2023 challenge sought solutions in the areas of PFAS detection, PFAS treatment or destruction, and non-destructive assessment of pressurized pipes.

Winners were selected from a record number of submissions from eight countries. Two of the winners previously participated in The Water Council’s BREW Accelerator programming.

The challenge’s sponsors, A. O. Smith Corporation, Badger Meter and Watts Water Technologies, chose the challenge topics and selected the winners to receive $10,000 prizes:

• Aquagga (Washington, USA) was selected for its PFAS destruction technology.
• Searen (Ohio, USA), was selected for its PFAS extraction/concentration technology.
• Pipesonic (based in Canada with a U.S. headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis.) was selected for its tools that conduct non-invasive assessments of watermains.

Aquagga participated in The Water Council’s BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator in 2022. The program offers virtual and in-person programming for late-stage water technology startups. Pipesonic was launched in June 2023 by alumni of The Water Council’s original BREW and BREW 2.0 programs. It recently completed full-scale demonstration projects in Canada and Wisconsin.

“We are encouraged to see start-ups taking advantage of all the innovation programming The Water Council has to offer,” said Karen Frost, The Water Council vice president of economic development and innovation. “It’s exciting to see these companies connect with large corporations to help them reach the next steps in their journeys.”

About The Water Council
The Water Council (TWC) is a global hub dedicated to solving critical water challenges by driving innovation in freshwater technology and advancing water stewardship. Built on more than a century of innovation, TWC has coalesced one of the most concentrated and mature water technology clusters in the world from its headquarters at the Global Water Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Recognizing the need for smarter and more sustainable use of water worldwide, TWC also promotes water stewardship as a natural complement to water innovation in the effort to preserve freshwater resources in the Midwest and around the world. Today, The Water Council has established itself as a global leader in the water industry and one of America’s premier economic development clusters as recognized by government agencies, Brookings and the Harvard Business School.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.