The $17.7 million in awards the U.S. Department of Energy and its energy-water desalination hub announced recently will pay for cutting-edge research and development to help the nation's water-management challenges.
In a June 2 news release, DOE and its National Alliance for Water Innovation announced 16 projects aimed at helping the U.S. gain an affordable, energy-efficient water supply.
"We are eager to partner with NAWI to support these awardees, whose work will improve the quality and availability of water for human consumption, agriculture and energy and materials production," Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Kelly Speakes-Backman said in the news release. "The projects announced today will apply cutting-edge research and development to our water-management challenges, ensuring we make the most of every water resource at our disposal."
The selected projects are aimed at developing innovative desalination technologies to treat nontraditional water sources, including seawater, brackish water and industrial wastewater. Another goal for these projects is to "shrink the carbon footprint of the water-treatment industry," the news release said.
Other project goals are to help decarbonize water infrastructure, reduce water treatment technology costs and strengthen water and energy security, DOE said in a June 2 Twitter post announcing the awards.
In its own Twitter post, NAWI referred to the awards as "good news."
