Desalination and Water Purification Research Program Pitch to Pilot

Reclamation is interested in research where the benefits are widespread but where private-sector entities are not able to make the full investment and assume all the risks. Reclamation is also interested in research that has a national significance—where the issues are of large-scale concern and the benefits accrue to a large sector of the public. The goal of the DWPR program is to address the need to reduce the costs, energy requirements, and environmental impacts of treating impaired and unusable water. DWPR program activities further support multiple related initiatives related to the Water Subcabinet such as the Water Reuse Action Plan and Water Security Grand Challenge. The program also aligns with Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” by investing in development and application of advanced water treatment technologies that expand access to otherwise unusable water resources, thereby increasing water supply flexibility under the risks of long-term climate change and shorter-term drought.

The objectives of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) are to develop innovative and disruptive new technologies or process to:

• Reduce the costs, energy requirements, and/or environmental impacts of treating impaired and unusable water to standards necessary for an identified beneficial uses.
• Improve efficiency of water treatment processes - either by improvements to pre-treatment, post-treatment, monitoring sensors, or other innovative process/technology.
• Increase effectiveness of reverse osmosis/nanofiltration concentrate management by reducing cost, energy, and/or environmental impacts.
• Treat brackish groundwater in a less energy-intensive way than current processes and technologies.
• Address costs, energy usage, and/or environmental impacts of seawater desalination, including intakes and/or outfalls.

Eligible projects are pilot-scale technologies or processes that incorporate or are innovative and disruptive technologies involving flow rates above one gallon per minute and that need to be tested using natural water sources rather than synthetic or laboratory-made feed water. These projects are typically used to determine the technical, practical, and/or economic feasibility of a process. Preliminary costs can be developed for capital and operation and maintenance costs. The description of the technology or process should identify the uniqueness and the disruptive nature of the technology or process itself and/or the testing of it.

Applications can only be submitted by Mail, Express Delivery, Courier Services, or directly through Grants.gov using their workspace and submitted by individuals that are registered and active in SAM as both a user and an Authorized Organizational Representative.

Questions regarding applicant and project eligibility and application review may be submitted to dwpr@usbr.gov

Government

• City or township governments
• Federally recognized Native American tribal governments
• County governments
• State governments
• Special district governments

Business

• Small businesses
• For-profit organizations other than small businesses

Miscellaneous

• Individuals
• Other

Nonprofit

• Nonprofits non-higher education with 501(c)(3)

Education

• Private institutions of higher education