The Water Research Foundation Funds Utility Research Projects Worth $5M in Research Value

Dec 18, 2023
Press Release

(Denver, CO) 12/19/2023 – The Water Research Foundation (WRF) has selected twelve new projects for funding through its Tailored Collaboration Program, totaling over $5 million in research value. The projects will focus on various high-priority One Water research topics, including disinfection in distribution systems, emerging contaminants, spectral imaging of algal blooms, potable reuse, source water quality, and more.

The Tailored Collaboration Program supports regional or utility-specific research concepts by providing up to $150,000 in matching funds to WRF subscribing utilities. “The WRF match enables subscribers to accomplish more with their research while also benefiting from WRF’s project management and expert review processes,” said Dr. Kenan Ozekin, WRF Research Unit Leader. “We’re also excited to welcome new volunteers to our project advisory committee (PAC) to help facilitate this program.”

The approved projects not only address the utilities’ specialized research needs but also have the potential for broader applicability across the water sector.

Project Title

Sponsoring Utility

WRF Funds

Total Budget

Determining the Role of Spectral Imaging as an Early Warning System for Presence/significance of Algal Blooms

American Water

$150,000

$569,500

HTL Aqueous Stream Anaerobic Co-Digestion and Ammonia Recovery to Enhance the Technical and Economic Viability of HTL Technology for Biosolids Treatment

Great Lakes Water Authority

$150,000

$364,000

Lithium Treatment Strategies in Drinking Water

Southern Nevada Water Authority

$150,000

$359,997

Understanding the Factors Affecting PFAS Variability in the Potomac River Watershed

Loudoun Water

$150,000

$426,500

Pop-Up Hyporheic Zones (PUHZO): A Novel Modular Technology to Treat Phosphorus in Urban Drool and Dry-Weather Creeks

Sonoma County Water Agency

$45,000

$110,240

Balancing Carbon Management, Energy Production, Nutrient Removal and Densification

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

$150,000

$572,136

Evaluation of Adsorptive Medias for Optimizing Siloxane Removal from Biogas

Pima County

$66,000

$171,800

RT-ddPCR for EBPR Biomonitoring

Clean Water Services

$37,500

$609,018

Evaluating the Full-Scale Impacts of Densified Activated Sludge on Disinfection Efficacy; Connecting Water Quality and Disinfectant Dose-Response

Metro Water Recovery

$70,000

$563,265

Characterization and Pilot Testing of Microwave Reactivation for PFAS-laden Granular Activated Carbons

Hampton Road Sanitation District

$150,000

$745,999

PFAS Fingerprinting for Source Identification Using Machine Learning

South Platte Renew

$120,000

$290,360

Cal-Val Guide to Treatment Credits for Indirect Potable Reuse in California

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

$150,000

$300,000

To learn more about the Tailored Collaboration Program, visit WRF’s website. If you are interested in serving on the project advisory committee (PAC), please fill out the online PAC volunteer form. If you have questions about the program, please contact Dr. Kenan Ozekin, Research Unit Leader, at kozekin@waterrf.org or (303) 734-3464.