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