The Water Council’s February update
By Dean Amhaus, President & CEO
There’s a new WAVE rolling in! If you read our emails, for the last few months I have been hinting about something big that was in the works. Hopefully you’ve heard by now about WAVE, our new water stewardship program that helps companies address water risks and opportunities across the enterprise and have their work independently verified.
The launch has generated a lot of buzz in just two weeks. Check out this interview in ESG Investor with Matt Howard, our vice president of water stewardship. Regardless of your industry, you will get a better understanding of the importance of context-based data and mitigation plans when it comes to water stewardship. We have several other articles and announcements in the works, so stay tuned. If you missed our introductory webinar, check it out here or attend another webinar we are conducting on March 3 with the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership that is particularly tailored for Midwest companies.
“Water isn’t taken as seriously as it should be, but it is going to become a pain point for everyone. We continue to spread the message that water stewardship should be central to companies’ and investors’ ESG strategies.”
-Matt Howard, The Water Council VP of Water Stewardship, in ESG Investor
WAVE is one of several water stewardship initiatives we’re involved with at The Water Council. For example, we are partnering with ALUS Canada, General Mills and other companies on a project announced this month to improve water quality and quantity in Manitoba, Canada, by working with local farms on land, water and nutrient management. We also offer advisory services along with capacity building and training.
Export Resources Webinar
Yes, the U.S. water market is large, but don’t ignore or avoid working globally as you may have a solution that others are seeking. It is not necessarily in the DNA of small businesses in the U.S. to look abroad for opportunities, but there are multiple resources at the federal and every state level to make exporting easier for these businesses. The Water Council is offering a webinar on Feb. 23 with valuable information from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation about programs and resources that can help businesses export their products and services worldwide. We will also hear from members of The Water Council about their export journey. Click the graphic below to register.
Tech Challenge Winners
Our work continues in water innovation as well. We recently announced the winners of our latest Tech Challenge, sponsored by A. O. Smith Corporation, Badger Meter, Watts Water Technologies and Xylem. They are:
- CAVinTace of Istanbul, Turkey, has a novel pretreatment approach for aerobic and anaerobic digestions via micro scale hydrodynamic cavitation.
- Anthony Dichiara of the University of Washington is working on a cellulosic paper project that provides an excellent platform for building sustainable and affordable water sensors with superior performance.
- Vienna Water Monitoring Solutions, based in Vienna, Austria, won for its ColiMinder technology, an instrument for rapid and fully automatic measurements of bacterial contamination in water, providing a result in 15 minutes.
If you are with a company that is hunting for new technologies, the Tech Challenge might be a great resource for you. As one of our sponsors said, the program helps them connect with innovations they don’t know, and don’t know that they’re missing. Click here to learn more.
BREW Company Goes Public
One of the things we love in our innovation programs is watching startups and innovators succeed and grow. The latest example is STAR Water Group, a 2017 alumnus of our BREW accelerator that is launching an IPO. This is the first BREW company to go public, and we are extremely proud.
In the next couple of weeks interviews will occur with the 2022 BREW 2.0 finalists. We were elated with the very strong response, with submissions from 12 countries.
Student Pilot Opportunity
We have an exciting new opportunity for students currently enrolled in Wisconsin colleges and universities in an undergraduate, graduate or two-year academic program. The Future Water Leaders Pilot Project Fund will help students launch water-focused pilot demonstration projects. This opportunity is led by The Water Council in partnership with the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences. Selected projects will be awarded between $3,000 and $5,000. Know of a student who might be interested? Direct them here to learn more.
Member News & Opportunities
- News: Anguil Environmental Systems, Inc., has launched its Industrial Internet of Things software platform and is seeking participants for a pilot program. The platform is tailored to enhance operational transparency and reporting capabilities for environmental pollution control equipment.
- News: Tomorrow Water, Arcadis partner to co-locate data centers and wastewater treatment plants.
- Event: The World Water-Tech Innovation Summit is happening Feb. 22-23 in London and online. The summit offers two action-packed days of powerful connections and deep market insights on the future of water. Our CEO, Dean Amhaus, will moderate the session “The Impact of Transforming China’s Urban Centers Into ‘Sponge Cities.’” Use code TWC10 for discounted registration.
- Event: Marquette University is holding a Water Law Continuing Legal Education lecture Feb. 17 focused on water law controversies at the state and federal level.
- Opportunity: Green Tech Station, an outdoor research and green infrastructure demonstration site in Milwaukee, is seeking companies and researchers to test permeable materials and run water-related experiments and tests at its site. Email Sarah Bregant for more information or click here to apply.
- Opportunity: Emerging companies can apply through Feb. 21 to meet with major firms and explore potential business relationships around technology needs and innovations as part of the Wisconsin Tech Summit happening March 14.
- Opportunity: Small businesses in Wisconsin can apply for a series of four workshops designed to help access programming and innovation funding from the U.S. Department of Defense. Application deadline is Feb. 22.
- Opportunity: The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council is accepting registrations for its next 21st Century Pathways, a hands-on workshop to develop a customized sustainability plan with return on investment. The council will hold information sessions about the program on Feb. 22 and March 3.
- Opportunity: Applications are being accepted for the Renaissance DEI UnDemo Day scheduled for April 27. The event will focuse exclusively on making connections for companies in the Midwest or Central U.S. that are founded or led by individuals who are women, people of color or from the LGBTQ community.
