Tech challenge spotlight: Geotek water solutions
Our fall 2025 Tech Challenge issued a broad solicitation for water quality solutions with exciting results. The judges — representatives of A. O. Smith Corporation, Badger Meter, Watts Water Technologies and Xylem — named Geotek Water Solutions, of Jos, Nigeria, as the $10,000 grand-prize winner, marking the first winner from Africa.
Geotek uses low-enthalpy geothermal energy to treat water with up to 65% lower energy costs than conventional systems. This affordable, off-grid treatment provides resilient water infrastructure to emerging markets. Learn more about the company in this Q&A with CEO Joshua Ichor.
Winning the Tech Challenge reinforces our commitment to developing solutions that are not only innovative, but practical, scalable and impactful for communities and industries facing the realities of climate change.
-Joshua Ichor, CEO, Geotek Water Solutions
Tell us more about your innovation.
At Geotek Water Solutions, we are developing a geothermal-powered water treatment system designed to address the growing challenges of water scarcity, rising energy costs and climate stress. Our flagship technology, the Geotek Low-Enthalpy Treatment System (GLET), uses naturally occurring low-temperature geothermal heat to power a multi-effect thermal purification process, enabling clean water production with significantly lower energy demand than conventional systems. The idea was born from my personal experience of nearly losing my life to contaminated water in my community in Nigeria in 2010. This led me to begin studies into groundwater, geothermal systems and water-energy integration across Africa. Our focus now is on scaling through modular deployments, starting with pilot systems producing 3-5 cubic meters per day and expanding through clustered installations for industrial, agricultural and community-scale use across energy-constrained regions.
Why did you enter the Tech Challenge?
We entered the Tech Challenge because Geotek sits squarely at the intersection of water quality, system intelligence and operational decision-making, which is at the heart of this challenge. Our system is not only a treatment technology, but also a data-enabled platform that provides real-time insight into system performance, water quality, uptime and energy efficiency through integrated IoT monitoring. The Tech Challenge’s focus on smarter, faster decision-making aligned perfectly with our mission to make water systems more resilient, transparent and energy-efficient — particularly in regions where conventional infrastructure struggles. We saw the challenge as an opportunity to validate our approach alongside industry leaders shaping the future of water.
How does winning the Tech Challenge affect your innovation?
Winning the Tech Challenge is a major validation of both our technical direction and our long-term vision. It strengthens our credibility with partners, utilities, and investors and accelerates our ability to move from pilot testing to broader deployment. Just as importantly, it connects us directly with a network of industry leaders and practitioners whose insight will help refine our system design, monitoring capabilities and deployment models. This recognition helps position geothermal-powered water treatment as a viable and scalable solution within the global water innovation ecosystem.
At Geotek, we believe geothermal energy is one of the most underutilized tools for building resilient water systems. By combining low-enthalpy geothermal heat with smart monitoring and modular design, we are showing how sustainable energy can directly improve water quality and access. Winning the Tech Challenge reinforces our commitment to developing solutions that are not only innovative, but practical, scalable and impactful for communities and industries facing the realities of climate change.