August 14, 2024 Technology

Global best in water projects announced at IWA 2024 Project Innovation Awards

2024 IWA Project Innovation Awards

Toronto, Canada, 13 August 2024. Outstanding global examples of the latest in project excellence, from research concept through to application at scale, were celebrated today at the International Water Association’s Project Innovation Awards Gala event in Toronto, Canada.

The overall Global Grand Innovation Award and 18 winners across six categories were revealed at a celebratory event, in the fine surroundings of Arcadian Court, downtown Toronto. The overall Global Grand Innovation Award winners were the Committee of China Concept Wastewater Treatment Plant and CSD Water Service Co., Ltd. The award was given in recognition of the success of application of the China Concept Wastewater Resource Facility.

Awarded biennially at the International Water Association’s World Water Congress & Exhibition, the Project Innovation Awards recognise and promote global excellence and innovation in water management, research and technology. The Project Innovation Awards (PIA) feature six categories with three finalists each. Each category recognises a distinct aspect of water innovation, from technology breakthroughs through to governance and performance improvement.

The Project Innovation Awards were launched by the International Water Association in 2006 to recognise that shared and pressing challenges can be overcome through the development and implementation of creative water solutions. The Awards are judged by a global group of expert water sector professionals highly qualified to recognise the practical relevance and global potential of the selected projects.

Grand Innovation Award

The Grand Innovation Award represents a truly outstanding project of global significance. This overall award is selected by the PIA’s expert judges from this year’s six ‘Gold’ PIA category winners.

This year’s Grand Innovation Award stems from the move, in 2013, of Professor Jiuhui Qu to found the Expert Committee for China’s Concept Wastewater Treatment Plants. The aim was to tackle climate change, resource scarcity, and sustainable living challenges. Following on from this, the Yixing Concept Water Resource Reclamation Facility (WRRF), a USD 42 million project, began operations in October 2021. It handles 20,000 m³ of wastewater and processes 100 tons of organic matter daily. The facility boosts local water resilience, supports agriculture with nutrient-rich soil, and serves as a model for sustainable wastewater management globally, inspiring further initiatives and international collaboration.

Project excellence across 6 categories

The PIA awards recognise excellence across six industry-critical dimensions of project innovation. For each of these categories, three awards were presented: Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

IWA is proud to announce that the results of the 2024 are:

 

Category: Market-changing Water Technology and Infrastructure

GOLD: Inspiring Technological and Market Transformation: Practice of the China Concept Wastewater Resource Facility, by Committee of China Concept Wastewater Treatment Plant, CSD Water Service Co., Ltd., China

SILVER: The Linear Path to Circularity!, by Águas do Tejo Atlantico, Portugal

BRONZE: South African Sanitation Technology Enterprise Programme (SASTEP), by Water Research Commission, South Africa

 

Category: Breakthroughs in Research and Development

GOLD: Redefining Wastewater Treatment Technology – Design, Construction, and Operation of the World’s First Mainstream Partial Nitritation-Anammox Wastewater Treatment Facility, by Beijing Drainage Group Co., Ltd.; Beijing University of Technology, China

SILVER: Integration of TADOX® Technology to achieve Net Zero in Textile Wastewater Treatment, by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India

BRONZE: IntensiCarb, All in One Process, by Brown and Caldwell, Trojan Technologies, US Peroxide Technologies, USA

 

Category: Governance, Institutions and Social Enterprise

GOLD: Wollert Community Farm, by Yarra Valley Water, Australia

SILVER: Tetra Safe Drinking Water Project: Leveraging Solar Energy to Support Lower Income Communities in Bangladesh’s Coastal Region, by Tetra Private Limited, Bangladesh

BRONZE: Jaldoot Programme, by Public Health Engineering Department & Jal Jeevan Mission, Assam, India

 

Category: Performance Improvement and Operational Solutions

GOLD: Government-led City-wide COVID-19 Sewage Surveillance in Hong Kong with Engineering and Smart Technology Applications, by Environmental Protection Department, Hong Kong SAR Government, China

SILVER: Whole Life Cycle Management System of Municipal Pipe Networks in Developing Areas by Three Gorges Smart Water Technology Company Limited and Shanghai Investigation, Design & Research Institute, China

BRONZE: All-factor Collaborative Digital Governance Demonstration for Pollution and Waterlogging of the Shenzhen River Basin, by Shenzhen Water and Environment Group Co., Ltd., China

 

Category: Exceptional Project Execution and Delivery

GOLD: Ontario Wastewater Surveillance Initiative (Ontario WSI), by Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), Canada

SILVER: Huangxiao River and Airport River Water Environment Comprehensive Treatment PPP Project, Green Industry Investment Ltd. from the 3rd Bureau of China State Construction Engineering Co.Ltd.(CSCEC); Wuhan Municipal Water Authority; The 3rd Bureau of CSCEC, China

BRONZE: 120 MLD SWTP 9 Stage 6 Phase 1, Jubail in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by VA Tech Wabag Ltd, India

 

Category: Smart Systems and the Digital Water Economy

GOLD: Digital Twin Platform for Water Distribution System in Fuzhou, by Fuzhou Water Group Co., Ltd., China

SILVER: Digital Dosing for Sustainable Sewer Protection, by The University of Queensland, Australia

BRONZE: The AI-Acoustic Underground Leak Detection System: A Case Study of Taiwan Water Corporation, by Taiwan Water Corporation (TWC), Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Chinese Taipei

 

More information

IWA Project Innovation Awards

The awards were presented during the week of IWA’s biennial gathering of leading water sector professionals – the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition.

Find out more about the Congress, running 11-15 August in Toronto, Canada, at:

www.worldwatercongress.org  

#WorldWaterCongress