2018 IWA Project Innovation Awards

• 18 Winners in six Award Categories
• Cranfield University wins Kiran and Pallavi Patel Grand Innovation Award

Tokyo, Japan, 17 September 2018. At the 2018 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, the water sector celebrated innovation and vision in the industry with a gala ceremony for the 18 winners of the six categories of the IWA Project Innovation Awards.

Awarded biennially at the IWA World Water Congress, the Project Innovation Awards recognise and promote excellence and innovation in water management, research and technology. This edition of the Project Innovation Awards (PIA) programme features six categories with three finalists each. Each category recognizes a distinct aspect of water innovation, from breakthroughs in research to innovations in governance.

Project Innovation Awards

The Awards celebrate the invaluable contribution to key innovations in water science and management, which IWA members and network participants bring to the water sector and the world. With this celebration and official distinction, the Association encourage their role of innovation in contributing to the sustainable management of water.

Water underpins every aspect of human and environmental existence. The severe water challenges facing the world today require an unprecedented global response. Innovation plays a central role in achieving IWA’s vision of a world in which water is managed wisely to satisfy the needs of human activities and ecosystems in an equitable and sustainable way.

The Project Innovation Awards were launched by the International Water Association in 2006 to recognise that our shared challenges can be overcome through the development and implementation of creative water solutions.

#ProjectInnovationsAwards

Patel Grand Innovation Award

The award categories include the Kiran and Pallavi Patel Grand Innovation Award 2018 presented to an outstanding example of innovation in the water sector. This year, the Cranfield University has won the Grand Innovation Award for its remarkable work on the Nano Membrane Toilet.

2018 IWA Project Innovation Award Winners:

Category: Market-changing Water Technology and Infrastructure

• GOLD: Aqua-Q AB – AQUATRACK
• SILVER: Carollo Engineers and City of Altamonte Springs – pureALTA
• BRONZE: Suez, Hengli Petro and LPEC – Inbedded Wastewater Treatment Plant

Category: Performance Improvement and Operational Solutions

• GOLD: Anglian Water – Shop Window
• SILVER: VCS Denmark – Beyond Energy Neutrality: Setting a Vision and Empowering Your Staff
• BRONZE: Waternet – TU Delft – Sanquin – Thermal Energy Recovery from Drinking Water: Exploitation of a Renewable Energy Source

Category: Breakthroughs in Research and Development

• GOLD: Cranfield University – Nano Membrane Toilet
• SILVER: Prof RD Tyagi and Research Group, INRS-ETE, Université du Québec –  Bioconversion of Wastes (Wastewater sludge and Glycerol) to Biodiesel
• BRONZE: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HKSAR Government Drainage Services Department, University of Cape Town and Delft University of Technology – Large-scale Study on Realization and Application of SANI Process in Sewage Treatment in Hong Kong 

Category: Exceptional Project Execution and Delivery

• GOLD: Beijing Drainage Group – Beijing’s Sustainable Solution for Ecological Water Reuse – Huaifang Underground Water Reclamation Plant (HWRP)
• SILVER: AECOM – Building Resilience in the Philippines with Systems, Technologies and Partnerships: The USAID Be Secure Project
• BONZE: GHD – Birmingham Resilience Project

Category: Governance, Institutions and Social Enterprise

• GOLD: AMCOW – Web-based Monitoring and Reporting System for the Water Sector in Africa
• SILVER: Water Corporation – Water Recycling: Creating Benefits for Indigenous Australia
• BRONZE: Waterwise – Water Efficiency Strategy for the UK

Category: Smart Systems and the Digital Water Economy

• GOLD: Severn Trent Water – Smart Abstraction Management
• SILVER: Anglian Water – Integrated Leakage and Pressure Management System
• BRONZE: SA Water – Smart Water Network