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The Results

Learn more about the Winner and other top-scoring solutions.

WINNER
$150,000
Olin -- Harmony -- MIT
Batch RO with a flexible bladder: high recovery without scaling
Needham, MA
Please join us in congratulating Olin -- Harmony -- MIT, winner of More Water Less Concentrate and recipient of $265,000 total in award funding. Batch reverse osmosis recovers water from scaling-prone RO concentrate by operating in brief cycles that are too short for scalants to nucleate.
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Finalists

Finalists were awarded $115,000 each to build a functioning prototype. The remaining $100,000 prize purse was split between the remaining four finalists based on demonstration testing performance, innovation, and potential for full-scale implementation.
RUNNER-UP
Pacifica Water Solutions, LLC
Groundwater Desalination Using Electrically Conducting Reverse Osmosis (ECRO) Anti-Scaling Membranes
Northridge, CA
The ECRO membrane technology minimizes the scaling and fouling potential of challenging feed waters resulting in enhanced water recovery, and reduced brine generation, reduced footprint.
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AIL Research
BrineZero: Opening new water resources through cost-effective waste-brine disposal
Hopewell, NJ
BrineZero can achieve the aggressive goal of concentrating brine at under $3.50 per cubic meter through an innovative, highly efficient thermal distillation process.
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Membrion, Inc.
Ceramic ion exchange membranes towards scaling resistant electrodialysis reversal
Seattle, WA
Electrodialysis reversal (EDR), enhanced by scaling resistant ceramic ion exchange membranes, can lead to as much as 99.2% water recovery at < 4 kW/m3 when combined with RO.
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University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Center for Inland Desalination Systems (CIDS)
Double-bonus: high-recovery concentrate treatment with salt-free electrodialysis metathesis (EDM)
El Paso, TX
Salt-free EDM produces two very high salinity concentrate streams (enabling >98% system recovery), and the EDM product can be blended with RO product.
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Honorable Mentions

Four additional submissions were named as Honorable Mentions based on their initial application, but did not advance to the prototype development and demonstration testing stages of the competition.
Applied Membrane Technology Inc.
Vapor recompression-condensation in fouling-resistant hollow-fiber-membrane distillation-based brine concentrator-crystallizer
Minnetonka, MN
RO concentrate will be subjected to vacuum membrane distillation-crystallization in a fouling-resistant hollow-fiber-membrane device aided by vapor recompression and plastic hydrocyclone separator.
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Carollo Engineers, Inc. and UNC Charlotte
Enhanced Concentrate Volume Minimization Through Layered Double Hydroxides Precipitation
Boise, ID
The proposed approach enhances concentrate volume minimization and water recovery from concentrate through the precipitation of dissolved solids as stable layered double hydroxide compounds.
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Crystal Clear
Closed Circuit Reverse Osmosis (CCRO) with Integrated Crystal Recovery
Golden, CO
CCRO can reach 16x supersaturation in gypsum or 95% recovery on Yuma feed. Plate-settler recovers gypsum crystals and hydrocyclone on supernatant recycles crystals as seeds.
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Fluid Technology Solutions (FTS) Inc.
Osmotically Assisted Membrane System Concentrate Streams to over 200,000 TDS
Albany, OR
The novel Osmotically Assisted Reverse Osmosis (OsmoARO) membrane systems are proven to concentrate streams to over 200,000 TDS with up to 95% clean water recovery.
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