WIN joins US based WaterStart

Global opportunities for WIN members

The Water Innovation Network (WIN) has joined forces with US based water innovation organisation WaterStart to offer its members global opportunities within the water industry.

The new partnership, which is a result of Anglian Water becoming a WaterStart member, will provide WIN and its community with unprecedented access to a broad network of innovation opportunities across the USA and Australia.

Laura Underhill, WIN manager, said: “Our Water Innovation Network provides access to expert feedback and support for businesses, SMEs and innovators that have solutions to business challenges within the water industry.

“Partnering with WaterStart gives us the opportunity to expose our WIN network to an international market, with the potential to tackle global challenges. We’re excited to be able to offer our members access to other WaterStart member opportunities as well as streamlining the application process.”

Pilot projects can be cofunded through WaterStart, which disperses the costs and risks involved with projects in the innovation space. This improves the capabilities for WaterStart members to trial new technologies, as well as allowing other members to access the pilot details to determine if suitable for their organisation.

Nathan Allen, WaterStart Executive Director said: “Anglian Water is a globally recognised leader in the water industry and we’re very excited to welcome them as our newest member. This new partnership both expands WaterStart’s impact into Europe and brings a wealth of expertise and experience into our association to benefit all our stakeholders.”

WaterStart’s unique not-for-profit model provides a platform for co-funding deployment of new technologies and sharing best practices. Founded in Nevada, USA, WaterStart is rapidly growing across the western USA and Australia. Today, WaterStart has deployed technology to address more the $30Million of challenges, to benefit more than 10million people across its members. Anglian Water is the first European based organisation to be accepted as a WaterStart member.

WIN members can get involved in the WaterStart community immediately. Requests for proposals (RFP) to solve immediate demands are published quarterly for response. The current RFP calls for technology companies to submit solutions relating to drinking water, wastewater and smart networks, including condition monitoring, retrofitting of air valves and alternative stormwater storage systems. To find out more and respond to this RFP, visit https://waterstart.com/rfps/waterstart-rfp-round-15/ and create an account to submit your proposal.