Water Research Foundation Partners for Research, Testing
The Water Research Foundation (WaterRF) has entered into a partnership with Isle Inc. Under the agreement WaterRF will work with Isle to develop research projects and trials for selected technologies identified by Isle’s Technology Approval Group (TAG) for potential benefit to the water community. This additional research/testing step is necessary before new technologies can be adopted on a broad scale.
“Given the significant budget restrictions and rigid regulatory environment that water utilities must operate within, new technologies must be thoroughly tested before they are adopted,” said Robert Renner, executive director of WaterRF. “Many technologies identified by Isle’s TAG show great promise for water utilities. However, they often require additional research and trials to further prove their applicability and operational capability in a water utility environment. WaterRF will work with Isle to aid in conducting this research. This partnership holds great promise to provide significant benefits to the entire water community.”
Isle’s mission is to accelerate the market uptake of “step-change” technologies by introducing them to potentially interested water utilities during the pre-commercial stages of development and by facilitating additional research and trials to demonstrate the feasibility of the technologies. This mission is compatible with WaterRF’s mission and values, and a number of WaterRF subscribers have joined Isle and become members of the TAG process.
Isle has a successful track record of helping utilities and manufacturers bring new technologies to market. It receives no funding from manufacturers and maintains complete independence from the technologies they introduce to utilities. Objective results are further ensured through WaterRF’s unbiased peer review and project management process.
WaterRF and Isle will work with WaterRF subscribers, Isle members and other stakeholders to develop funding for research projects and trials of mutual interest. WaterRF will follow its research management processes, including technical expert review. The results of trials and research are expected to be made available to Isle members and WaterRF subscribers.
“Investment in new technology is desperately needed if the water industry is to tackle the challenges ahead. This collaboration is a key step forward to enabling the uptake of emerging technologies, which will help to shape the future of the U.S. water industry” said Bill Kelly, Business Development Director of Isle Inc. “The industry needs this type of forum to ensure that innovation currently being lost to our marketplace is allowed to see the light of day and deliver the sustainable solutions that we need to be implementing now for the future.”
Source: Water Research Foundation