$700,000 global water prize competition reopens

Middle East Desalination Research Centre (MEDRC) has announced the opening of

registration for this year’s Oman Humanitarian Desalination Challenge Prize Competition.

The competition is a global water prize that looks to award $700,000 to the person or

team that can invent a small, cheap and easy to use desalination device that would enable

people in emergency situations to single handedly purify salty or contaminated water to a

safe drinking standard.

The latest announcement comes after MEDRC has completed the screening process for all

the 2020-2021 entries and officially declared that no winning device was found.

A joint initiative led by MEDRC and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and

Innovation, the Oman Humanitarian Desalination Challenge Prize Competition was first

launched in 2018 in Muscat. This is the third time the competition has been open to

competitors. Competitors may be individuals, companies, academic institutions, non-profits

and others.

The complexity of the challenge and the enormity of the cash prize has helped to attract

global attention. MEDRC reports that 48 registrations were received in 2020 from 20

countries. Competitor backgrounds were notably diverse, with leading water research

entities, commercial organisations, entrepreneurs and individual problem solvers all

participating.

Following an initial screening process conducted by MEDRC, 32 qualified teams went on to

participate, 13 of which reached the deadline to submit their entry. One device was tested

by MEDRC and came very close to meeting the competition selection criteria.

On opening the application for 2023, MEDRC Director, Ciarán Ó Cuinn, said, “Current

technologies that turn seawater into fresh water are a miracle. But they are expensive,

energy intensive and involve large-scale industrial processes. That needs to change. The

Oman Humanitarian Challenge is about miniaturising that technology, making it cheaper,

more environmentally sustainable and accessible globally. We're getting scientists and

engineers to focus on delivering a $20, off-grid, handheld device that can desalinate enough

seawater to sustain a human being for 30 days. Delivering this will be a humanitarian and

technological game-changer. Each year we get a little closer. Working with Oman's Ministry

of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, we're determined to close the gap and make

this desalination breakthrough.”

MEDRC has set up a globally representative international panel of experts to assist the

challenge and form the judging panel. They are comprised of representatives from the

funding entities alongside internationally renowned water experts. The online application is

currently open and will close on May 31.