In partnership with USAID, MEDRC is launching an international research call for proposals to boost innovation in small scale desalination technologies. The Humanitarian Desalination Challenge Research Call will support pathway research, aimed at the delivery of an innovative family sized desalination unit.
The initiative is designed to run in parallel and in support of the Oman Humanitarian Desalination Challenge launched by MEDRC and The Research Council (TRC) in March 2018 which offers a $700,000 prize for the person or team that delivers a hand-held, stand-alone, low-cost, desalination device suitable for short-term use and rapid deployment in the event of a humanitarian crisis.
The Humanitarian Desalination Challenge will now consist of two parallel tracks designed to stimulate innovation in small scale desalination technologies:
1. The $ 700,000 Challenge Prize: Known as the Oman Humanitarian Desalination Challenge, the global water prize is a joint initiative led by MEDRC and The Research Council with funding provided by the Sultan Qaboos Higher Center for Culture and Science. It aims to deliver a hand-held, low-cost, off-grid desalination device that can be rapidly deployed in the aftermath of a humanitarian crisis.
2. The New Desalination Challenge Research Call: Backed by USAID, the Research Call looks for the development of an innovative family sized desalination device that, in addition to reducing pressure on existing water pressure in the developing world, could be downsized to meet the Challenge Prize Criteria for a single-user device.
MEDRC will award up to two Pathway Research Grants up to a maximum of $90,000 each in 2019. Should the Oman Humanitarian Desalination Challenge not be won in 2019 another Desalination Challenge Research Call will be made in 2020.
Specifically, the funding aims to deliver a family-sized (120 litres of water per day) brackish desalination device as a precursor or earlier generation to a hand-held device that the Oman Humanitarian Desalination Challenge Prize looks for.
From their headquarters in Muscat, MEDRC’s water research programme looks for the latest technological advancements that can cut operational costs, energy requirements and the environmental impact of desalination.
The organisation’s Center Director, Ciarán Ó Cuinn said ‘While exciting technological advances have been and continue to made in large scale desalination technologies, we want to shift the focus and look for ways to make the technology more accessible to everyone, independent of large-scale desalination plants. Through the support of our partners The Research Council (TRC) and now USAID, we are leading a major global drive to look for the breakthrough solutions that can transform this life saving technology’
The detailed announcement including all application requirements can be found on the MEDRC website www.medrc.org/research. Closing date for applications is September 1, 2019.
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