The Aquatech Innovation Award recognises world-class innovation and technologies that have the potential to disrupt the global water market.
Acknowledging world-class innovations and the latest technological developments, this year’s award received 92 innovative entries– the highest in history.
After an independent and detailed review led by jury chairman Professor Cees Buisman, Scientific Director of Wetsus, the European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology, Aquatech is pleased to announce that the overall winner of the 2023 Innovation Award is the EDBM ElectroMembrane Stack from REDstack BV.
Innovation stacks up
The Dutch start-up was recognised by the judging committee for playing a pivotal role in helping to scale up electroactive membranes and the ability to “connect multiple systems”.
"Many companies develop membranes but not with scale," said jury chairman Professor Cees Buisman. "Including the electrical field on the stacks, with scale, is innovative and one of the reasons we decided this innovation should be the overall winner."
The platform technology stacks can be used for various resource recovery applications, including carbon capture, ammonia recovery from waste streams and lithium recovery. Potential end users for the solution include the food and beverage market, oil & gas, energy & power, agriculture and municipal water.
Category winners
A total of 14 innovative technologies were selected from the expert jury, from which the category winners and the overall winner were announced during the opening of the flagship Aquatech Amsterdam event.
In total, there were five categories:
- Wastewater Treatment
- Water Supply (drinking water, clean water, including point of use/entry)
- Transport and Process & Control
- Green Chemicals for Water Technology
- Innovation not to market yet
The category winners are as follows:
Wastewater Treatment
- EDBM ElectroMembrane Stack - REDstack BV
Water Supply (drinking water, clean water, including point of use/entry)
- ClipR - Factorylab BV
Transport and Process & Control
- Inline Pipeline Inspection Dashboard – Acquaint
Green Chemicals for Water Technology
- NEAT - Sudoc LLC
Innovation not to market yet
- Blue Energy - REDstack BV
Continued inspiration to solve water challenges
"We were incredibly pleased with the record number of innovative entries," Buisman added. "It underscores that the water industry continues to innovate and is dedicated to searching for innovations that can make a difference.”
Reflecting on the quality of the overall innovations, Buisman concluded: "Two years ago, the jury thought we had witnessed all the innovations in the water sector to some extent, but the entries continue to surprise us!
“It's inspiring to see so many people engaged in the water sector to work on a better world."
The voice of the waterprofessional: the Aquatech COMMUNITY Award goes to...
The water professional also had a voice. They could choose their personal favourite nominee for the Aquatech COMMUNITY Award online. The nominee with the most votes is Sanipure with their innovation Zero B. They are the winner of the Aquatech COMMUNITY Award 2023!
The Aquatech Innovation Award jury:
- Prof. Dr. Ir. C.J.N. Buisman (Wetsus – Chairman of the Jury)
- Prof. Dr. Ir. W.M. de Vos (TU Twente)
- Ir. P. Kamp (PUM Netherlands Senior Experts)
- Dr. Ir. Wilbert van de Ven EMBA (Grundfos Holding A/S)
- Prof. Dr. Ir. A.J.H. Janssen (Shell Global Solutions)
- Ir. C.A. Uijterlinde (STOWA)
- Prof. M. Kennedy, PhD (IHE Delft, Institute for Water Education)
- Prof. Drs. J.S. Vrouwenvelder, PhD (KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)
Aquatech Amsterdam 2023 takes place from Monday November 6th until Thursday November 9th. Entrance is free after online registration.
