Water Technology Program Names Inaugural Class

Pipeline H2O, a new water technology commercialization program managed by The Hamilton Mill, has announced its first class of companies. Supported by a coalition of regional cities, utilities, universities, and startup organizations throughout the Greater Cincinnati region, Pipeline H2O’s goal is to identify and accelerate companies working on water technologies that address the world’s water challenges. Some of the challenges include infrastructure improvements, water reuse, wastewater treatment, monitoring and consumer innovations.

The call for applications was initiated on September 12, 2016 and ran through November 2016. 66 applications were received from across 5 continents representing 14 different countries.

Pipeline H2O’s application review process included multiple rounds of evaluations to select the initial class of 8 companies. The evaluations were conducted by a diverse committee comprised of a cross-section of water experts (Greater Cincinnati Water Works, The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, City of Hamilton Water, Confluence, Butler County Groundwater Consortium, U.S. EPA) and entrepreneurial leaders (Hamilton Mill, Cintrifuse, Village Capital, Queen City Angels).

“We are thrilled with the quality and quantity of the applicants for the initial Pipeline H2O class. The high quality of the applications made it very difficult to select the initial members,” said Rahul Bawa, Chairman of Pipeline H2O and The Hamilton Mill. “The Greater Cincinnati region has some of the best water resources and municipal water in the nation and we are looking forward to making a substantial impact for each of these companies to find customers and generate revenue.“

The Pipeline H2O program will run from February through May 2017 and will introduce the selected startups to various value-add resources throughout the region. Additionally, Pipeline H2O is part of the Village Capital community network dedicated to innovation. Village Capital (VilCap) operates business development programs for early-stage entrepreneurs in agriculture, education, energy, financial inclusion, health and water. Cincinnati is one of five Village Capital communities dedicated to innovation around water technologies.

The water-tech commercialization program was brought to Cincinnati through a partnership between several different organizations: Village Capital, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati Water Works, Confluence, the University of Cincinnati’s water center, Xavier University’s Center for Innovation, the City of Cincinnati, the City of Hamilton, Cintrifuse and The Hamilton Mill.

Antony Seppi, Pipeline H2O’s Director of Flow added, “We can’t wait to begin working with these startups and introducing them to the value-add resources throughout the Greater Cincinnati region. Our region has some of the best water assets that can be leveraged to help these companies succeed. These assets include water-tech expertise and a great entrepreneurial ecosystem within #StartupCincy.”

The first class of Pipeline H2O includes the following companies (in alphabetical order):

ANDalyze

ANDalyze (Champaign, IL) offers products for testing water contamination using catalytic DNA technologies. The company has developed a methodology for detecting and quantifying chemical levels based on the recent discovery of the catalytic properties of DNA. This technology and product is a universal platform that offers simple, fast, inexpensive and reliable detection of trace metals and other target chemicals.

AguaClara

AguaClara (Ithaca, NY) is a social enterprise that designs nonelectric municipal-scale surface water treatment technologies that are sustainable in underserved communities. Unlike conventional technologies, the systems are long-lasting in a wide variety of contexts because they are built using locally-available materials, they can be run by a local operator with a primary education and they are powered 100% by gravity. AguaClara trains local partners to deploy these technologies in-country and provide long-term technical support to the communities they serve.

kW River Hydroelectric

kW River Hydroelectric (Hamilton, OH) is an enterprise focused on the development and commercialization of the Williams Cross-Flow Turbine. University research has proven the performance and scalability of this patented turbine design when used to capture the power of rivers flowing over low-head dams. The design of the turbine minimizes environmental impacts, eliminates modifications to the dam structure, and actually makes the river safer for recreational use. Flexible design components enable the turbine to be applied to a high percentage of the thousands of low-head dams across the US.

PowerTech Water

PowerTech Water (Lexington, KY) has developed a revolutionary water treatment technology based on their INCION™ technology platform that more effectively removes salts, minerals, and toxic metals with application in water softening, desalination, wastewater treatment and beyond. Access to clean and affordable water is of growing concern as evident by the recent crises in Flint, MI and the drought in CA. Unlike traditional water treatment technologies, PowerTech does not use any chemicals, membranes, or consumables resulting in a reduction in the cost and waste associated with water purification by up to 60% and 80% respectively.

Searen

Searen (Cincinnati, OH) is an “Aquatech” company focused on providing superior water treatment solutions that utilizes sustainable technologies, including the exclusive and patented Vacuum Airlift (VAL). The VAL is a state of the art water treatment device that can replace aging legacy hardware, drive sustainable operations and decrease operating costs by consolidating multiple pieces of equipment into one simple treatment solution.

Slipstream ZLD

Slipstream ZLD (Albuquerque, NM) develops, manufactures and deploys the first ever low-cost, extremely efficient wastewater crystallization system for low volume industrial producers. These small manufacturing facilities and metals finishing shops can now participate in Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD), where wastewater is eliminated completely.

WaterStep

Waterstep (Louisville, KY) has developed the WaterStep Mobile Water System (MWS). The MWS is a rapid-deployment option to provide system redundancy for disaster relief organizations, water utilities, or others responsible for providing safe water through a mini-water treatment plant. The MWS includes everything needed for quick assembly and operation, and can provide safe water within two hours after being deployed.

WEL Enterprise

WEL Enterprise (Covington, KY) has developed the first ever system to handle all treatment and reclamation of wastewater on one platform. By using leading technologies, WEL’s system lifts pollutants and exceeds the EPA (NPDES) permit limits. WEL also provides the option to recycle various elements, process chemicals and other materials as part of their system. The use of the WEL system saves significant costs and volumes in water consumption, sewage production and surcharges associated with pollution.

 

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