STAGE ONE
THE GEORGE BARLEY WATER PRIZE
Stage One of the competition was open to everyone, from top-tier universities doing cutting edge research to inventors working in their garage. 104 teams entered ideas, and offered their insights and inspirations on why they decided to embark on solving one of the most vexing challenges facing our planet.
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​
In this stage the prize purse was $35,000 competitors were judged on
1. Performance indicators
2. Experiment description
3. Environmental outcome assessment
4. Overall presentation
​
Competitors were scored on
​
1. Phosphorus Removal
2. Environmental Sustainability
3. Overall Presentation
STAGE ONE
THE GEORGE BARLEY WATER PRIZE
Stage One of the competition was open to everyone, from top-tier universities doing cutting edge research to inventors working in their garage. 104 teams entered ideas, and offered their insights and inspirations on why they decided to embark on solving one of the most vexing challenges facing our planet.
​
​
In this stage the prize purse was $35,000 competitors were judged on
1. Performance indicators
2. Experiment description
3. Environmental outcome assessment
4. Overall presentation
​
Competitors were scored on
​
1. Phosphorus Removal
2. Environmental Sustainability
3. Overall Presentation
GRAND
CHALLENGE
THE GEORGE BARLEY WATER PRIZE
The final ‘Grand Challenge’ stage of the George Barley Water Prize will be the robust testing of contestants under field conditions in the Greater Everglades to validate whether these leading technologies can remove phosphorus from the Kissimmee River or a comparable water body under real conditions at significantly lower cost than currently possible.
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​
The 9 Pilot Phase teams will be narrowed down to the final four, who will move on to the final stage of the competition. Advancers will be announced in October 2018, in Toronto, during Canada’s Water Innovation Week. While Stage 3 asked teams to perform through snowmelt conditions, Stage 4 will require teams to demonstrate their ability to perform in subtropical conditions. Four teams will receive continuous flow, averaging 1 million gallons per day (gpd), with a variable spike of 4 million gallons per day, over the course of 14 months.
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​
A Grand Challenge winner will have demonstrated endurance in a range temperatures, proving their technology is globally applicable. With the support of the State of Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection and the St. John’s River Water Management District, the Grand Challenge will be hosted on the banks of Lake Jesup, in Oviedo, Florida.
In this stage the prize purse is a
$10 Million Grand Prize
$250,000 Secondary Prize
$170,000 Phoenix Prize
competitors are judged on
1. TP results from grand stage testing
2. Cost calculations
3. Background water characteristics
4. Waste disposal plan
5. Environmental outcome assessment
6. By-product recovery income plan
7. Twenty-page scalability plan
​
Competitors were scored on
​
1. Phosphorus Removal
2. Environmental Sustainability
3. Overall Presentation
GRAND
CHALLENGE
THE GEORGE BARLEY WATER PRIZE
The final ‘Grand Challenge’ stage of the George Barley Water Prize will be the robust testing of contestants under field conditions in the Greater Everglades to validate whether these leading technologies can remove phosphorus from the Kissimmee River or a comparable water body under real conditions at significantly lower cost than currently possible.
​
​
The 9 Pilot Phase teams will be narrowed down to the final four, who will move on to the final stage of the competition. Advancers will be announced in October 2018, in Toronto, during Canada’s Water Innovation Week. While Stage 3 asked teams to perform through snowmelt conditions, Stage 4 will require teams to demonstrate their ability to perform in subtropical conditions. Four teams will receive continuous flow, averaging 1 million gallons per day (gpd), with a variable spike of 4 million gallons per day, over the course of 14 months.
​
​
A Grand Challenge winner will have demonstrated endurance in a range temperatures, proving their technology is globally applicable. With the support of the State of Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection and the St. John’s River Water Management District, the Grand Challenge will be hosted on the banks of Lake Jesup, in Oviedo, Florida.
In this stage the prize purse is a
$10 Million Grand Prize
$250,000 Secondary Prize
$170,000 Phoenix Prize
competitors are judged on
1. TP results from grand stage testing
2. Cost calculations
3. Background water characteristics
4. Waste disposal plan
5. Environmental outcome assessment
6. By-product recovery income plan
7. Twenty-page scalability plan
​
Competitors were scored on
​
1. Phosphorus Removal
2. Environmental Sustainability
3. Overall Presentation
STAGE ONE
THE GEORGE BARLEY WATER PRIZE
Stage One of the competition was open to everyone, from top-tier universities doing cutting edge research to inventors working in their garage. 104 teams entered ideas, and offered their insights and inspirations on why they decided to embark on solving one of the most vexing challenges facing our planet.
​
​
In this stage the prize purse was $35,000 competitors were judged on
1. Performance indicators
2. Experiment description
3. Environmental outcome assessment
4. Overall presentation
​
Competitors were scored on
​
1. Phosphorus Removal
2. Environmental Sustainability
3. Overall Presentation
WETSUS
LEEUWARDEN, NETHERLANDS
Wetsus NaFRAd is a two-step approach where phosphorus is removed through
flocculation to remove particulate phosphorus and adsorption to remove the
soluble phosphorus. This approach has a very small plot size and low operational
costs. In the first step, natural organic flocculants are used with a sand filter that is
backwashed regularly to remove the collected matter. The particulates are allowed
to settle in a gravity separator to produce an organic sludge that can be reused
in agricultural applications. In the second step, soluble phosphorus is removed
through adsorption on a special granular iron oxide material with a high phosphate
adsorption capacity. This process can be regenerated on site at larger installations
or for smaller installations at a centralized off site facility. The phosphate recovered
from the regeneration liquid is a clean, green replacement of the phosphate rock currently mined in Florida.
The team is composed of Leon Korving, Prashanth Kumar, Victor Ajao and Raimonda Buliauskaite. Wetsus is a European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology and develops breakthrough water technology together with more than 100 companies and 20 universities. Wetsus NaFRAd also won Phase 3 of Stage 1 and first place in Stage 2.