PRESS RELEASE:
Our partner IXOM Watercare was featured in Water World Magazine with an interview with Kelly McCurry about the new Water Selector technology. Click here for the video interview.
Conception
Every surface water plant in the world has an intake structure and many of them draw from reservoirs. At a reservoir intake structure there are typically fewer than four gates and they are at fixed elevations. Water quality in a reservoir varies as a function of depth, and it also varies during different times of the year, month, week or even hour. Since operators usually utilize only one gate at a fixed elevation to withdraw water, water quality entering the treatment plant can vary greatly. Could higher quality, lower cost-to-treat water exist in the water column to admit into the intake structure? How could this be accomplished? What are the cost and risk minimization implications to having a solution that could continuously and automatically select and withdraw only the most preferred water available in a reservoir? Water Selector™ was borne out of answering these questions.
Research
Our research team worked to identify the market for this innovation. After scouring data on water and power plants, it was concluded that there are, conservatively, 25,000 potential sites for the Water Selector™ technology in the United States alone. We quantified the costs associated with treating water of various qualities and determined that there could be a strong value proposition for this technology. Our research then focused on possible partners for this innovation. The ideal partner would be a strong, financially sound company that wanted to grow their product repertoire – and particularly one that might be strong in the pre-treatment sector of water treatment.
Partner and Investor
We introduced the Water Selector™ technology and value proposition to IXOM Watercare, Inc. and they saw it as an ideal, complimentary fit to go along with their MIEX® Process solution. It also fit their strategic plans to aggressively grow their water business. As a worldwide business, Ixom Watercare could take this solution well beyond the U.S. and generate value to customers everywhere. They became our partner, financed Risen Water™’s creation and implementation of the technology, and now license the technology.
Development
The Water Selector™ prototype was designed, fabricated, and installed at a strategic utility site over a 4-month period. Risen Water™’s affiliation with Cornerstone H2O and their extensive network of utility relationships played a key role in quickly locating the ideal prototype site. Although notable challenges developed during all phases of this project, we worked closely with Ixom Watercare to overcome them and the Water Selector™ prototype quickly validated the value proposition and the utility customer is realizing significant improvements to their raw water quality.