The overall winner of this year’s Aquatech Innovation Award is an autonomous robot that can help to map water utility pipe infrastructure.
Recognising world-class innovation
An autonomous robot that can help utilities map infrastructure and detect faults in drinking water pipes has been crowned the overall winner of this year’s Aquatech Innovation Award.
The development is a result of multiple stakeholders, including Vitens, Brabant Water and Evides.
Known as ‘Submerge’, the robot can help to detect leaks, corrosions and even be used to map pipe networks to eventually help create a digital twin.
The Aquatech Innovation Awards recognises world-class innovation and technologies that have the potential to move the global water market forward.
A total of 12 innovative technologies were selected from over 50 entries by an expert jury. Category winners and the overall winner of the Aquatech Innovation Award 2021 were revealed at the opening ceremony of Aquatech Amsterdam.
Category winners included:
- Wastewater Treatment: CLC for decentralised water provision - Nijhuis Saur Industries & Semilla Sanitation
- Transport and Process & Control: Hawle.Live KEY - Hawle Service GmbH
- Innovation - not yet to market: Autonomic Inspection Robot - Submerge
- Water Supply (drinking water, clean water, including point of use/entry): BIO-310 UV LED Reactor - Typhon Treatment Systems Ltd
- Green Chemicals for Water: Wasser 3.0 detect | remove | reuse - Wasser 3.0 gGmbH.
Adoption of smarter technologies
“One of the most important trends we witnessed in this year’s Innovation Award entries was the availability and adoption of smart technologies,” commented jury chairman Professor Cees Buisman, Scientific Director of Wetsus, the European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology.
Buisman said the high level and the number of innovations provided real hope for the water sector.
“We’ve had almost two years of the coronavirus crisis, yet we still received more than 50 new entries," added Buisman. “This is a positive sign of how innovative the water sector continues to be. It’s remarkable how engaged so many people are to keep innovating to solve water challenges.”
Editha Hoogenberg-Derksen, event manager of Aquatech Amsterdam, added: “Innovation is always centre stage at Aquatech Amsterdam and our Innovation Awards embody this. We’re so proud of the high number of entries this year. Congratulations to all of the winners!”
Read more about the winners of the Aquatech Innovation Awards.
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