Cleveland Water Alliance
Changing how we value water.
Who We Are
Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA) accelerates technology to solve global water challenges while strengthening our regional economy.
Establishing Ohio as a leading destination for water innovation, CWA attracts tech creators from around the world to test, trial, refine, launch, and distribute their products and solutions right here.
This continuous pipeline of innovation provides our water managers and communities the tools and critical data they need to protect our most precious resource.
The Year in Brief
This year, we:
Successfully executed year-round deployments that moved cutting-edge technologies closer to full-scale adoption.
Grew our geographic reach and infrastructure through strategic new partnerships and host sites across the state.
Established Ohio as a premier destination for international innovators to refine, launch, and commercialize their solutions.
Our Mission
Foster a freshwater innovation ecosystem that spurs the economy, harnesses technology, informs decision-makers, and drives engagement and research.
Expanding our smart infrastructure and testbed assets to accelerate high-potential water technologies.
Attracting and anchoring global tech companies to Ohio by facilitating deal flow with regional industry leaders.
Amplifying CWA's brand as a global leader and diversifying funding to ensure long-term regional impact.
From Our President & CEO
2025 was the year we truly reinforced the economic value of our work. Through our team's deep industry expertise and our engagement with innovators across the globe, we've identified critical market gaps, and we've built the infrastructure that bridges and fills them.
Our work this past year proved the immense value of public-private partnerships as an essential driver for market entry. When global companies work with us, they aren't just testing technology: they're choosing to do business in Ohio.
As we enter the final year of our current strategic plan, we are energized by the progress we've made. Thank you to all of the partners who helped make this progress possible.
By the Numbers
CWA's network of digital sensors and telecommunications coverage acts as a 'sandbox' to test water monitoring technology and provide data to regional utilities.
This smart and connected infrastructure throughout Ohio establishes Lake Erie as the largest digitally connected freshwater body in the world.
Testbeds & Connectivity
Before a new water technology can hit the market, it must survive real-world conditions that lab testing cannot replicate. CWA's testbed network bridges this gap — from idea to testing, validation to economic impact: ##INLINE0##
Innovators worldwide bring emerging water technology to Ohio.
Real-world trials across Lake Erie, utilities, and industrial host sites.
Independent data and expertise validate performance in demanding conditions.
Solutions launch, scale, and anchor business in Ohio.
Our testbed network serves as a real-world laboratory where we bring together innovators, utilities, and research institutions to accelerate technology from concept to market — testing and trialing across diverse settings, from the vast conditions of Lake Erie to water treatment facilities and industrial host sites.
This pipeline connects end-users directly with emerging technologies to address their most pressing needs. By formalizing strategic partnerships to exchange dealflow, we provide the connections and insight needed to help innovators scale effectively.
Growing Our Reach
New Sites
Featured Tech
Expansion
Dealflow & Adoption
By providing strategic market expertise and business support, we assisted our innovators in navigating the complexities of the water economy — facilitating strategic exits, providing business support, and driving full-scale commercialization.
The network that Cleveland Water Alliance has in place for the testbeds — helping us establish a pilot with a company they're already working with — you can't put a price tag on that, you really can't.
A bi-monthly matchmaking tool that streamlines communication and logistics to reduce the burden of pilot implementation for utilities and industrial partners.
A webinar series featuring innovators from across our network, serving as a vital bridge between technology creators and potential adopters.
CWA facilitated a $6 million water treatment pilot by South Korean engineering solutions leader Techwin — cheaper, safer, readily available drinking water disinfectant. This trial at Avon Lake Regional Water marks the technology's North American debut.
Avon Lake Regional Water — home of the technology's North American debut
Generates high-concentrate sodium hypochlorite on-site using only salt, water, and electricity — replacing traditional, hazardous disinfection methods with a resilient, modern process that meets EPA mandates.
By producing its own disinfectant, Avon Lake Regional Water secures its supply chain against price spikes and eliminates the risks of transporting chlorine gas — keeping costs low for rate payers while surplus sales create new revenue.
This $6 million foreign investment highlights the capacity to attract global companies to the U.S. market — ensuring Ohio remains a primary landing pad for international innovation.
CWA executed a technology trial designed to stop agricultural nutrient runoff at the source — created by Neundorfer, Inc., a Northeast Ohio-based leader with over 50 years of experience in industrial pollution control.
Neundorfer's Electric Cell Lysis uses pulsed electrical charges to rupture cells in liquid manure — separating phosphorus into a harvestable solid and leaving a nutrient-balanced liquid that can be safely applied to fields without contributing to runoff.
Funded by Ohio EPA, H2Ohio, and the U.S. EPA, and deployed across three cattle farms in the Western Lake Erie Basin — evaluating real-world performance while gathering direct feedback from the farming community.
Researchers at Heidelberg University's National Center for Water Quality Research are analyzing performance data to provide independent validation of the technology's effectiveness.
Community Science
Established in 2020, LEVSN is a collaborative effort organized through regional hubs that empower volunteer groups to collect, share, and engage with water quality data for the conservation of our Great Lakes — while acting as part of our testbed network.
This year, LEVSN achieved advancements that transform how volunteer data is used. LEVSN data is now officially recognized as credible and accessible for research by:
Workforce Development
The rapidly growing sensing and monitoring industry has created high demand for a specialized workforce. CWA is meeting this need with hands-on training and industry connections — in partnership with Baldwin Wallace University, Thomas More University, and Argonaut and Davis Aerospace & Maritime High School.
Our students really get excited about working on projects that have a connection to safeguarding public health… bringing this new technology to practice is a really unique facet for us and compliments what we can do here.
Financial Highlights
Fiscal year January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024
With gratitude to our 300+ partners and donors around the world who make this work possible.
In Memoriam
Cleveland Water Alliance exists today because of the vision and determination of our founding Board Chair, Dr. Jeanette "Jenny" Grasselli Brown. A trailblazing scientist and community leader, Jenny brought together the leaders and resources necessary to establish a global hub for water innovation.
Jenny's legacy lives on through the work of CWA, and her foundational leadership has made all the progress shared in this report possible.
Explore the full 2025 Impact Report, meet our team and board, and join us in changing how we value water.
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