CWA Holds In-Depth Q&A Session Webinars for Open Innovation Challenge

April 8, 2021

Cleveland Water Alliance held its final two Open Innovation Challenge webinars on Wednesday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

During these in-depth Q&A sessions, hosted by CWA Director of Clusters & Innovation, Ebie Holst, water innovators interested in tackling the development of new technologies within CWA’s Challenge parameters were able to ask specific questions about RFTs and processes.

CWA introduced two challenges with industry partners, each with its own RFT, on March 15, 2021.

The first OI Challenge, Automated Detection of Water Contaminants for Use Inside of the Home, was reiterated as a crucial need for today’s consumers. In partnership with global consumer-products leader Moen, this challenge seeks innovations that can detect lead, chromium, and other contaminants at the residential Point of Use (PoU).

One Moen team member who was part of the Q&A panel, simply stated, “If you’re drinking the water, it’s important to know what’s coming out of your tap.”


Some of the pertinent questions asked during the live webinar were:

-Who will own the intellectual property of the technology developed?

-What level of lead detection is acceptable for passing an initial test?
-Has Moen performed any unbiased customer discovery to understand if customers are eager to pay for this type of solution?

To hear the answers to these questions and more, please catch up on the full webinar below.

For additional questions/comments regarding this Challenge, please email
OI-2021.POU@clewa.org.

The second OI Challenge webinar discussing Lead Service Line Detection without Breaking Ground, welcomed panelists from our additional six Open Innovation sponsors, Cleveland Water, Aqua, City of Akron, City of Sandusky, City of Conneaut, Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW). The goal of this RFT is to create a technology that physically detects lead service lines without breaking ground. There is an urgent need for this innovation across the water utilities industry nationwide to act in compliance with the new federal regulations mandating the replacement of lead pipes.


Some of the pertinent questions asked during the live webinar were:

-Can you describe what curb-stop access looks like?

-What is the most-common substrate or ground cover that you tend to see covering service lines?
-Would the utility anticipate doing or being open to consider doing a water shut-off prior to attempting detection?

To hear the answers to these questions and more, please catch up on the full webinar below.

For additional questions/comments regarding this Challenge, please email
OI-2021.LEAD@clewa.org.


Letters of Intent for both OI Challenges (to be sent to emails above) are due Friday, April 16, 2021 by 3 PM ET. LOIs are simple to prepare and are required to be considered for the 2021 CWA Open Innovation Challenge Season.  Your LOI indicates your likely intention to submit a full proposal in June, with only a brief summary as follows:

-       Name of inventor(s)

-       Name of associated company/ies, university/ies or organization(s)

-       Name, phone and e-mail contact information

-       Up to three (3) paragraphs describing technology, approach and/or current uses of the technology or innovation.


CWA’s Open Innovation Challenge season includes opportunities for testing devices with Challenge partner(s), prize-money rewards, media exposure, and potential longer-term opportunities to engage more deeply with a broad range of industry partners over time. It is an incredible chance to become a part of a greater, global movement.


It is important to mention that this Open Innovation Challenge would not be possible without the grant awarded to CWA by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). CWA was one of only seven organizations selected by the EDA nationwide, and the only freshwater-focused organization to receive EDA Blue Economy funding. This grant, along with matching funds raised from regional partners, provides CWA with approximately $1.2 million to expand market-driven innovation programming and develop two of CWA’s planned testbeds that will enable innovators to test and demonstrate devices under real-world conditions to help validate technology performance and increase visibility to potential buyers.

Blog Post Author

Author Bio

Read Full Bio

Other Blog Posts