Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA) recently wrapped up a busy week in Chicago, where our team attended both WEFTEC, the world's leading water quality conference, and OCEANS 2025 Great Lakes, a premier ocean engineering and science event. From prominent speaking engagements to new international partnerships, this highly productive trip further solidified CWA's role as a leader in the global water economy.

CWA’s WEFTEC Reception

The week began with CWA's WEFTEC kickoff reception on Sunday. CWA was honored to host 60 friends and partners from around the world. Co-hosted by Daegu Metropolitan City, a leading center for water innovation based in South Korea, the event was a great opportunity to spotlight Ohio's leadership in the water economy and foster international innovation and dealflow. The reception served as a casual kickoff to the busy conference week, offering an opportunity for CWA’s team to reconnect with old friends and partners from diverse sectors.

Formalizing Key International Agreements

Building on the momentum of the reception, CWA’s Executive Director and President, Bryan Stubbs, finalized two significant international agreements that will expand CWA's global reach. Facilitating this international exchange of ideas and technology is essential to accelerating the development of innovative solutions required to meet critical global water challenges. These formal partnerships establish clear pathways for CWA's network to engage with leading international water clusters.

• K-water (Korea Water Resources Corporation) is South Korea's premier public organization that specializes in comprehensive water resources management, providing stable water supply, advanced water quality, and flood control, with a global mission to combat worldwide water issues and provide clean water for all.

• The Catalan Water Partnership (CWP) is one of the largest water associations in Southern Europe, with over 170 members. CWP convenes equipment manufacturers, laboratories, consultancies, engineering companies, universities and other water sector leaders to achieve innovative solutions to global water needs.

Reflecting on these new partnerships, Bryan Stubbs stated, "Connecting with global leaders like K-water and the Catalan Water Partnership is essential to our mission. These partnerships not only bring international innovators to the U.S. to utilize our testbed infrastructure and advance their solutions, but also positions the Great Lakes region as a leading force in solving water challenges on a truly global scale.”

Connecting with Partners

Beyond our own kickoff reception, CWA enjoyed attending several events hosted by key partners throughout the week.

• The team spent time networking at an event hosted by Brown and Caldwell.
• We also attended a scenic river networking cruise hosted by British Water, where we connected with international and domestic partners.
• The team attended an evening reception co-hosted by LimnoTech and HydroDigital.
• Additionally, we connected with peers at an event hosted by Badger Meter, where our team had the chance to meet newer partners in person.
• CWA also had dinner with the Water Research Foundation and one of our key innovators, strengthening future relationships and connections.

Speaking Engagements

Bryan Stubbs participated in two insightful panel discussions at WEFTEC, highlighting the role of CWA and our Great Lakes partners in driving innovation.

U.S.-Saudi Roundtable on Innovative Water Solutions:

‍Bryan participated in an official delegation and roundtable, organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Water Environment Federation, with the Saudi Water Authority. The discussion focused on technological innovation and opportunities to collaborate on water infrastructure projects.

Digital-First Water: Korea’s Journey Toward Smarter Utilities:

Bryan spoke at this panel hosted by the Korea Water Partnership. He shared CWA's insights on Korea’s digital water journey and highlighted the crucial partnerships that have shaped the collaboration between Korea and the Great Lakes.

Building a Water Innovation Engine in the Great Lakes:

Bryan also joined colleagues Alaina Harkness of Current and Steve Kloos of Burnt Island Ventures for a Great Lakes RENEW panel discussion. It explored how this NSF-backed Regional Innovation Engine is advancing the circular blue economy, strengthening supply chains, and transforming waste into wealth.

OCEANS 2025 Great Lakes

While part of our team was at WEFTEC, CWA's Ebie Holst and Emily Hamilton were at OCEANS 2025 Great Lakes. This conference serves as a key gathering for global maritime professionals to learn, innovate, and lead in the protection and utilization of the world's largest natural resource, our oceans. 

Bridging the Innovation Gap with New Regional Partners

At OCEANS, CWA formalized a key partnership to enhance the innovation pipeline for freshwater technology. Ebie Holst met with Discovery Pier and Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

This collaboration will create a powerful, end-to-end support system for freshwater innovators, particularly through the establishment of The Freshwater Center (FWC) in Traverse City, Michigan.

This partnership is designed to cover the full spectrum of a technology's development. Discovery Pier and NMC, through FWC, will specialize in earlier-stage technologies, focusing on concepts, prototypes, and early trialing in controlled, lab-based environments. CWA specializes in the later stages, providing the real-world conditions necessary for robust, full-scale testing and validation of technologies. 

Showcasing CWA’s Expertise at OCEANS

Our team contributed to key discussions on freshwater technology at OCEANS.

Great Lakes Blue Tech Challenge Final:

Emily Hamilton joined a panel of judges from gener8tor and Global Affairs Canada, recognizing three innovative solutions, with the following results:

• First Place: Wave Lumina - $35,000
  
  • In-field device for rapid detection of PFAS
• Second Place: Meknology - $15,000
  
  • System for converting waste byproducts from distillers into marketable resources, like animal feed and fertilizer
• Third Place: Sequestro - $10,000
  
  • Advanced materials manufacturing company with adsorbents for PFAs removal

From Burning Rivers to a Great Lakes Powerhouse – Cleveland’s Freshwater Revival:

Ebie Holst presented alongside Ed Verhamme and Zach Gordon of Freeboard Technology during this Town Hall session, sharing how CWA’s vision to build real-time monitoring and testing infrastructure across Lake Erie has become a reality. Ebie noted that this presentation was a great opportunity to highlight how the success and creation of CWA's monitoring infrastructure could be replicated in other large bodies of water, including ocean environments.

A Global Launchpad for Freshwater Technology

Our team had a successful trip to Chicago, and it was great to reconnect with our partners and colleagues throughout the week. We were able to form new partnerships both internationally and regionally, strengthening the pathway to commercialization and U.S. market entry. We look forward to leveraging these new connections and our testbed infrastructure to further accelerate the development of innovative water technologies.