The US government’s Bureau of Reclamation is seeking new technologies to study through its Desalination & Water Purification Development Program, it announced on 3 February 2014.
Pre-proposal applications are being accepted for research and laboratory studies as well as pilot-scale projects aimed at increasing usable water supplies in the USA.
Reclamation will provide funding up to US$ 150,000 for the research and laboratory studies and US$ 400,000 for the pilot-scale projects. Individuals, institutions of higher education, commercial or industrial organizations, private entities (including state and local governments), and Indian Tribal governments are eligible to apply.
Cost-sharing is encouraged but not required for institutions of higher education. Other applicants must provide cost-share of 75% of the cost of their project.
The program is helping Reclamation and its partners confront widening imbalances between supply and demand in basins throughout the west through testing and development of new advanced water treatment technologies.
It focuses on three main goals:
(1) Augment the supply of usable water in the United States
(2) Understand the environmental impacts of desalination and develop approaches to minimize these impacts relative to other water supply alternatives
(3) Develop approaches to lower the financial costs of desalination so that it is an attractive option relative to other alternatives in locations where traditional sources of water are inadequate.
The funding opportunity announcement is available at www.grants.gov by searching for announcement number R14AS00014. Pre-proposals must be submitted through the website by 27 February 2014.