A. O. Smith Corporation and The Water Council (TWC) announces WATERSURPLUS as the 2019 winner of the BREW Corporate Accelerator: Powered by A. O. Smith challenge. The BREW Accelerator program is designed to help support entrepreneurs and startups that are developing innovative freshwater technologies.
WATERSURPLUS, of Loves Park, Illinois, provides water treatment engineering and design services, custom equipment, a diverse rental fleet, a complete line of pre-engineered filtration equipment and on-site services like plant optimization.
Developing innovative technology
The WATERSURPLUS team has developed and is currently pilot testing a bio-inspired, low-fouling coating that significantly improves RO membrane performance from hard-to-treat water.
“We’re excited to partner with the WATERSURPLUS team. The team is not only experienced and knowledgeable in the RO technology field, but in the water technology space as well,” notes Dr. Robert Heideman, chief technology officer at A. O. Smith Corporation. “The relative maturity of their RO coating technology says a lot about their hard work and dedication in developing innovative technology for the water treatment industry.”
Innovation-Driven startups
The BREW connects early stage technology ventures with the resources they need to fast track the creation
WATERSURPLUS president and owner John Barelli said, “At WATERSURPLUS we have always operated in a collaborative way, which I feel is a crucial ingredient in the innovation process. We are honored to be recognized for our efforts by A. O. Smith and The Water Council and we look forward to working with the A. O. Smith team.”
The TWC’s BREW (Business — Research — Entrepreneurship — in Water) is the world’s foremost freshwater seed accelerator. Designed to advance the commercialization of innovation-driven startups in the global water industry, the BREW connects early stage technology ventures with the resources they need to fast track the creation and deployment of real-world solutions to freshwater challenges.
Specific real-World challenges
The BREW is a three-and-a-half month program focused on startups with technological concepts that address a specific area such as nutrient runoff and other novel solutions. The curriculum uses customer discovery to lead participants through the process of refining their value proposition and understanding their future customers.
The TWC’s BREW Corporate Accelerator focused on six areas of interest to A. O. Smith: water treatment, water heating, sensors, IoT, machine learning and artificial intelligence. BREW Corporate is an expansion of the BREW Accelerator program developed by TWC. BREW Corporate offers participants the same framework, funding and access to resources as the BREW, but with pre-existing interest and committed funding from a corporate partner. BREW Corporate is designed to solicit viable technical solutions for specific real-world challenges that have been identified and outlined by the funding corporation.
Continuously finding innovative solutions
We are pleased to have A. O. Smith Corporation as a three time BREW Corporate Accelerator partner"
The funding corporation, along with coaches and technical advisors, will help optimize every winners’ business model, speed up its technology’s commercialization and directly support the startup’s entry into the marketplace. All entries were reviewed by a panel of A. O. Smith employees, TWC senior staff, and subject matter experts in the area of freshwater science.
“We are pleased to have A. O. Smith Corporation as a three time BREW Corporate Accelerator partner,” states Dean Amhaus, president and CEO of The Water Council. “It is especially exciting to witness a water tech corporation continuously find innovative solutions from water tech startups through the BREW.”
Reverse osmosis system
A. O. Smith will provide the WATERSURPLUS team with $50,000 to develop its technology. WATERSURPLUS will also participate in TWC’s three-and-a-half month accelerator program focused on customer discovery. In addition, the WATERSURPLUS team will also receive:
- Office space in the Global Water Center in Milwaukee;
- Access to The Water Council's water tech leadership network;
- Media exposure and communications support;
- Access to A. O. Smith's product development labs;
- Mentoring from A. O. Smith project management, engineering and business experts; and
- A complimentary one-year membership with The Water Council.
“The advancements demonstrated in our most recent innovations, leveraging intelligent micro disruptions during the operation of the reverse osmosis system, will reduce the economic and environmental costs of producing purified water. These operational improvements occur at a time when increased efforts to manage our global water resources are of increasing importance,” Barelli concludes.