Update on June 24, 2021: Total amount for U-WatR CFI Innovation Fund has been awarded at $4M, which consists of funding from Canada Foundation for Innovation, BC Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF), and various sources.
The Used-Water to Resources (U-WatR) initiative, led by Civil Engineering professor Pierre Bérubé, has been awarded $1.6 million through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s 2020 Innovation Fund competition.
The competition, which funds up to 40 per cent of a project’s eligible infrastructure costs, aims to “enhance and optimize the capacity of institutions and research communities to conduct the proposed research or technology development program(s),” the Government of Canada announced.
The U-WatR initiative aims to transform existing used water treatment infrastructure into economically and environmentally sustainable assets. One of its main goals is to develop knowledge and technological innovations that will reduce and ultimately eliminate energy use and greenhouse emissions from water treatment.
U-WatR is comprised of a diverse team of emerging and established researchers who are global leaders in their respective fields. Their research outputs have been instrumental to the success of Canadian initiatives such as RES’EAU-WaterNET, and PEOPLE Networks; and global partnerships such as China-Canada Bioenergy Centre, Water Magic, MEMPREX, and MiDAS.
“The infrastructure obtained through the CFI will enable researchers at UBC to develop the novel technologies and solutions needed to transform used-water facilities into resource-generating centres while also protecting human and environmental health,” said Bérubé.
Dr. Bérubé’s initiative is one of nine projects led by UBC researchers that were funded. Together these projects were awarded a total of $28.3 million in research infrastructure support.
For more information, please see announcement by UBC Applied Science.