WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking proposals from universities, water utilities, private industry and others to address a broad range of desalting and water purification needs, according to a press release.
Reclamation is interested in research that will have national significance and where the benefits of the technology will be widespread, noted the release.
Proposals that support Reclamation's research priorities will receive additional credit during the rating process, reported the release, with priorities including: Research and pilot studies conducted at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility, development and evaluation of flexible use systems for treating waters of significantly varying salinities and pilot studies treating agricultural return flows containing elevated levels of total dissolved solids and selenium.
According to the release, funding will be provided for laboratory studies, which last up to 13 months and are typically bench scale studies involving small flow rates, and pilot scale projects, which typically follow research studies to demonstrate the technology works at a larger scale.
Reclamation will provide up to $1.5 million in total funding this year, continued the release, with up to $150,000 available for each laboratory study and up to $200,000 per year for each pilot scale project, for a total of up to $400,000 for two years.
Read the full release here.
