Seven water innovators have been awarded an aggregate R7-million grant to kick off field testing and further product development after a call for solutions to help resolve some of South Africa’s water challenges, particularly those exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in South Africa and the Water Research Commission (WRC) received 36 applications from private businesses, academia and nongovernmental organisations, with 16 shortlisted to pitch their ideas to a panel of water sector experts.
The seven innovators, namely GreenGold Technology; Adsorb Technologies; Hydro Blü; MagnaClear; h-u-m-a-n Life Designs; Trapstuutjies Environmental ; and ENTEC, will now start the next stage of product development towards an eventual product that can impact South Africa’s water and sanitation landscape.
The joint initiative formed part of a partnership agreement between the UNDP and WRC to fast-track the development and promote the adoption of promising innovations in the water sector and make more progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SGD) 6 on clean water and sanitation.
The two entities aim to collaborate to facilitate research and innovation sharing, co-creation, and promotion of access to water and sanitation for people in South Africa and the rest of the Africa.