An Israeli tech startup called Utilis has taken top honors at Imagine H2O this year, for technology that can detect underground leaks in underground, potable water supply systems through analysis of satellite imagery. Americans waste 1 trillion gallons of water every year thanks to leaky faucets, faulty sprinkler systems and other small systems. Utilis’ tech can find leaks to systems that are much bigger, serving urban markets, and help utilities to repair them before the waste has a detrimental effect on people living nearby.

Each year, IH2O rallies tech startups to develop solutions for particular problems around our global water supply. This year’s theme was simply, “data.” IH2O President Scott Bryan said, “Data is a building block you must have in water. Communities cannot make big decisions around a desalination plant if they don’t have data about leaks, or how much energy it may takes to move water from point a to point b, for example. Without data you can’t plan, and you can’t do things, big things, in water.”Judges at the IH2O annual event ranged from Silicon Valley venture investors to technologists from water utilities and large industrials, to sustainability experts and policy makers. All 12 companies invited to be finalists in this competition were accepted into the IH2O accelerator. But Utilis also scored a cash prize of$25,000 and will have the option of free business services and mentorship provided by partners of IH2O.

The announcement of the winning water tech innovators fell on a date when President Donald Trump sent an aggressive budget to Congress seeking to dramatically cut funding for the E.P.A., and the United Nations both of which are running multiple initiatives to study and conserve the world’s clean water supply. For example, the E.P.A. runs regional projects like the great Lakes Restoration Initiative. And the United Nations recognizes access to safe and clean drinking water and water for sanitation are human rights. That budget is getting push back. But no matter the outcome me, it’s at least heartening to know that if the U.S. government stops supporting such initiatives financially, and otherwise, some (if too few) private sector organizations are banding together to find technological approaches to water conservation, and protection.
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Source : https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/16/utilis-takes-top-water-innovation-prize-at-imagine-h2o/amp/?_e_pi_=7%2CPAGE_ID10%2C5355986797

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