Today, the world faces a defining challenge: how to manage too much, too little or too polluted water in the face of growing populations, climate change and strained infrastructure . Among these pressures, water sanitation has emerged as one the most urgent global concerns. The impacts of climate change, growing demand and the depletion of natural resources call for a paradigm shift in how water service providers, water management authorities, regions, cities and citizens manage and protect water. Society must develop and increase the adoption of innovative solutions to ensure water sustainability and resilience across all societal functions, while fully safeguarding the environment. Strengthening sanitation systems, preventing pollution and improving wastewater treatment are essential steps, but achieving this requires tools that allow for better monitoring, enforcement and long-term planning.
New solutions are required for:
- preventing and detecting non-revenue losses across the entire supply chain
- improving wastewater treatment performance
- raising awareness
- locating leakages
- repairing sanitation and distribution infrastructure.
The adoption of digital solutions in the water sector is still fragmented, occurring primarily in specific geographical regions. It lacks consistency and is typically constrained by limited financial resources which hinders scalability.
Unlocking private investment for water solutions, initiating the partnerships needed to finance them at scale, connecting supply and demand, creating sustainable business models, and deploying robust technical solutions are all essential steps for generating enduring economic returns and creating lasting impact in the sector.
Topics identified for this call:
- Water Resilience, including:
- Water quality monitoring
- Water availability management
- Water Sanitation
- Monitoring of Industrial Discharge
- Water Sustainability, including:
- Infrastructure monitoring
- High-Non Revenue Water
- Failures in Sewage
- Resilience to drought and flooding
This opportunity is open to companies that intend to develop space-enabled services and products related, but not restricted, to the topics of relevance outlined above. Applicants from the UK are eligible and can receive funding covering up to 50% of their costs, subject to approval from the UK Space Agency.
ESA will hold a briefing webinar on 20 May at 11:00 CEST (10am UK time): click here to register for a place.