National Alliance for Water Innovation

What National Alliance for Water Innovation does

National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) is a research program and public-private partnership supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, co-led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory alongside the National Laboratory of the Rockies, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Headquartered in Berkeley, California, NAWI operates as a 10-year, $235M Energy-Water Desalination Hub focused on lowering the cost and energy required to produce clean water from non-traditional sources — including seawater, inland brackish groundwater, municipal and industrial wastewater, and produced water from oil and gas operations. NAWI's stated target is to enable 90% of non-traditional water sources to be treatable at a levelized cost comparable to today's marginal water supplies, framed as achieving "pipe parity."

NAWI's core deliverables are open-source research tools and a research consortium rather than commercial products. The Water treatment Technoeconomic Assessment Platform (WaterTAP) is a Python package built on the IDAES Platform and Pyomo for technoeconomic modeling of water treatment trains; Water-DAMS is a secure central repository for technology and treatment-train data. NAWI also funds and coordinates applied research projects across the A-PRIME C framework (Autonomous, Precise, Resilient, Intensified, Modular, Electrified, Circular), with topic areas spanning Process Innovation, Materials and Manufacturing, Data Modeling and Analysis, Devices, Treatment Trains, and Regional Water Systems. The consortium includes 125+ research organizations and 400+ partners spanning DOE national labs, universities (MIT, Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley), utilities (Orange County Water District, TVA), industry (ExxonMobil, Poseidon Water), and consortia (EPRI, Water Research Foundation).

NAWI's business model is grant-funded rather than commercial. Research is financed through DOE appropriations (Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, Industrial Technologies Office, Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office) under Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001905, with awardees required to provide a minimum 25% cost share. Funding flows via annual competitive Requests for Proposals administered through NAWI's InfoReady portal. There are no disclosed commercial products, pricing, or revenue streams, and NAWI does not have private equity, venture capital, or public shareholders.

Name

National Alliance for Water Innovation

Legal name

National Alliance for Water Innovation

Website

https://nawihub.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) is a DOE-funded research consortium developing open-source tools and applied R&D to lower the cost and energy of desalination and water reuse across power, industrial, municipal, resource extraction, and agricultural sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Treatment and Desalination Research

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Advanced Treatment & Purification Utilities (MF/UF, RO, AOP, UV) (EUANAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) Utilities (Advanced Treatment & Blending) (EUANAGAC), Industrial Water Reuse Utilities (ZLD/MLD & Process Water Recycling) (EUANAGAG), Onsite/Decentralized Reuse Utilities (District/Building‑Scale Reuse as a Service) (EUANAGAH)

Keywords

• Water treatment research
• Desalination technology
• Membrane separation
• Water reuse systems
• Technoeconomic assessment

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Funding: NAWI is a 10-year, $235M research hub (including federal funds and cost share) supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. Funding comes through the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation's Industrial Technologies Office and Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office under Funding Opportunity Announcement Number DE-FOA-0001905.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NAWI is a DOE-funded research consortium that funds and conducts early-stage applied research projects across five sector roadmaps (Power, Resource Extraction, Industrial, Municipal, Agriculture) to radically lower the cost and energy of desalination and water reuse. Its open-source software products WaterTAP and Water-DAMS enable technoeconomic assessment of full water treatment trains, while the consortium model delivers collaboration across national labs, universities, and industry partners.

Product overview

NAWI is a research consortium and public-private partnership, not a commercial product company. Its core offerings consist of open-source software tools for water treatment research: WaterTAP (technoeconomic assessment platform), Water-DAMS (data repository), and related modeling libraries (ProteusLib, WaterTAP3) that have been merged into WaterTAP. WaterTAP leverages the IDAES Platform and Pyomo for simulation and optimization capabilities. Supporting services include the NAWI Research Consortium (125+ organizations) and NAWI Network (1,300+ members) that facilitate collaboration in water treatment R&D.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WaterTAP (Water treatment Technoeconomic Assessment Platform) An open-source Python-based software package that supports the technoeconomic assessment of full water treatment trains, providing integrated modeling and simulation capability to consistently evaluate cost, energy, and environmental tradeoffs across water treatment options. Built on the IDAES Platform and leverages Pyomo for equation-oriented modeling and optimization. Distributed free of charge via GitHub with documentation for researchers, decision-makers, DOE, and the public.
• Water-DAMS (Water Technology Data and Analysis Management System) A secure central repository for technology and treatment train data accessible to researchers, decision-makers, DOE, and the public while providing sufficient data security to protect water utilities. Integrated with WaterTAP for technoeconomic assessment of water treatment trains.
• NAWI Research Consortium A community of 125+ research consortium organizations including DOE national laboratories, industry partners, and academic institutions conducting cost-shared water treatment R&D across power, resource extraction, industrial, municipal, and agricultural sectors. Members participate in competitive RFPs and execute projects under NAWI's six topic areas.
• NAWI Network A community of 1,300+ individual members from industry, academia, government, and national laboratories interested in advancing water treatment science and technology. Members join via LinkedIn following and newsletter subscription, gaining access to webinars, annual meetings, network events, and member organization connections.
• Circular Water Systems Analysis (CWSA) Software Tool A software tool developed under NAWI Project 3.09 that enables industrial water users to quantify the total value of implementing novel water treatment, desalination, and reuse systems at their facilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Development of technologies to enable 90% of non-traditional water sources to be treatable at levelized cost comparable to today's marginal water supplies within 10 years
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability7 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

23 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and strategic.

• Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAWI is headquartered at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). LBNL leads the Governance Oversight Board and provides executive leadership including the Executive Director and Operations Director. LBNL is a co-founding partner of NAWI.
• National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormerly known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Co-founding partner of NAWI. Hosts key research activities including WaterTAP development and Data Modeling and Analysis leadership.
• Oak Ridge National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founding partner of NAWI. Hosts Treatment Trains Topic Area Lead (Dr. Kris Villez) and provides research leadership in process controls and water treatment systems.
• National Energy Technology LaboratorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOE national laboratory partner contributing to NAWI research activities including ProteusLib development and technoeconomic assessments.
• SLAC National Accelerator LaboratorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOE national laboratory partner. Hosts Research Director Dr. Meagan Mauter and provides research leadership in water treatment technology.
• California Department of Water ResourcesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerState government partner in collaboration with DOE. Provides funding partnership for research projects and aligns with California water management priorities.
• California State Water Resources Control BoardmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerState government regulatory partner working with DOE on water innovation initiatives and policy alignment.
• Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium member and industry partner providing expertise in power sector water treatment, catalyst design, and technology assessment across multiple NAWI projects.
• Orange County Water DistrictmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium member chaired by Megan Plumlee who leads the Research and Industry Advisory Council. Active participant in water reuse research projects.
• Stanford UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost of NextGen Leadership Council Chair Hannah Holmes. Provides significant research contributions through multiple projects including CFD modeling, brine valorization, and urban water security analysis. Hosts WE3Lab directed by Research Director Dr. Meagan Mauter.
• Yale UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium member contributing research in membrane technology, antiscalants, boron removal, and electrochemical processes for water treatment.
• University of California, BerkeleymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium member contributing research in membrane technology, PFAS removal, electrochemical advanced oxidation, and agricultural drainage desalination.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium member contributing to research in zero liquid discharge processes and water treatment optimization.
• ExxonMobilstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partner providing industry perspective and potential cost share for water treatment research in resource extraction and industrial applications.
• Poseidon WaterstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partner specializing in desalination, contributing expertise to seawater desalination research and commercialization efforts.
• Global Water Innovations, Inc.strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partner contributing to water treatment innovation and technology development.
• Water Research FoundationstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerNonprofit consortium member supporting water research and providing industry-relevant expertise.
• Sandia National LaboratoriesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOE national laboratory consortium member contributing to water treatment modeling and optimization tools.
• Argonne National LaboratorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOE national laboratory consortium member contributing computational and materials research for water treatment technologies.
• Lawrence Livermore National LaboratorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOE national laboratory consortium member contributing to research in ion-selective processes and nutrient separation.
• Pacific Northwest National LaboratorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOE national laboratory consortium member. Hosts Regional Water Systems Topic Area Lead Mike Rinker and contributes to energy-water systems research.
• Idaho National LaboratorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOE national laboratory consortium member contributing to zero liquid discharge research and solvent-driven desalination processes.
• Tennessee Valley AuthoritystrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment corporation consortium member providing expertise in water management and treatment for the Tennessee Valley region.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tweet
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@NAWIhub
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-alliance-for-water-innovation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Alliance for Water Innovation