NYC Invites Tech Startups To Tackle Municipal Water Challenges

By Christian Bonawandt

When most people think of tech startups and bleeding-edge innovation, the last thing that comes to mind is municipal drinking water and wastewater. That may begin to change. On Wednesday, June 28, the Partnership for New York City and NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) launched the application process for its first annual joint accelerator program. Known as the Environmental Tech Lab (ETL), the goal is to give tech companies the opportunity to partner with the largest municipal water system in the U.S. to solve climate change resiliency challenges and similar pressing issues.

Once applications have been submitted, a small group of early- and growth-stage tech companies will be selected to participate in an eight-week “proof of concept” collaboration with the DEP focused on the specific challenges identified each year by the ETL and the Partnership. Those whose projects are successful will be invited to roll out their solutions on a larger scale during a year-long pilot program.

Building On Success

The ETL is modeled after the Transit Tech Lab (TTL), which was started by the Partnership and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 2018 to tackle a wide range of problems with NYC’s subway and bus system. The TTL has continued to take on new slates of companies each year to run proof of concept programs. Each year, the TTL announces one or two challenge categories. Past challenges and their solutions have included:

• Accessibility. This included the development of smartphone apps to help visually and audio impaired riders receive alerts and navigate subways and stations.
• COVID-19. A host of new cleaning and air purification technologies were piloted and implemented at the peak of the pandemic, many of which continue to be used today.
• Sustainability. Finalists tested technologies to help track traffic patterns with the aim of reducing carbon emissions from idling buses, as well as stormwater and climate data analytics to prevent flooding.
• Human capital. Accepted applicants offered solutions for online testing for job applicants, internal workflow software, and a video analytics system that collects data on personnel soft skills to help identify “overlooked talent” and improve employee retention rates.

Since 2018, the TTL has fielded more than 600 applications. The first year alone produced an estimated value of $10 to $20 million.

How The ETL Can Help NYC’s Water System

The city’s drinking, wastewater, and stormwater systems are some of the most critical infrastructure systems. It provides 1 billion gallons of drinking water each day to nearly 10 million residents. The water is delivered from three watersheds approximately 125 miles north of the city. NYC’s water system is comprised of 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels, and aqueducts, as well as 7,500 miles of sewer lines. The city also manages 96 pump stations, 14 in-city treatment plants, 19 reservoirs, and three controlled lakes.

Despite this, NYC’s water system is one of the most vulnerable and most overlooked infrastructure networks when it comes to applying innovative solutions to solve problems. The DEP aims to change that, with a planned $29 billion in investments over the next 10 years. Among the expenditures will be full-scale solutions coming out of the ETL.

For the inaugural program, the first two ETL challenges will focus on:

Data: How can DEP better utilize data and technology to automate operations and increase staff capacity? Applicants are invited to offer solutions for remote monitoring at pumping stations, to perform lifecycle carbon assessments, and to optimize disparate sources of data to balance water supply dosing rates, among others.

Operational Efficiency: How can DEP enhance management of its assets via improved operational efficiencies and predictive maintenance? This can include mechanisms to reduce or prevent stormwater backflow, tools to improve pollutant and contaminant removal, asset management solutions for rain gardens or fleet vehicles, and predictive analytics to help reduce infrastructure failures before they occur.

“By joining with the Partnership Fund for New York City we will be able to explore a range of new technologies that may help us better fulfill our critical missions,” said DEP Commissioner and New York City Chief Climate Officer Rohit T. Aggarwala. “We look forward to working with startup and growth stage companies to identify and evaluate cutting edge, innovative solutions that will help make DEP more efficient and effective in providing water and wastewater services and protecting the environment that we all share.”

Christian Bonawandt is an industrial content writer for Water Online. He has been writing about B2B technology and industrial processes for 23 years.