Collaboration was the key to success for seven winners of the 2023 Lighthouse Awards, which were presented during BlueTech Forum in Edinburgh, Scotland. Pioneers and visionaries within the water sector were recognised at a ceremony held at the National Museum of Scotland on 17 May 2023.
Projects for the oil and gas, F&B, pharmaceutical and water utility sectors were all successful. Technologies included water reuse, water recovery through zero liquid discharge and digital stormwater management. A documentary charting water scarcity and a collaborative accelerator programme for technology startups were also award winners.
Projects for the oil and gas, F&B, pharmaceutical and water utility sectors were all successful. Technologies included water reuse, water recovery through zero liquid discharge and digital stormwater management. A documentary charting water scarcity and a collaborative accelerator programme for technology startups were also award winners.
Accepting the award, Molun Zhang, R&D senior manager — experimentation and external technology acquisition at the Coca-Cola Company said, “The programme is a joint venture across many industries and many thought-leaders; it is a real achievement to win this award.”
Ecopetrol
Columbia-based energy company Ecopetrol won a Lighthouse Award for the development of a pilot agri-energy wastewater reuse project. Treating wastewater from oil and gas production and returning it to the environment for use in livestock watering and forestry is helping to improve water security, stabilise seasonal variability for users, and is reducing Ecopetrol’s water footprint to achieve water neutrality by 2045.
Grundfos Foundation
The Grundfos Foundation developed a film short charting the true story of the water scarcity struggles in Karachi, Pakistan. Into Dust, a collaboration between Academy Award winning filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel and the Karachi-based NGO Orangi Pilot Project, tells the story of Perween Rahman, a woman who sacrificed everything to provide Karachi’s poorest communities with clean, safe water.
Aquatech
Technology company Aquatech won for its collaboration with pharmaceutical company ACG to recover more than 95% of the water at its plant in India, using Aquatech’s zero liquid discharge technology.
Pepsico
F&B corporation Pepsico won with a technology that recovers up to 60% of the water used in its potato chip manufacturing line. By capturing, condensing, treating, and reusing steam, the company is saving 60 million litres of water yearly.
Aarhus Vand
Dutch water utility Aarhus Vand won with its plans to convert an existing wastewater treatment plant into a water resource recovery facility, recovering biofuels, bio-charcoal, and soil conditioner from wastewater.
Walmart and Opti
A collaboration between supermarket chain Walmart and stormwater management company Opti secured the final Lighthouse Award for its project using real-time monitoring and digital control systems to reduce pollutants discharged from stormwater retention ponds, across three sites in the US.
