Fall 2026 Tech Challenge Info Session

​Join The Water Council to learn more about the Fall 2026 Tech Challenge: Chemical-Free, Low-Cost Aqueous Sensing.

​Water utilities and industrial water users are moving from periodic, lab-based water quality testing toward continuous, distributed sensing — but reagent-dependent instruments don't scale to that model. Consumable logistics, calibration drift, chemical waste disposal, and per-unit cost all become prohibitive when the goal is monitoring at hundreds or thousands of points across a network rather than a handful of central lab samples.

​At the same time, regulatory pressure is intensifying the need for more, and more distributed, water quality data: PFAS compliance planning remains active even as EPA timelines shift, lead service line inventory and replacement programs need verification at the point of use, and non-revenue water and asset-health programs depend on continuous water quality and chemical signal data, not just flow.

​With our partners, Badger Meter, Watts Water, and Xylem, The Water Council is seeking technologies that can close this gap: sensing approaches that work directly in an aqueous (real water) matrix, require no consumed chemical reagents, and are priced for distributed deployment rather than centralized lab use.

​Open to all, this webinar will cover how the Tech Challenge works, the topic and timeline, as well as tips and tricks for your submission.