XPRIZE Water Scarcity Track A Team Summit

The XPRIZE Water Scarcity Track A Team Summit was hosted by the XPRIZE Canada Hub at the University of Calgary from August 18 to 20, 2025.  The $119M XPRIZE Water Scarcity sponsored by the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative is the largest prize purse in XPRIZE history.

This event was the first stage of the five-year XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition offering the first round of qualified teams the opportunity to engage in technical workshops, collaborative sessions, and networking activities before initial testing of their solutions. 

Teams in the $108M Track A - Desalination: System-Level Innovation are pursuing solutions to reliably and most sustainably generate at least one million liters of potable water daily (1,000 m³/ day) from seawater at the lowest cost over the course of 1 year, demonstrating scalability for global impact. This prize competition will conclude at the end of 2028. 

The XPRIZE Canada Hub hosted 50 teams from 18 countries in the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking, including three Canadian teams: Eclipse (Calgary, Alberta), Oneka Technologies (Sherbrooke, Quebec) and Thermapure (Toronto, Ontario).

Teams had the opportunity to learn from UCalgary water experts including Dr. Kerry Black, PhD, P.Eng who hosted a Building Community Through Water Innovation session, highlighting how community-driven approaches, Indigenous knowledge, and global partnerships can fuel sustainable water solutions. As well a presentation from Dr. Martyn Clark, PhD on current UCalgary water research initiatives. 

Teams also visited Advancing Canadian Water Assets (ACWA)'s $36.8 million facility and research hub. The facility is integrated into The City of Calgary’s Pine Creek wastewater treatment plant. ACWA is a partnership between the City of Calgary and the University of Calgary that advances research and piloting of leading-edge water, stormwater, and wastewater treatment technologies.