NSF convergence accelerator, future water systems versawater: community water that weathers the storm

Cornell University received a $2.0 million Cooperative Agreement from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084), effective July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028, to develop and implement VERSAWATER, a community-centered water treatment solution targeting small public water systems. The project delivers electricity-free, prefabricated water treatment plants (WTPs) designed to treat turbid source waters using gravity power alone, addressing critical infrastructure gaps for approximately 140,000 small public water systems across the United States that lack affordable treatment options and adequate access to federal financing. VERSAWATER's core deliverables include reliable, cost-effective gravity-powered treatment systems with simplified flow control, automated chemical dosing, self-cleaning mechanisms, and modular replacement parts engineered for ease of operation and maintenance by community operators.

Beyond hardware solutions, the award supports comprehensive implementation services including federal funding assistance for small communities, regulatory compliance support, and operator training and capacity-building programs. VERSAWATER functions as an integrated "utility-in-a-box" platform that converges technical expertise, industry partners, and funding resources to simplify the path to safe water access for underserved communities. The project advances scientific knowledge in water treatment while addressing public health and water security challenges through sustainable, resilient infrastructure designed to withstand increasingly frequent storm events and turbid water conditions.

Abstract

The 140,000 small public water systems across the U.S. Face major challenges in maintaining or gaining access to safe drinking water. These include escalating construction costs, limited access to federal funding, diseconomies of scale, and turbid source waters due to more frequent storms. Exacerbating these hurdles is the lack of affordable drinking water treatment options. Small public water systems need access to technology that makes IT easier and less expensive to treat water, financing that eases the burden of capital costs, and capacity-building to ensure reliable delivery of safe drinking water. Versawater - a collaboration of researchers and practioners - offers a community-centered approach for water treatment that will increase the number of americans with access to safe clean drinking water. Specifically, versawater offers a community-centered approach for the implementation of reliable and safe water treatment. These systems are electricity-free prefabricated water treatment plants (wtps), designed to reliably treat turbid waters at a lower cost using gravity power alone. These systems have elegantly simple flow control, chemical dosing, self-cleaning features and easy to replace parts. Versawater's implementation process includes support for the community in accessing federal funds, regulatory compliance, and hands-on learning for system's operators and managers. Versawater does the behind-the-scenes work of converging the right partners to accompany small communities on the path to achieving safe water access, providing what they need through one organization (a utility-in-a-box). As a result, versawater is addressing a public health GAP and critical water security issues in the united states. The project advances scientific knowledge in water treatment while supporting sustainable and resilient water infrastructure. By combining cutting-edge research with a comprehensive, participatory implementation process, versawater sets a standard for addressing global water access challenges effectively and equitably. The versawater team has developed an implementation framework for versawater's prefabrication technology, which will be refined through a piloting process in phase 2. Versawater's next phase of work is organized into four core components structured as a series of pilots. Each component is designed to progressively increase community involvement and external investment. Workforce development will occur concurrently through several training opportunities. A demonstration plant serving 250 people (PF250) will be installed at an educational institution for learning and training. The PF250 produces 18,000 gallons of drinking water per day complete with an automated coagulant doser to enable operators to spend less time on-site and decrease operation costs. A cohort 0 will be comprised of two small water systems in puerto rico (PR). PR small water systems experience disproportionately high poverty rates and challenging treatment conditions caused by climate-related storms. These installs will be accompanied by simulated applications for funding to develop capacity. Cohort 1 will be comprised of PR and rural northeastern U.S. Small water systems. Communities will be guided through submissions of applications for shovel-ready implementation projects to federal funders. After this cohort, versawater plans to be in operation mode and expanding its utility in a box implementations year after year. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.