The year 2022 is already over halfway done, and AquaAction’s projects are going well! The last few months have been busy and filled with novelty for the Canadian organization founded by the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation. The social and environmental issues related to fresh water aren’t stopping anytime soon; AquaAction therefore continues to grow in order to help resolve them and continue their mission. As well as the national awareness campaign launched in March, AquaAction is preparing a number of other projects. Here are the details.
“We are proud of AquaAction’s impact! It is only the beginning, but we are on the right path and continue to advance. We obviously still have a ways to go, but we are ready!” - Dominique Monchamp. General director of the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation.
AquaEntrepreneur Montreal
The pilot project AquaEntrepreneur Montreal will come to an end in late July. The three enterprises of this cohort have just finished their first bank of hours (28 hours) with business coaches. They are now starting their second bank of hours (14 hours) with experts specialized according to their needs:
- O’land Stations have opted for contract and client relations management.
- ChemBrains chose legal support.
- Ecotime Solutions is working on the creation of an extended warrantee for their products.
O’land
O’land Fill & Wash Stations’ mission is to reduce single-use plastic pollution in order to help protect the environment. How are they hoping to reach this objective? By supplying reusable infrastructures that answer to the basic needs in water while protecting our health and the environment. According to them, this starts with water stations.
With the help of AquaEntrepreneur, O’land obtained a rental contract for their drinking water stations with the city of BoisBriand. This is the Montreal-based enterprise’s first municipal client. The stations have been such a success that the rental will soon become a purchase!
O’land has also had a promising meeting with the city of Montreal’s water services. Perhaps we will soon see these drinking water stations in the metropolis permanently?
ChemBrains
ChemBrains offer green technological solutions which collect the contaminants present in the effluents in order to recycle and reuse them. For example, treated water can be used in rinsing operations. These technologies find applications in surface treatment industries (plating, anodization, NDT workshops, wet scrubbers, etc.), water features in public parks, and more.
Thanks to AquaEntrepreneur’s support, ChemBrains obtained a service contract with Simexco to deploy 2 pilot projects this summer in St-Valerien-de-Milton and St-Jean-Baptiste-de-Rouville. ChemBrain’s technology will therefore be used for the very first time on the field; this is a major step for the enterprise!
ChemBrains has also had a promising meeting for a potential contract. The team had a conversation with the projects and development of citizens’ services office for Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
EcoTime
EcoTime, winner of the Emerging Talent Award EAU Andre-Perrault, takes advantage of unused water and energy sources in order to save energy without affecting users’ comfort. EcoTime’s different technological solutions have residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial applications.
In partnership with the head of the section énergie pour les bâtiments de la Ville de Montréal, EcoTime’s team elaborated a study on the collection and distribution of rain water for the construction of a new service courtyard in the Plateau.
AquaEntrepreneur Quebec
The AquaEntrepreneur Quebec program, which recently received funding from the Ministere de l’Economie et de l’innovation, is rapidly coming together. Everything is being put into place so that the AquaEntrepreneur Quebec cohort can continue the development and commercialization of their innovative water management solutions.
Among the 14 enterprises who applied, 10 will be selected for phase 1. The jury will announce their decision before the end of July. Further information will be shared soon.
AquaEntrepreneur has also had meeting with the towns of l’Assomption, Plessisville, and Lavaltrie to find out what their issues are in terms of water management. Four municipal projects will be selected in order to be resolved by the candidate enterprises.
Quebec AquaHacking Challenge 2022-23
A new edition of the AquaHacking Challenge is already in preparation! The Challenge will return to attack the most critical fresh-water issues faced by communities in Quebec.
The AquaAction team is looking for critical issues related to Quebec’s inland water that affect the population. The previous AquaHacking Challenges have already addressed issues such as microplastics, overflows, the quality of well water, flood risk management, invasive aquatic species, etc. The call to issues will end in July 2022. The selection of which issues to tackle will take place in August. There are six criteria that are taken into account during this selection:
- The issue is critical.
- The issue has a local impact and global perspective.
- The issue is representative of the province.
- The issue is appropriate for a technological solution (ex: software, engineering, etc.).
- Pertinent and representative data is available.
- A stakeholder is identified within the organization proposing the issue.
Atlantic AquaHacking Challenge
Atlantic Canada houses a spectacular system of dynamic fresh-water and salt-water environments. Being at the heart of the ecosystems and collectives, water and water management include many issues in the region. AquaHacking will therefore visit the Atlantic provinces for the second time.
Atlantic AquaHacking is presently selecting the issues that the candidates will tackle. The issues will be announced in August. In September, young and talented innovators from across Canada will be invited to apply and put their skills to the service of water.
The call for issues has therefore been launched. The selection criteria is similar to those used by the other AquaHacking Challenges:
- The issue is critical.
- The issue has a local impact and global perspective.
- The issue is representative of the province.
- The issue is appropriate for a technological solution (ex: software, engineering, etc.).
- Pertinent and representative data is available.
- A stakeholder is identified within the organization proposing the issue.
New Members of the Team
In order to support AquaAction’s growing number of projects, the organization’s team is expanding; we will be welcoming three new people into our team! This is irrefutable proof of AquaAction’s growth and their impact on the country. We would like to extend a warm welcome to: Sylvie Charbonneau (program director), Aiden Price Gallagher (intern in development and donor awareness), and Alejandro Martinez-Ramos (Startup community coordinator).