In 2024 we awarded European Water Awards in 2 fields:

A)  Improve drinking water quality: Solutions for containing various contaminants

B)  Protection of water quality: Innovative approaches to safeguard rivers, lakes, and seas.

28 projects from 9 countries competed for the European Water Award: 12 projects in the field A and 16 projects in the field B. We have received applications from Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, UK and Ukraine.

The 2024 EWA Winners

The winners were announced at the Bled Water Forum on Friday 14 June:

Winning project in field A – Improve drinking water quality: Solutions for containing various contaminants:
Kinetic Reactor Technology by InnTe from Slovenia.

Kinetic Reactor Technology, a globally patented process for treating water and other fluids, uses principles like hydrodynamic cavitation, gas exchange, sheer stress, and advanced oxidation/reduction to provide chemical-free treatment, retaining essential minerals while removing harmful substances, and offering sustainable solutions.

Winning project in field B – Protection of water quality: Innovative approaches to safeguard rivers, lakes, and seas:
Water purification using a universal composite sorbent from plant wastes by Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies.

To increase efficiency and implement resource-saving principles during wastewater purification, technical water preparation, and surface water pollution cleanup, a universal sorbent made from composite materials such as waste wood, coffee, and agricultural products is proposed, featuring an improved production method using a carbonizer for effective low-temperature carbonization, achieving up to 90% pollutant removal, with the sorbent being reusable up to 20 times, thus ensuring economic efficiency and minimizing negative environmental impacts.

The awards were presented to the winners by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, who is the honorary patron of the Bled Water Festival 2024.

How the winners were selected

The first stage jury of 3 members selected 3 finalists in each field through a judging process. The members of the first level jury were:

• Veronika Matuszná, Head of the International Cooperation, Planning and Flood Protection, Deputy Director of the Water Protection Department, Ministry of the Environment, Czech Republic
• dr. Draško Veselinovi?, the President of the Slovenian Business and Research Association in Brussels
• dr. Matej Radinja, Department of Environmental Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

In field B, two of the three highest scoring projects received the same number of points, so we had 4 finalists in this field.

In Filed A Improve drinking water quality: Solutions for containing various contaminants we have 3 finalists for the European Water Award:

• Kinetic Reactor® Technology, InnTe, Slovenia
• HuProTec™ water from the air isn’t magic, it’s science, HuProTec, Switzerland
• Hyper Microplastic Filter, Naturra, Slovenia

In Field B Protection of water quality: Innovative approaches to safeguard rivers, lakes, and seas we have 4 finalists for the European Water Award:

• Water quality testing of the Kis-Balaton Water Protection System, West-Transdanubian Water Directorate, Hungary
• Water purification using a universal composite sorbent from plant wastes, Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies
• BWTS – Ballast Water Treatment System Innovative Technology, Danube Institute of National University “Odessa Maritime Academy”, Ukraine
• Plasma chemical method of water purification, Vladyslav Lazarenko, Water Treatment LLC, Ukraine

The finalist projects were then evaluated by the Bled Water Festival Partners and their scores determined the winner in each field.

Our goal
With the European Water Awards project, we want to encourage faster and better-quality development of society, while it is absolutely necessary to take into account the entire water cycle for the most sustainable use and supply of drinking water.

The sculptures of the European Water Award and the BWF Certificate of Excellence were designed by Tanja Andrejasic Wechsler, a water advocate, designer and entrepreneur committed to using public space and the marketplace to raise awareness and appreciation for water. She communicates her message by using the design and shape of a water drop in its most pristine form to build awareness and hope.