How the Trial Reservoir and Tech Ascend Foundation are accelerating water innovation, reducing risk, and enabling climate-resilient solutions.
If you work in water, you know the frustration. You’ve sat in the meetings where brilliant engineering solutions are presented, nodded at the clear potential for water efficiency or carbon reduction, and then watched the idea die a quiet death on the desk of a procurement officer.
We call it the “piloting valley of death” — that vast, arid gap between a successful small-scale pilot and a commercial contract. For decades, it has been the graveyard of water innovation. But looking back at 2025, I believe we can finally say: the tide is turning.
Today, looking back at the last 12 months, the results speak for themselves. The model works. And in 2025, we didn’t just prove it works — we proved it scales.
2025 by the Numbers: Impact Over Hype
In an industry where the average success rate for technology adoption hovers around a dismal 25%, the Trial Reservoir is achieving a 70% success rate. This isn’t just about finishing a pilot report; it’s about signed contracts and commercial rollout.
This year alone, we saw significant movement. Our cumulative total of trials has reached 20, with three exciting new trials kicking off throughout the year: AInwater & Aegea; Waterwhelm & Veolia; and a milestone 20th trial between Aquamonitrix & Scottish Water.
But numbers on a spreadsheet don’t tell the full story. The real success lies in the water saved, the carbon cut, and the communities served. Let’s look at the case studies from our 2025 portfolio that demonstrate exactly what happens when you remove the fear of failure from the equation.
Case Study 1: The Invisible Inspection (KenWave Solutions Inc. & Brabant Water)
Aging infrastructure is a ticking time bomb for utilities worldwide, particularly regarding Asbestos Cement (AC) mains. Brabant Water in the Netherlands needed to assess the condition of their pipes without the massive disruption of digging them up or taking them out of service.
Enter KenWave and their non-invasive DRI technology. The challenge? Prove that a tool that scans pipes from the outside could match the accuracy of traditional ultrasonic testing.
Through the Trial Reservoir Initiatives, we facilitated a risk-free trial on a 2 km section of mains. The results were definitive: KenWave met every accuracy threshold without disrupting a single drop of water flow.
The outcome? Because the trial was pre-wired with a commercial commitment, success meant immediate adoption. KenWave secured a total contract value of €230,000, covering not just the trial but a subsequent rollout for inspection planning, mobilization, and analysis. This isn’t just a tech win; it’s a win for asset management, allowing utilities to extend the life of critical infrastructure safely and cost-effectively.
Case Study 2: Digital Transformation in the Pacific (Bynry Inc. & Samoa Water Authority)
Samoa is on the front lines of the climate crisis. With sea levels rising three times faster than the global average, the Samoa Water Authority (SWA) cannot afford inefficiency. Yet, they were struggling with manual billing, aging systems, and high non-revenue water losses.
We and the Asian Development Bank partnered with Bynry Inc. to deploy their Smart360 platform. This was about more than just software; it was about resilience. The goal was to digitize SWA’s entire customer base — 35,400 records — and automate their billing and workforce operations.
For Samoa, the trial was a resounding success. SWA moved from paper to pixels, issuing over 7,000 digital bills and validating nearly 25,000 meter readings. The operational friction of manual data entry was gone.
Critically, the commercial structure we built meant Bynry didn’t just walk away with a pat on the back. The successful demonstration converted into a paid subscription model estimated to generate USD $23,200 per month once fully deployed across all 29,000 active meters. That is recurring revenue that creates stability for the vendor while SWA gains a future-proof utility system.
Case Study 3: Tackling Nitrous Oxide (Cobalt Water Global & Purecontrol / Rennes Metropole)
Ideally, wastewater treatment protects the environment. Paradoxically, the biological processes involved can release nitrous oxide (N₂O), a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more potent than CO₂.
Cobalt Water Global (CWG) and Purecontrol approached us with a solution to monitor and reduce these emissions using AI-driven control. The commercial return here is fascinating because it is directly tied to environmental performance.
The contract structure we helped design is innovative. It includes a guaranteed annual subscription of €3,128 for the first site, but the real value is in the expansion. The customer had committed to expanding to at least two additional sites If the trial succeeded, triggering further subscription fees and a variable fee based on the tons of CO₂e emissions saved.
This aligns the incentives perfectly: the more pollution the technology averts, the more revenue the vendor earns. It turns environmental stewardship into a viable business model.
A New Chapter: The Tech Ascend Foundation
While these successes are exhilarating, we realized in 2025 that we had hit a ceiling. We were successful, but we weren’t scaling fast enough to meet the magnitude of the climate crisis. We had “only” ten technologies fully adopted since 2021. In a world where water scarcity is an existential threat, “good” is not good enough.
That is why, earlier this year, we made the strategic decision to evolve. The Trial Reservoir Initiatives have transitioned into an independent not-for-profit organization: the newly created Tech Ascend Foundation.
Why the change? Because being a non-profit unlocks a new universe of funding. We can now accept philanthropic grants, donations, and sponsorship from mission-aligned partners who care about impact, not just ROI. It allows us to replenish our reservoirs more easily, ensuring that when a utility is ready to innovate, the money is there to support them.
This shift also allows us to focus on equity. We launched the US Utilities Trial Reservoir, specifically designed to support American utilities led by historically underrepresented individuals or those serving disadvantaged communities. These leaders often face the highest barriers to innovation and the greatest pressure to avoid risk. By absorbing that risk, we empower them to modernize their infrastructure without fear of financial ruin.
The Philosophy of “Failing Forward”
The most important lesson of 2025 is that we need to redefine failure. In our 2024 review, we noticed something counterintuitive: our success rate was actually too high. If 100% of our trials are succeeding, it means we aren’t taking enough risks. We were betting on sure things.
To truly change the industry, we need to back the wild cards. We need to support technologies that might disrupt business as usual, not just those that promise a safe incremental improvement. That is why we are comfortable with our success rate settling around 75%. That missing 25% represents the ambitious shots we took that didn’t land — and that is healthy. It means we are pushing the envelope.
2026: A Call to Arms
The water sector has traditionally been slow, conservative, and fragmented. But the climate crisis does not care about our procurement cycles. Every delay in trialing a proven water solution is a cost the world cannot afford.
We have built the engine. We have proven it works. We have the data, the contracts, and the case studies to show that you can de-risk innovation and unlock massive value. Now, we need fuel.
To the water utilities: Stop waiting for someone else to go first. The Trial Reservoirs Initiatives mitigate your financial risk. If you have a problem that needs solving — whether it’s leakage, emissions, or efficiency — bring it to us. Let us help you deploy solutions in 2026, not 2030.
To potential donors and sponsors: Your capital can do more than just sit in a bank. By sponsoring the Tech Ascend Foundation, you can directly catalyze the adoption of technologies that save water and carbon. You get a front-row seat to the future of water tech and the knowledge that your contribution is recycling over and over again to fund new trials.
To the technology vendors: If you are stuck in the piloting valley of death, reach out. We are looking for the next KenWave, the next Bynry, the next Cobalt Water Global.
2025 was the year we broke the dam. Let 2026 be the year the flood of innovation truly begins.
Ready to make an impact?
Whether you are a utility ready to trial, a vendor ready to scale, or a sponsor ready to drive change, we want to hear from you.
Join our mission for 2026. Contact Dr. Jo Burgess today.