Redefining Desalination with XPRIZE

Qualified Teams

$119M

Prize Purse

Global Competition

XPRIZE Water Scarcity is a $119 million, 5-year global competition designed to drive widespread access to clean water by creating reliable, affordable, and sustainable seawater desalination systems. OceanWell is one of 93 qualified teams of the 674 that entered the competition.The first round of testing will take place before December 2025.

Announcement graphic showing OceanWell joining the $119M XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition, with logos of OceanWell and Mohamed Bin Zayed Water Initiative.

News

01/01/25

We’re excited to announce our entry into XPRIZE’s $119M Water Scarcity competition

Background

Digital illustration of a water droplet made of connected nodes, representing innovation in desalination for global water use, with XPRIZE Water Scarcity branding.

Revollutionizing desalination for global water use

XPRIZE Water Scarcity will create reliable, affordable, and sustainable seawater desalination solutions that unlock Earth’s oceans to increase clean water access for the greatest number of people globally.

The Impact

If this prize is successful, it will significantly help reduce the risk of water scarcity and help alleviate water stress worldwide, while protecting the environment. New, reliable, cost effective, and sustainable desalination solutions will allow widespread access to clean water. Utilizing seawater desalination technology, allowing us to access more than 96% of Earth's water resources year-round will help drive a world where clean water is equitably and sustainably abundant, enabling people and the environment to prosper.

Barriers

80% of the global population suffers from serious threats to water supply, and by 2030, we will lack 40% of the water needed to meet global needs. Traditional desalination methods are unaffordable to low- to medium-income countries, face increasing threats to operations from pollution and climate change, and drive negative environmental impacts, making them an unsustainable solution to mitigating water scarcity.

About the Competition

‍XPRIZE Water Scarcity is set to revolutionize desalination - reimagining systems, methods, and materials to drive its scalable and sustainable use. We encourage global innovators from various fields to identify solutions to effectively disrupt this industry.

The winning teams will create new desalination solutions to enable future-proof water supply for communities and ecosystems. These solutions must be scalable, cost-effective, reliable, and resilient in a changing climate. They should demonstrate enhanced environmental sustainability across energy and materials and minimize harm to marine life.

Why Now?

Desalination is at a crossroads. While the industry is mature and growing, it has seen few major breakthroughs since the early 2000s. In order to scale responsibly to address growing water scarcity challenges around the world, we need innovation to make seawater desalination more sustainable and affordable.

This Qualified Teams Announcement represents the first technical milestone and formal downselection of the competition. These innovative teams have passed a rigorous judging process evaluating the merit and feasibility of their proposed approaches, demonstrating strong potential to develop solutions capable of meeting the competition’s high technical and operational standards.

This cohort illustrates the growing push toward decentralized, adaptive, and resource-efficient seawater desalination systems.

This is the official start of the race toward scalable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective desalination solutions that could redefine global access to water.

3D rendering of OceanWell subsea water farm pods connected by pipelines, designed for sustainable desalination.

About the Competition

OceanWell’s Goal

OceanWell aims to redefine desalination with subsea water farms that cut energy use, protect marine life, and deliver drought-proof fresh water.

‍Being selected as a Qualified Team in XPRIZE Water Scarcity is a recognition of the progress we’ve already made. From our pilot with Las Virgenes Municipal Water District to the launch of Water Farm 1–set to deliver up to 60 million gallons per day by 2030–we’re proving what’s possible when innovation and collaboration come together. We’re honored to join this global competition and look forward to showcasing how subsea water farms can play a transformative role in building a drought-proof, sustainable water future.

OceanWell Named a Qualified Team in $119M XPRIZE Water Scarcity Challenge

‍ We’re proud to share that OceanWell has been named a Qualified Team in the $119 million XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition, announced during Climate Week NYC at the United Nations General Assembly. This five-year global challenge is the largest prize ever dedicated to water, designed to accelerate breakthrough solutions in seawater desalination and expand reliable access to clean water worldwide. With water demand projected to outpace supply by 40% by 2030, the need for scalable, sustainable innovation has never been greater. OceanWell’s subsea water farm technology is built to answer that challenge. Our modular pods sit on the ocean floor at depths of more than 400 meters, using natural hydrostatic pressure to power reverse osmosis and reduce energy consumption by up to 40% compared to traditional desalination. Unlike conventional plants, our system aims to eliminate harmful brine discharge and marine life impacts, while offering a flexible, decentralized model that can scale to meet the needs of communities around the world. Being selected as a Qualified Team in XPRIZE Water Scarcity is a recognition of the progress we’ve already made. From our pilot with Las Virgenes Municipal Water District to the launch of Water Farm 1–set to deliver up to 60 million gallons per day by 2030–we’re proving what’s possible when innovation and collaboration come together. We’re honored to join this global competition and look forward to showcasing how subsea water farms can play a transformative role in building a drought-proof, sustainable water future.

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