The Water Research Foundation is soliciting nominations for its two award programs. The Outstanding Subscriber Award for Applied Research honors subscribing utilities that have made notable improvements to their treatment, delivery, and/or management processes through the successful application of WaterRF research. The Research Innovation Award honors researchers and research teams who have made significant contributions to advancing the science of water through WaterRF-sponsored research.

The deadline for submitting nomination forms is Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. Only nominations submitted via WaterRF’s website at www.WaterRF.org will be accepted. Anyone, including, but not limited to subscribers, researchers, and other partners, can nominate qualified individuals/organizations for the awards.

WaterRF’s Board of Trustees’ Awards Committee selects each year’s winners. The 2013 winners will be announced at WaterRF’s Annual Subscriber Breakfast event to be held on Monday, June 10 in Denver, Colo. The breakfast is held in conjunction with the American Water Works Association’s Annual Conference and Exposition.

In announcing the call for award nominations, WaterRF executive director Rob Renner said, “Essential to the success of WaterRF is the dedication and passionate support of our subscribing utilities and researchers. These award programs help highlight the significant contributions that industry leaders make in promoting our mission of advancing the science of water.”

The past year was the inaugural year of the award programs. The 2012 Outstanding Subscriber Awards for Applied Research was presented to two subscribers this past year. The first went to American Water, which exhibited exemplary leadership in the development of important research as part of the investigation team on nearly 15 WaterRF projects during the last five years. A second award was presented to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Their leadership and participation in more than 35 WaterRF projects during the last five years on a broad number of research topics has helped to ensure that WaterRF’s work is useful not only to the City of New York, but to the global water community in general.

The 2012 Research Innovation Award was presented to Jennifer Clancy, Ph.D., of Tetra Tech, Inc. Clancy made the discovery that low levels of UV inactivate Cryptosporidium in water.

About the Water Research Foundation 
Founded in 1966, the Water Research Foundation is an international, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that sponsors research to enable water utilities, public health agencies and other professionals to provide safe and affordable drinking water to the public. With more than 1,000 subscribers who provide water to 80 percent of the U.S. population, WaterRF has funded and managed more than 1,000 projects. For more information, visit www.WaterRF.org.