The University of Arizona has an active research community working on solutions to the flood of water problems facing our world.

Reyes Sierra and James Field in the UA Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering have developed a variety of methods to remove perfluorinated compounds from water.

Peiwen Li, head of the UA Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, has developed a low-cost airflow-driven desalination system that separates the components of seawater.

Kevin Lansey, of the UA Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Mechanics, and Jian Liu, of the UA Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering, have developed a pressure-monitoring technique able to detect and precisely locate pipe breaks in complex water distribution systems in real time.

Moe Momayez, associate professor of mining and geological engineering, has invented a hydrocyclone that separates plastics from seawater while returning nutrients like plankton back to the ocean.

Such inventions are, by nature, early stage as they are just emerging from research. Tech Launch Arizona, the UA office that commercializes inventions stemming from research, is working closely with the UA research community to bring the best and most promising innovations to the world.