“Every time we connect with another user or user group, it’s a chance to show why water technology and water innovation matter to all of our lives — and to help us figure out how to steward this incredible urban river resource we have,” said our CEO Alaina Harkness in a recent @chicagotribune by @adrianamperezr on the launch of our fifth H2NOW Chicago season. 🔗 Check the live gauges at h2nowchicago.org, and read the full article in the Tribune: chicagotribune.com/2025/05/2… You can also learn more about our findings from the 2024 H2NOW season here: drive.google.com/file/d/1avK… #H2NOW #H2NOWChicago #WaterInnovation #UrbanWaterways #ChicagoRiver

A strong blue economy happens through collaboration, innovation, and investment. This is why we are excited to announce the release of the 2026 State of the Great Lakes Blue Economy Report exploring the $1 trillion blue economy that powers our Great Lakes region and the opportunities driving its continued growth. This report brings together ten years of data to show where the Great Lakes is leading in water innovation and where the greatest opportunities exist to grow our circular blue economy. More than a simple snapshot of data, this report helps investors, innovators, policymakers, and economic development leaders inform strategy, investment, and action across the Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes region has already built one of the world's leading water innovation ecosystems. This report celebrates that progress and highlights the momentum we can continue to build together. Explore the report: lnkd.in/gsMk8cyp This report’s analysis was led by RTI International and supported by the @NSF (NSF) Great Lakes RENEW Engine. #GreatLakesRENEW #BlueEconomy #WaterInnovation#GreatLakesRegion

Our CEO, @harknessa, was featured in the first installment of the Great Lakes News Collaborative’s new reporting series exploring how rising electricity demand, from data centers to legacy energy sources like nuclear power, is transforming water use across the Great Lakes region. Alaina emphasized the need for smarter policy and long-term planning that considers the connection between water and energy, especially as water and energy-intensive industries like data centers and semiconductor manufacturing continue to boom. 🌍 This moment is about more than meeting growing power demands, it's about protecting one of the world’s largest freshwater resources. Compared to other water-scarce regions across the country, the Great Lakes region is uniquely positioned to lead, but only if the water-energy nexus remains front and center. 🔗 Read the full story in @GreatLakesNow: greatlakesnow.org/2026/02/12…

💧 The Third Coast Water Seminar Series continues! Join us in a month on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, at AM CST for the fifth event in our 2025–2026 series featuring: 📌Jay Bernas (CEO) and Dr. Charles Bott (CTO), Hampton Roads Sanitation District presenting “Growing a Regional Innovation Ecosystem” 🔗 Register today: bit.ly/3CWSS25 This monthly virtual series spotlights leaders advancing the blue economy and positions the Great Lakes region as a global hub for circular water innovation. 🌍 #ThirdCoastWater #GreatLakesReNEW #CircularEconomy #BlueEconomy #WaterSolutions #CurrentWater

💧 We are less than a week away from our next Third Coast Water Seminar! Join us on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 2 PM CST for our third seminar, featuring Dr. Reshmina William, Senior Project Manager at Isle Utilities. Dr. William will lead a thought-provoking session on “Water Innovation, Derisking Piloting and Trials” — where she will underline how effective piloting and trials can help improve efficiencies, bolster credibility, and blaze a trail for innovative new water technologies. 🌊✨ This monthly virtual series spotlights leaders advancing a circular blue economy and positioning the Great Lakes region as a global hub for water innovation. 🌍 🔗 Register today at bit.ly/3CWSS25 or through the link in our bio! #ThirdCoastWater #GreatLakesReNEW #CircularEconomy #BlueEconomy #WaterSolutions #CurrentWater

💧Up next in the Third Coast Water Seminar Series: “Water Sector Innovation: Derisking Piloting and Trials” with Dr. Reshmina William, Senior Project Manager at Isle Utilities 🗓️ Wednesday, November 5, 2025 | 2 PM CST 🔗 Register: bit.ly/3CWSS25 With more than five years of experience spanning urban flood resilience, water workforce development, and technology commercialization, Dr. William brings a unique systems perspective to innovation in the water sector. This monthly virtual series spotlights leaders advancing the blue economy and positions the Great Lakes region as a global hub for circular water innovation. 🌍

🌊 Seven startups have been selected for our Sustainable Water Tech Accelerator in partnership with @mHUBChicago and backed by our @NSF #GreatLakesRENEW Engine. Each team will receive investment from mHUB Ventures and join the Great Lakes RENEW coalition of 75+ partners across six states advancing water tech research, commercialization, and workforce development. 🔗 Read the official press release and meet the cohort: mailchi.mp/currentwater.org/… #WaterInnovation #BlueEconomy #Startups #WaterTechAccelerator #Accelerator #Hardtech #CircularEconomy

💧 PFAS Remediation: Lessons from Dr. Ali Ling In her kickoff seminar for our Third Coast Water Seminar Series, Dr. Ali Ling, Assistant Professor at St. Thomas University, emphasized that “general environmental remediation of PFAS is not an option.” Instead, she called for: 🔹 Prioritizing source control and high-risk applications 🔹 Using treatment trains that combine multiple technologies 🔹 Taking a project-centric approach to guide decisions 🔹 Building collaboration between researchers and technology companies to accelerate solutions Her message was clear: addressing the PFAS problem requires a practical, strategic, and collaborative approach. 🌍 📺 Watch her full presentation on YouTube here youtube.com/watch?v=viXLTI3y… 👉 Up next: Dr. Ying Li, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, presenting “Water Membrane Design & Innovation” on Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025, at 2 PM CST. 🔗 Register now at bit.ly/3CWSS25 #ThirdCoastWater #PFAS #WaterInnovation #WaterSolutions #GreatLakesRENEW #CleanWater #BlueEconomy #WaterResearch #CurrentWater

"The inaugural Chicago River Swim on Sunday is more than an endurance sporting event. It is a symbol of how far we’ve come toward treating urban rivers, not as scars but as veins. It is also a moment to recognize the scale of investments that will be needed to complete the restoration of this river and other urban rivers." Read the full op-ed by our CEO, Alaina Harkness, in the @chicagotribune: chicagotribune.com/2025/09/1… #ChicagoRiverSwim #SwimmableCities #H2NOWChicago

💧 We are just two weeks away from the next seminar of the Third Coast Water Seminar Series! Join us on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 at 2 PM CST for our second seminar, featuring Dr. Ying Li, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Li will lead a thought-provoking session on “Water Membrane Design & Innovation” — exploring cutting-edge technologies that are reshaping how we manage and protect our most vital resource. 🌊✨ This monthly virtual series spotlights leaders advancing the blue economy and positions the Great Lakes region as a global hub for circular water innovation. 🌍 🔗 Register today at bit.ly/3CWSS25

The Great Lakes hold nearly 90% of the U.S. and 20% of the world’s freshwater. Protecting them from pollutants like PFAS and microplastics is critical for our health, environment, and economy. 🌊 Inside Climate News spoke with regional experts on the impacts of microplastics and the solutions underway. Among them was Junhong Chen, Professor of Molecular Engineering at the @UChicago and Lead Water Strategist at @argonne, who co-leads our @NSF-backed Great Lakes RENEW initiative. By investing in water innovation, we’re safeguarding the Great Lakes today—and building resilience for decades to come. 🔗 Read more: insideclimatenews.org/news/2… #GreatLakes #WaterInnovation #NSF #PFAS #Microplastics #CircularEconomy #WaterSecurity #GreatLakesRENEW

💧 We’re kicking off our Third Coast Water Seminar Series on Wednesday, Sept 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM CST with Dr. Ali Ling, Assistant Professor at St. Thomas University, for a timely session: “A Practical Guide to PFAS Remediation” 🔗 Register now through the link in bio or at bit.ly/3CWSS25 #ThirdCoastWater #PFAS #WaterInnovation #GreatLakesReNEW

🌊 We’re relaunching the Third Coast Water Speaker Series, a virtual monthly event series featuring leading voices in the water sector! 📅 September 3, 2025 – Spring 2026 🔗 Registration + full lineup at bit.ly/3CWSS25 Starting September 3, 2025, join us every first Wednesday for one-hour sessions with experts driving change around forever chemicals, water scarcity, and more! This is your front-row seat to the ideas and breakthroughs shaping the future of water— in the Great Lakes and beyond. 🎙️ Organized by Current, the series comes as another addition to the innovative work within Great Lakes ReNEW— a 75+ partner, NSF-funded initiative transforming how we recover, reuse, and rethink water. #ThirdCoastWater #WaterInnovation #GreatLakesRENEW #PFAS #WaterPolicy #CleanWater #WaterTech #CurrentWater

Our partners @FreshwaterDW and @Exelon are teaming up to find climate-focused startups for Exelon's Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i)! Since 2019, the $20M program has backed 39 companies tackling climate challenges, and applications for the next round are now open through September. Startups selected will receive up to $300K in equity investment from the Exelon Foundation, plus in-kind support from Exelon and its utilities to help scale their solutions. If you're a water or climate startup, learn more and apply via the links below! If not, please share this opportunity with your network to help spread the word. 🌊 🔗Learn more: youtube.com/watch?v=JHEILbKw… ➡️ Apply: exeloncorp.com/community/fou… #GreatLakesReNEW #ReNEWpartners #ClimateInnovation #WaterTech #ClimateTech #StartupAccelerator

🌊 This H2NOW Chicago season, we've partnered with @urbankayaks to bring real-time water quality data directly to kayakers on the riverfront (which recently included members of Team Current!). 🛶 Whether you’re gearing up for a guided tour or renting a kayak on your own, you’ll now find H2NOW info & QR codes in the Urban Kayaks shop so you can check conditions before you hit the water. H2NOW Chicago is a real-time monitoring platform developed by Current, tracking things like bacteria levels so you can kayak smarter and stay informed. This partnership is integral our efforts to make water data available and free to the public, build trust in our waterways, and support a more vibrant, informed river community. 🔗 Curious about how the river’s doing today? Check the latest data anytime at h2nowchicago.org #H2NOWChicago #UrbanKayaks #ChicagoRiver #WaterInnovation #BlueEconomy #PaddleSmart #WaterQuality #CheckTheRiver

🌊 There are only TWO weeks left to apply for @mHUBChicago and Current's 2025 Sustainable Water Tech Acclerator! This six-month program is designed to help early-stage startups develop, test, and scale transformative water solutions, advancing the next wave of water innovation across the Great Lakes and beyond. Led by mHUB and Current and powered by the @NSF-funded #GreatLakesReNEW initiative, the accelerator offers: 💧 Equity investment through mHUB Ventures 💧 Tailored matchmaking with utilities + industry partners 💧 Access to testbeds and validation via Great Lakes ReNEW 💧 Prototyping support at mHUB’s state-of-the-art labs Startups will also join the ReNEW coalition, gaining long-term support and access to a regional network working to recover valuable resources from water and wastewater. 🗓️ Applications are open until July 23, 2025. 🎥 Want a preview? Check out mHUB’s YouTube for highlights from past cohorts: youtube.com/watch?v=rN1fs-If… 🔗 Learn more about the accelerator and apply here: mhubchicago.com/sustainable-… Thank you to our industry partners: @Exelon , @Ingredion , @SentryEquipment , & Marmon #WaterTech #BlueEconomy #GreatLakesReNEW #NSFfunded #Hardtech #CleanTech #Startups #Accelerator #Innovation