The Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA) Testbed Program continues to attract international innovation, recently hosting Danish startup SenArch for a deployment in the Smart Lake Erie Watershed. This collaboration demonstrates the program's ability to support technology testing across sectors while advancing smart water infrastructure.
SenArch’s innovative approach to IoT deployment aligns with the themes of CWA’s upcoming Innovation Summit, taking place on March 25 from 10-11:30 AM EST. This event will explore emerging industry trends and highlight cutting-edge IoT monitoring and rapid detection technologies. The Innovation Summit also offers a unique opportunity to learn about emerging trends, the real-world impact of these solutions, and the investment potential driving their growth. Companies like SenArch will share their experiences, highlighting both the challenges and breakthroughs that come with innovating in this space. The summit also marks the launch of CWA’s new Innovation Spotlight series, which will highlight top innovations in our network and showcase the impact of CWA’s testbeds in advancing water innovation. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from industry leaders and learn about the solutions shaping the future of water technology.
The Water Accelerator Testbed Program enables companies to test their technologies in real-world conditions while providing essential legal and insurance considerations. With over 60 trials completed, underway, or scheduled, the program has become a crucial stepping stone for water technology innovation and a destination for innovators around the world.
"This was a particularly successful and exciting connection to make because it was through one of our partners, Clean, which is a cluster out of Denmark that we have a great relationship with," shares Emily Hamilton, Innovation Advocate at CWA. "We love when those relationships are fruitful and information gets passed freely and openly."
SenArch, founded in 2023, approached CWA to test their solar-powered LoRaWAN gateway in a water industry application. The company aims to simplify IoT deployment by combining solar panels and battery systems with traditional gateway technology.
"We're a provider of off-grid solar-powered gateways for the Internet of Things," explains Paul Martin Schwartz, Co-founder & CEO of SenArch. "And in the context of Cleveland Water Alliance, we provide a gateway which can sit uninterrupted in nature."
The testbed program implemented what CWA calls a "graduated deployment" approach, starting at the Lake Erie Center at CWA’s partner, University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. This process began with a rooftop installation before progressing to more challenging environments.
"One of the exciting things about this particular deployment was that we already had a gateway located on a tower near that rooftop location that had stopped working," Hamilton explains. "One of the things that's tough about accessing traditional gateways is you need a tower climber. You need to hire a tower climber to come out and fix it. It's a logistical issue with safety concerns. The SenArch device install was quick and easy, provided connectivity at that location for trialing, and we were utilizing it right away in our infrastructure. It wasn't just a demonstration opportunity, but a valuable addition to the smart infrastructure immediately."
Hamilton added, "The initial deployment gave us a chance to evaluate the technology in a controlled setting while addressing a real connectivity need at the site."
The testbed deployment provided valuable learning opportunities for both CWA and SenArch. "Just getting the hands-on experience personally, standing in the workshop at LimnoTech and actually driving out and installing it on the rooftop at the University of Toledo site—that gave me some real-world application knowledge that I brought back to my team," Schwartz shares. Since the initial deployment of its IoT gateway at the University of Toledo, SenArch added additional gateways near Turtle Creek to trial in a more natural environment.
For CWA, the deployment offered insights into alternative approaches to maintaining the Smart Lake Erie Watershed network. "With the Turtle Creek deployment, these are more rugged deployments. They're harder to get connectivity in these areas. These buoys are in remote locations," Hamilton notes. "Testing different connectivity solutions helps us understand how to better maintain and expand our environmental monitoring capabilities."
The partnership emerged through CWA's relationship with Clean: The Danish Water and Environmental Cluster, demonstrating how the Water Accelerator Testbed Program facilitates international technology exchange.
This connection exemplifies CWA's commitment to fostering global partnerships that advance water technology and provides another beautiful example of how our network contributes to the acceleration of water technology.
CWA’s Testbed Program serves as a vital bridge between international innovators and the U.S. market, demonstrating the value of collaborative ecosystems in water technology advancement. This deployment showcases how CWA connects universities, international technology clusters, and businesses to drive innovation in the water sector.
"This was a real rock star start to finish," Hamilton reflects on the international collaboration. The program's ability to facilitate these connections helps validate new technologies while providing valuable market insights to international companies entering the U.S. water sector.
The deployment exemplifies how CWA's Testbeds support technology development through practical testing and feedback. "The testbed gave us an opportunity to optimize not just the electronics and software, but also the mechanical aspects that facilitate deployment," notes Schwartz.
Hamilton adds, "This kind of testing helps validate our broader mission of building IoT connectivity network infrastructure in the environment so we have a better understanding of the natural world."
As the Water Accelerator Testbed Program continues to grow, CWA remains committed to supporting innovators of all sizes, from startups to multinational corporations. The program offers:
This deployment demonstrates how CWA's testbed program can simultaneously validate new technologies while strengthening international partnerships and advancing water innovation.
Join us at the Innovation Summit on March 25 to hear from experts and innovators driving advancements in IoT monitoring and rapid detection technologies. Discover why these solutions matter, what makes them investible, and hear firsthand insights from companies like SenArch on the challenges and opportunities of innovating in this space through the facilitation of Cleveland Water Alliance.
The Cleveland Water Alliance's Water Accelerator Testbeds welcome innovators interested in testing and demonstrating their technologies in the world's most digitally connected freshwater environment. Learn more about deployment opportunities at clevelandwateralliance.org.
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