Water scarcity, emerging contaminants, and the effects of climate change stress our global water systems. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure the health and safety of water for drinking, recreation, the vitality of coastal communities and ecosystems, and industrial needs. 

A lack of funding and inadequate opportunities for innovators to pilot and demonstrate urgently needed technologies, equipment, and systems that address these water challenges slows down the creation and implementation of needed solutions.

Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA) has long been working to mitigate these critical problems: addressing water challenges from around the world, right here in Ohio.  Through the Smart Lake Erie Watershed (SLEW) Initiative, CWA is removing barriers to technology trialing and deployment, partnering with innovators to develop crucial technologies and systems, and creating opportunities that are helping maintain the health of our freshwater while building the water economy in Cleveland and beyond. 

The SLEW Initiative is a multi-layered program consisting of various infrastructure, testbed environments, and collaboration between stakeholders, partners, and institutions that use and contribute to our collected data. CWA leverages over 200 IoT devices within the Smart Lake Erie Watershed every year, including nearly a dozen smart buoys across a growing 6,500-square-mile network in the Lake Erie watershed. The telecommunications infrastructure includes LoRaWAN (Low-Power Wide-Area Networking) technology – cost-effective devices that seamlessly deliver real-time, high-quality data used by municipalities, utilities, institutions, and other partners that monitor the health and water quality of rivers, streams, and other bodies of water. In addition, the watershed allows innovators to trial and test new equipment, systems, and technologies in a real-world environment; an early-warning system for Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB), nutrient sensors, and low-cost turbidity sensors are only a few examples of the groundbreaking technology trialed and demonstrated in our testbeds.

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2023 SLEW Successes

The Smart Lake Erie Watershed Initiative continues to grow, achieving incredible milestones along the way.

This year, through the SLEW program, we have: 

• Welcomed workforce development partner Argonaut
  ‍Cleveland Water Alliance is proud to partner with local non-profit Argonaut in championing diversity through training and recruitment opportunities for Cleveland high school students in the water industry. Through our partnership, CWA is increasing workforce development efforts in the Blue Economy across the Great Lakes region. 
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• Collected and analyzed smart sensor data
  ‍Our Lake Erie smart sensors have collected over 10 million data points this year! They are increasingly informative and provide precise spatial data analysis; the sensors monitor and collect real-time information about weather conditions, storm patterns, and other crucial insights about the lake. With two full-field seasons of collected data, we've gathered various atmospheric data points, including wave cycles, wind speeds, and rainfall that move across our region. This information is of interest to stakeholders, agencies like NOAA, recreational users, meteorologists, and more, and we are launching a new data series in 2024 on our blog to share our findings. 
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• Expanded our network coverage
  ‍To increase our network footprint, CWA installed multiple new gateways as part of our LoRaWAN telecommunications system, providing increased coverage of the watershed. The expanded network fills gaps in our network and allows additional collaboration with partners to outfit our network with sensors and other smart infrastructure. 
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• Trialed innovative technology in our testbeds
  ‍This year, Cleveland Water Alliance's Water Accelerator Testbed completed 13 deployments with nine companies from five different countries and maintains a 2024 waiting list of more than 40 innovators.

Interesting concepts that were trialed in our testbed this year include technologies like:

• A real-time sensor that detects the unique signatures of nitrates as well as nitrites
• A low cost semiconductor-based inline turbidity sensor that rivals the accuracy of the leading bench-top model
• A non-contact early algal bloom detection sensor which detects chlorophyll-a in early algal bloom formations
• A real-time multi-parameter monitoring system for harmful algal blooms (HABS) to support predictive analytics around HABs potential for spread and severity
• A plastics-capturing system for use at Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) outlets during stormwater events

Looking Ahead 

As changes in our climate continue to persist and create stress on our water systems, the need for innovative solutions to address global water challenges is essential.  The abundance of fresh water and the increased investments in water technology and infrastructure have positioned Cleveland as a hub for developing and deploying innovative systems, equipment, and technologies that monitor, manage, and maintain the Great Lakes region.

The Smart Lake Erie Watershed initiative continues to be impactful. With increased focus and funding, CWA is expanding our telecommunications network infrastructure, partnering with more innovators to develop effective technologies and solutions, and driving economic development through job creation for our freshwater communities and beyond.