If you’re a technology vendor planning a trial / demonstration with a customer and you want to find out whether it would be eligible for support from one of the Trial Reservoirs, answer the Initial Screening Questions here (opens in a new tab) or get in touch at trialreservoir@isleutilities.com.
The Trial Reservoirs Initiative was created by Isle in 2021 to break the water sector’s inertia in the midst of the climate crisis. As of 2025, we are an independent not-for-profit under the Tech Ascend Foundation and drawing on Isle’s deep expertise. Our goal is to de-risk full-scale demonstrations of emerging water technologies.
The Initiative focuses on technologies at Technology Readiness Level 8–9 that need to be demonstrated in a user’s own operational environment. We enable trial periods that are free if the technology does not perform as needed, removing financial barriers to testing. This approach helps water utilities and industries adopt best practice solutions faster and with confidence, accelerating the adoption of high-impact technologies.
How does it work?
Funding is provided as a repayable grant to the technology company. This helps cover the costs of demonstrating their solution in the potential end-user’s asset base.
The user is obliged to make a meaningful commitment if the trial meets its pre-agreed KPIs. This may include hardware purchase or lease, or taking out a multi-year software subscription. The technology company then repays the funds into the Initiative.
Our three funding Reservoirs target different challenges across the water sector and adjacent industries. We co-develop clear success factors and KPIs with users and vendors before trials to ensure robust and actionable data. This helps end-users confidently answer the question: “Can I implement this technology in my operations?”
Our three Reservoirs include:
The Climate Change Trial Reservoir was launched by Isle in 2021 as the first Trial Reservoir. It is a global programme for technologies that mitigate climate change, either directly or indirectly. The end user can be a water utility or a water user in any other industry. They can be anywhere in the world, and the technology company can also be anywhere in the world.
The Advanced & Industrial Reservoir focuses on advanced water treatment solutions for industrial and advanced water sector challenges. It addresses resource recovery, emerging contaminants, waste-to-energy, circular economy, and decentralization in the water sector. The technology company and end user can operate in any country and in any industry globally.
Trials conducted in collaboration with a utility partner led by individuals from historically underrepresented groups OR serving a community with limited access to resources within the utility’s service area. All trials are located in the USA.
This Reservoir supports any technology that addresses the host utility’s challenges within the United States.
The Trial Reservoirs Initiative would not be possible without our amazing sponsors:-
Please provide your details so we can get in touch.
