Jeddah has announced the winners of the third Global Prize for Innovation in Water during the opening of the fourth Innovation Driven Water Sustainability Conference (IDWS2025). The announcement marked the conclusion of a competitive process that captured the attention of water experts and institutions worldwide.
A total of 14 winners were revealed. Their work met the standards set by the international judging committee. With prize funding totalling 10 million dollars, the award aims to recognise research and solutions that can be applied in real-world water systems.
This year’s two Grand Prize winners are HanQing Yu from China, who received the Grand Impact Award, and Guihua Yu from the United States, who received the Grand Discovery Prize.
Twelve additional award recipients were recognised across the programme’s tracks. These include Charlie Norton, Premlal Balakrishna Pillai, Omar Daoud and Felipe Torres from the United Kingdom; Jianan Gao from Hong Kong, China; John Gradek, Hamidreza Samouei and Andrew Schevets from the United States; Elena Campos and Ines Larrea from Spain; Walid Soufi from Turkey; and Abrar Zafar from Saudi Arabia.
The announcement followed a selection stage involving 36 finalists from 22 countries, representing leading universities, research bodies and technology companies. Winning projects focused on areas central to the future of water management, including Advanced Water Production Technologies, Water Quality Improvement and Reuse, Circular Treatment and Zero Liquid Discharge Technologies, Digital Models and Automation, Sustainable Water Production, Environmental Conservation and Cost-Effective Wastewater Treatment.
The international jury of 28 specialists from 12 countries commended the standard of entries and noted that the winning solutions combined technical strength, environmental benefit and potential to address growing pressure linked to climate change and water scarcity.
