2024
The 2024 first prize winner is LivingWaters Systems, a low cost, portable, rainwater harvesting guttering system designed to support its own weight without being physically attached to its host housing unit, therefore making it suitable for use on any home with a pitched roof, including refugee tents and less durable informal structures.
The $25,000 second prize winner is Permalution, a start up company harnessing fog and clouds with its innovative technology, consisting of three main components; Fog Atlas - a predictive model identifying optimal project locations based on fog and cloud patterns (25% of the world currently mapped); Water Radar - meteorological sensors that analyse clouds and fog to estimate water yields, assess water quality, and conduct cost-benefit analyses and Fog Collectors - passive devices with hydrophilic membranes that gather water droplets from the air, collecting between 150-400 litres per day per unit.
2023
The 2023 $50,000 first prize winner is Lombrifiltro by CPlantae, a sanitary engineering firm and social enterprise based in Mexico that has developed and commercialized prefabricated vermifilters for onsite wastewater treatment. The Lombrifiltro system uses vermifiltration, an extension of the vermicomposting process whereby earthworms digest suspended particles and degrade organic matter through enzymatic activity. CPlantae strive to provide a safe, wastewater treatment solution to communities across Mexico and Latin America who do not have do not have access to a sewer system.
The $25,000 second prize winner is TU Delft Water For Impact that has developed electrocoagulation - a method to treat surface water using solar power and removing the need for costly and often hard to access chemicals. The pilot project will test the approach and effectiveness in providing a solution to groundwater treatment challenges in northern Ghana. Netherlands based, TU Delft Water for Impact aims to have real world impact using multidisciplinary science, technology and innovation in co-creation with local partners.
2022
The 2022 $50,000 first prize winner is Caminos de Agua, a community focused, data-driven and science-oriented NGO based in Mexico. The project addresses the challenge of water contamination in central Mexico where toxic levels of contaminants, such as arsenic and fluoride are causing chronic health conditions. Caminos de Agua have developed a low-cost, easy to build, community managed Groundwater Treatment System (GTS) that uses universally available materials for construction, which are able to be replaced at community level. The system leverages filtration media including iron oxide for arsenic removal and locally produced bonechar to absorb fluoride. This project is designed to be directly operated, monitored and maintained by the rural community itself, putting the power of water treatment into the hands of those most adversely affected. The GTS is designed with replicability and scalability in mind, using readily available materials that make it replicable almost anywhere in the world. The technology is protected under open-source licenses, making their designs and data free to use for all, so their GTS can be scaled to other regions and contexts.
The $25,000 second prize winner is MSABI’s True Life Water Points project, a Tanzanian organisation offering a subscription-based maintenance model for community water points in rural Tanzania that increases access and coverage of improved water sources. It is estimated that in Tanzania there are over 30,000 non-functioning water points that could otherwise be providing access to safe water to an estimated 7.5 million people. This project builds on MSABI’s work to rehabilitate abandoned water assets by providing proactive and reactive maintenance and repair services in exchange for a low-cost monthly premium. Subscribers benefit from an advanced water point surveillance system that is used to monitor distribution and functionality of water points, they can trigger alerts via SMS with mechanics responding within 24 hours. The subscription can be paid for and managed via mobile phone, making it accessible to people or community groups with no access to conventional banking systems.
2021
The 2021 $50,000 first prize winner is Green Empowerment, a US based charity operating in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. The project addresses the challenge of reliable water treatment in low-resource communities through the use of a robust, autonomous, sensor-based Chlorine Management System (CMS). Through the use of data, the innovative system uses a consumable sensor to collect community specific patterns of water consumption, as well as water quality ranges specific to the community’s water source to develop a predictive algorithm for effective water chlorination. Andrea Johnson, Executive Director at Green Empowerment says “"Green Empowerment believes in innovation that is designed in collaboration with partners and communities who will most benefit from the new technology. This is the foundation for our Chlorine Management System which is aimed to improve the water treatment in community-owned and operated water systems. The RELX prize will help us accelerate the field testing and improvements in our prototype for immediate benefit to community partners while positioning us to maximize the potential of this solution beyond communities where Green Empowerment and our partners work."
The $25,000 second prize winner is Mosan, an international social enterprise offering circular, off-grid dry sanitation services for densely populated settlements. The sanitation system features the Mosan Toilet - an award-winning, in-home toilet, designed with the highest technical standards. A community-led model and the strong role of users and the local populations enables operational costs and maintenance costs to be kept low.
Read the 2021 press release
2020
The 2020 $50,000 first prize winner is a mobile dewatering vehicle by CUBEX S.A.L - a Lebanese startup social enterprise. The dewatering unit is designed to collect sewage from septic systems in rural areas – in Lebanon over 80% of rural households are reliant on septic tanks or seepage pits -and allows the thickening of collected solids on site and the return of excess water following filtration and disinfection. The aim is to offer a complete collection and treatment process for faecal sludge that is cost efficient, technically sound and most importantly applicable to developing countries. On-site treatment of septic sewage in a mobile, service-model approach avoids wastewater and faecal sludge from entering water streams and ground water, reducing disease risk. The service offers households an affordable solution, removing the cost of installing a fixed onsite product. According to Marc Anoun, Founder and General Manager of CubeX, “through accepting that our reliance on septic tanks will be around for a while, Cubex is improving how they function and the efficiency of servicing them in an ecological manner. With the additional validation that we will achieve thanks to the RELX Environmental challenge, we will be able to attract strategic partners working in the development sector on sludge management as well as the right investor to take us to the next stage".
The 2020 $25,000 second prize winner is BlueTap. Founded in 2017 by a team of engineers from the University of Cambridge, BlueTap aims to use technology to improve access to high-quality drinking water in low resource settings. It has created a 3D printed chlorine doser designed to automatically inject chlorine into household and institutional level water systems. BlueTap engages in extensive capacity building with local stakeholders to ensure the long-term sustainable use of its products, Rebecca Donaldson, COO at BlueTap says “The RELX prize will allow us to install our technology in households and schools within Uganda in order to prove the effectiveness of our technology and trial a unique subscription model. We aim to serve over 9,000 beneficiaries in this stepping stone to scale”.
In addition to the two annual prizes, a further $25,000 was awarded in a special Partnership Prize to mark the tenth anniversary and to foster collaboration between previous winners. The winning project proposal sees previous winners CAWST, AIDFI and Sanergy coming together to create a series of online training and outreach in order continue supporting water and sanitation networks and practitioners across Africa and Columbia throughout the global pandemic.
Read the 2020 press release
In 2020, the RELX Environmental Challenge celebrated its 10th year and the winners were announced at a free, virtual event marking the anniversary. Featured speakers included Dr Arup K. SenGupta, Chemical Engineering Professor at Lehigh University and Co-Founder of Drinkwell, the first RELX Environmental Challenge $50,000 winner in 2011; Cheryl Hicks, CEO and Executive Director of the Toilet Board Coalition, focused on business-led partnerships to address the global sanitation crisis; Valeri Labi, Director of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at iDE Ghana and an Environmental Challenge judge; and Tim Brewer, Research Practice Lead at Water Witness International, a UK registered charity which works with partners globally to hold duty-bearers in government and the private sector to account for sustainable and equitable water management.
Watch the event and the announcement of the 2020 winners here
2019
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000: SolarSack
The $50,000 first prize winner is SolarSack, which uses ultraviolet radiation from direct sunlight to purify water at an exceptionally low cost. Safe drinking water is often unavailable to many people living in poverty, but SolarSack provides one year of safe water for a family of four for only $2. Johan Jenson, COO and Founder of SolarSack said, “We are thrilled to be awarded the RELX Environmental Challenge grant. SolarSack is on a mission to provide safe and affordable drinking water to the world. We provide 2,000 liters of safe water for just $2, making SolarSack accessible to end-users in emerging markets. The RELX prize will help create awareness about our innovative solution, as well as an immediate impact for 25.000 people living in refugee camps in Uganda.”
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000: Chris Mtalimanja
The second prize of $25,000 went to Christopher Mtalimanja, an educator and disability-rights activist who has worked in ten countries across Africa managing projects and advising on special needs and inclusive education. The project will advance a dry bio latrine system at three primary schools in Malawi. Liquid waste is transformed into fertiliser which can be used to grow seedlings to generate revenue, while solid waste is transferred to a digester to produce energy that can be used by the schools. Christopher Mtalimanja said, “Coming from a country where the impacts of global warming and social exclusion are prominent, it is important for my project to go beyond just installing the bio-latrines in the selected schools. I hope to replicate my project in other locations – turning waste into an important income-generating activity. I am delighted to be one of the winners of the 2019 RELX Environmental Challenge.”
Read the 2019 press release
2018
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000: Flexcrevator
The $50,000 first prize winner is Flexcrevator, an innovative pit latrine emptying device developed by North Carolina State University. Every day, pit latrines receive an estimated 0.6 billion kg of faeces and 2.1 billion kg of urine from 1.77 billion people around the world. Once pits are full, fecal sludge has to be removed, before being transported and treated - often a manual task due to an accumulation of trash in the latrine. Flexcrevator aims to offer a pit emptying technology that can empty trash filled pits at a competitive cost, removing the need for high-risk and unsanitary manual methods. On completion of design testing, the Flexcrevator team hope to move into production phase and put the technology in the hands of sanitation entrepreneurs around the world.
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000: HandyPod
HandyPod, an affordable sanitation solution by Cambodia based social enterprise, Wetlands Work (WW!), developed for floating communities or those seasonally affected by flooding won the $25,000 second prize. HandyPod is a sewage treatment process, designed with input from local communities, that offers a low maintenance, chemical free solution, utilising gravity flow rather than external energy sources. Following a successful pilot in 10 floating villages over two years, the HandyPod will be introduced in Chhnok Tru, a large urban floating community with an adjacent floodplain community of stilt houses. WW! has also developed a strategy to create awareness and market demand for sanitation solutions in floating communities.
Read the 2018 press release
2017
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000: eWater
The $50,000 first prize winner, eWATER uses leading-edge mobile and contactless payment technology for accountable revenue collection and data management, to sustain urban and rural water systems throughout the developing world. Nearly 40% of all water points in Africa are broken due to a lack of revenue or operational means to manage maintenance; more people in Africa have access to a mobile phone than to clean water. eWater therefore uses mobile money and Near Field Communication (NFC) pre-payment to enable low cost, transparent collection of user fees for each litre of water consumed. They operate in the most remote communities deploying live cloud reporting to ensure a community’s water supply system is always working. Following successful piloting in nine villages in Tanzania and Gambia, they will use the prize to expand into three villages situated in Upper River and Lower River of The Gambia, installing 60 eWATERtaps and repairing three large solar pumped water systems, benefiting over 8,000 people.
http://www.ewaterpay.com/
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000: Aeropurifier
The $25,000 second prize winner is Colombia’s Aeropurifier, a wholly wind powered solution to desalinate brackish water and designed by scientist and engineer Juan Carlos Borrero. Requiring no external power source, chemical treatment or electronic components, Aeropurifier produces 528 gallons of potable water per day for communities in arid regions. The ease of manufacture, assembly, operation and maintenance without the need for highly trained engineers provides a possible worldwide, low-cost solution to desalination. By the close of 2018, 400 additional units will be installed in Colombia’s Guajira Peninsula where a pilot has delivered four years of potable water, now certified and has already benefited 12,000 people. The project will involve indigenous communities and local and national government.
Read the 2017 press release
2016
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000: Loowatt Ltd.
Loowatt has developed a proprietary waterless and energy-generating toilet system that is clean and odourless, creating social and environmental benefits that include water savings, carbon emissions reduction, improved human health and job creation. Loowatt’s patented core technology can fit into toilets of any shape or size and seals human waste into biodegradable polymer film. These are then emptied into an anaerobic digester where it is converted into natural gas or fertiliser – creating local jobs and revenue streams. With support from the Environmental Challenge, Loowatt will address low access to quality sanitation in Madagascar’s capital city through investment in local manufacturing capacity for toilet refills. This will create jobs and revenue streams for the city residents while supporting Loowatt’s ambition for its technology to serve over 2m million customers a day in developing markets.
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000: Aguaclara LLC
The $25,000 second prize winner is US-based AguaClara LLC, a social enterprise borne out of Cornell University. Its designs are for municipal-scale, nonelectric water treatment plants that are simple to operate and sustainable in small towns and villages. AguaClara’s gravity-powered water treatment technology is sustainable from its has sustainability built in, from their oopen-source design through to to easy maintenance of its modular components. Existing projects in Honduras (supported by the Cornell AguaClara programme prior to the founding of the company) and India are built using locally available materials and operated by the communities they serve. The Environmental Challenge prize money will support AguaClara in creating a 10-village water disinfection system in Orissa, India that will initially bring drinking potable water to 5,000 people, create jobs through manufacture and operation of the system and drive research to further improve the technology.
Read the 2016 press release
2015
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000: Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation (AIDFI)
AIDFI, a Philippines-based social enterprise that provides reliable drinking water to upland rural areas using a unique hydraulic ram pump. Made from locally-sourced materials, the pump uses the pressure of falling water to pump water to villages above a water source, with each pump reaching an average of 600 people. AIDFI has had success in Afghanistan, Colombia, Nepal and the Philippines, assisting some 222,000 people in 370 villages. The prize money will launch a ram pump pilot project in Mexico.
http://www.aidfi.org/
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000: Project Salino
The $25,000 second prize winner is Salino, a project managed by Devlina Das of India’s VIT University. The project will convert sea water into drinking water using a unique five-step method powered by solar energy. Aimed at India’s semi-arid and arid zones, Salino will initially target 50 homes and data from the pilot will be used to scale implementation.
http://www.vit.ac.in/
Read the 2015 press release
2014
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000: Sustainable Sanitation Design
Unisex Urinal: value-creating sanitation in Bwaise (Kampala), Uganda
Over 1bn people live in urban slums, without access to sanitation facilities. SuSan Design’s unisex urinal concept was developed through an inclusive design process with women in a Kampala slum. It provides women with a low cost urinal in their home that gives them privacy, collects valuable nutrients and reduces local pollution. It plays a pivotal role in reducing volumes in toilets and facilitates nutrient recovery.
Using funding from Reed Elsevier, the project will provide unisex urinals to 10,000 households, serving around 50,000 out of the 430,000 people living in slum settlements of Kampala. The urine will be collected and sold as natural fertiliser for local agriculture and/or to the flower production companies just outside Kampala.
http://susan-design.org/
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000: Ecofiltro S.A
Development of the Ceramic Disk Filter for Household Water Treatment in Guatemala
A systematic review of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions commissioned by the World Bank suggests that improving household drinking water quality at the point of use is more effective in reducing diarrheal disease risks (by 30 to 40 percent) than improvements at the source. Ecofiltro, S.A. is one of the most successful ceramic filter factories in the developing world with a recognised brand name and successful track record in the manufacture, marketing and sales of ceramic pot filters to both urban and rural customers in Guatemala
Reed Elsevier funds will be used to develop and commercialise a new type of household water treatment and safe storage system called the ceramic disk filter—a practical, effective and affordable technology that provides a “protective” level of treatment performance for protozoa, bacteria and virus removal.
http://www.ecofiltro.org/en
WASH Alliance prize winner, $15,000: Stanford Program on Water, Health & Development
Lotus Water: community-scale automated chlorination for drinking water in urban slums
More than 90 percent of households in the slums of Dhaka are served through public taps or handpumps connected to the municipal water system, commonly shared by 10-100 households. The Stanford team conducted a survey of shared water points in Dhaka slums and found that 98 percent are contaminated. Their product offers reliable chlorine dosing while remaining low-cost; it can be easily integrated into existing handpumps, and is designed to dose water accurately even under variable and intermittent flow.
Direct beneficiaries of the next phase (installation of 150 devices) of the Lotus Water project will include approximately 2,000 households in Dhaka, or 10,000 people, who will access disinfected water as a result of using the technology. These sites will also allow the team to carry out health impact and business model evaluations.
http://water.stanford.edu/
Read the 2014 press release
2013
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000: WaterSHED
[photograph from WaterSHED]
Introduction of Improved Toilet Shelters for Increased Sanitation Coverage
An estimated 1.8m million households in rural Cambodia do not have access to safe sanitation. WaterSHED’s goal is to use local market channels to improve the supply of Cambodia’s safe, sustainable, and affordable sanitation products and services. WaterSHED’s research demonstrates that Cambodians desire a shelter for sanitation facilities, and will not purchase a latrine without an appropriate accompanying structure.
The Environmental Challenge award will allow WaterSHED to iteratively design and test-market a solution to improve access to toilet facilities for a significant portion of rural Cambodians, providing an affordable, attractive, and accessible shelter using durable, environmentally safe materials.
WaterSHED predicts their efforts will encourage more than 50,000 households to build latrines within the next two years, with far-reaching impacts across the region.
http://www.watershedasia.org/about-watershed/
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000: Gadgil Lab, UC Berkeley
Sustainable and scalable arsenic remediation of groundwater in South Asia
Deaths and disease are linked to high levels of naturally occurring arsenic in untreated groundwater throughout South Asia. Gadgil Lab, UC Berkeley, aims to bring safe water to local communities in West Bengal through their invention, Electro-Chemical Arsenic Remediation (ECAR). ECAR removes arsenic using ordinary steel plates and low DC voltage; its performance exceeds international standards for arsenic-safety across diverse groundwater conditions, and produces less waste sludge than conventional methods.
ECAR is rapidly scalable, directly addressing causes of previous failure through a focus on maintenance, ongoing education, affordability, and quality control.
The Environmental Challenge award will be used to distribute arsenic-safe water from the ECAR prototype to school children in West Bengal, in collaboration with school administration and its management committees. Schools will serve as educational hubs for awareness and community involvement, and social marketing. Excess water will be sold at locally affordable prices to the village community.
http://gadgillab.berkeley.edu/
WASH Alliance prize winner, $15,000: Text to Change
[photograph from Text to Change]
WaterMonitor: Managing water supply and engaging communities at scale
The UN Joint Monitoring Program has estimated that water points in Africa fail between 30-60 percent of the time, while mobile phone penetration in Africa is approaching 60% and growing. Text to Change will develop a mobile communication tool called WaterMonitor to improve access to water in Uganda, helping map and extend the lifetime of the country’s water points.
WaterMonitor will allow stakeholders in the water value chain to map, monitor, and manage water infrastructure. Users will send a free SMS using simple codes to water companies containing all the relevant information needed for a repair, allowing water companies to respond more quickly.
The Environmental Challenge award will be used to map Uganda’s water points and for engagement with communities on WaterMonitor through traditional media such as radio, television, and posters, and mobile phone alerts.
http://www.texttochange.org/
Read the 2013 press release
2012
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000
Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST)
Iron-amended Biosand Water Filter for Millions of People in Nepal and Around the World
The project modifies a traditional Biosand Filter, which effectively strains large pathogens, by adding iron particles in order to remove viruses that previously remained in the filtered water. Rural villages in Nepal are greatly affected by water-borne diseases; this inexpensive project using local materials aims to help by installing 150 amended filters in two such villages that currently get their water from open springs. The project will especially target 1,000 of the most vulnerable people in the communities and provide health, environment, gender, and hygiene education workshops for the local community.
CAWST, based in Calgary, Canada, will be partnering with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), who developed the technology, and with Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), a well-established and respected local NGO to disseminate the iron-amended Biosand Filters. The hope is that within 10 years, the technology can be adopted by and help millions of people worldwide. CAWST will facilitate this by disseminating anything learned from the project through its global network.
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000
Sanergy
Sustainable Sanitation in Urban Slums of Africa
The project focuses on sustainable sanitation in the slums of Kenya, where 80 per cent of the population lacks access to adequate sanitation. Sanergy develops a dense network of small-scale but high-quality sanitation centres in slums. Each toilet is run by a local entrepreneur, with a training and support system in place. Waste cartridges are collected daily by Sanergy staff, and the waste is then converted into organic fertilizer and electricity. The prize money will be used to expand the pilot project, hopefully to 250 toilets in Nairobi by the end of 2012, and demonstrate the viability of the model across the entire value chain.
The project takes a systems-based approach with the issue, building out the entire sanitation value chain. It not only addresses the environmental and health impacts of poor sanitation, but seeks to boost the local economy as well. It also involves a range of stakeholders, including local residents, manufacturers, NGOs and the city council. Sanergy itself is well embedded in the local environment - 80 per cent of the team is Kenyan.
Watch Sanergy video
Read the 2012 press release
2011
Environmental Challenge first place winner, $50,000
Tagore-SenGupta Foundation
Sustainable Treatment of Contaminated Groundwater in Cambodia: Turning a Crisis into an Economic Enterprise
The project focuses on arsenic removal in ground-sourced drinking water in Cambodia. Many people living in the Mekong river floodplains in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos use water contaminated with arsenic at concentrations typically over 20 times the safe limit prescribed by the World Health Organization. The project involves an arsenic groundwater removal system using locally available chemical compounds and reusable sand filters. Ground water is pumped into an overhead tank, chemically stabilised, filtered using reusable arsenic-selective adsorbents, and converted into stable sludge/solids for safe long-term storage. Twelve community-level arsenic removal units are to be installed in remote villages and schools in Cambodia.
The project, using locally available raw materials, will complement traditional methods of water collection and costs will be shared by users. Environmental sustainability is addressed through the careful containment and storage of the arsenic removed from the contaminated water to ensure it does not leach into the environment. Socio-economic sustainability will be addressed through the formation and functioning of community water councils to ensure efficient operation and upkeep of the units. The Tagore-SenGupta Foundation, based in Pennsylvania, will be partnering with Cambodian NGO, This Life Cambodia, and Lehigh University.
Environmental Challenge second place winner, $25,000
Jenna Forsyth
Improving access to safe water and empowering students and communities through a scalable school-based water treatment and education programme in Kenya
The project developed by Jenna Forsyth, a student at the University of Washington, aims to develop a scalable school water treatment and education programme in the Nyanza province of western Kenya. The Smart Electrochlorinator 200, developed with Cascade Designs and Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, utilises locally available salt and battery or solar power to generate enough chlorine-based disinfectant solution per six minute cycle to treat 200 litres of water. The pilot, concentrating on three schools initially, will involve creation of school water clubs to increase knowledge of basic water, sanitation, and hygiene, among students, teachers, and parents.
The project will engage a range of stakeholders including community health workers, village leaders, and officials from the Kenyan Ministries of Education, Water, and Public Health. A project leader from each school will be trained to conduct regular sampling to ensure the water meets WHO standards for water quality.
The other shortlisted projects were:
“Aakash Ganga”: A community rooftop rainwater harvesting system in India
Candidate: Pratibha Shenoy/Sustainable Innovations Inc.
Water supply in India is dependent on the monsoon which brings a rainy season in the summer accounting for 80% of yearly rainfall. Delayed onset of the monsoon can have catastrophic consequences for the domestic water supply and larger economy. This project to collect and store rooftop rainwater, aims to provide equitable distribution of drinking water, at a village level, all year round.
The rooftop collection system has been piloted successfully in six villages in Rajasthan. The collected rainwater is shared between a network of local reservoirs, with capacity to supply domestic water to each household for a year.
If successful, prize money will contribute to the extension of the project, including construction of a 10,000 m2 rainwater harvesting park that will yield an estimated 40 liters of water per capita per day. Among other contributions, local government would lease land for free to establish the park. Total project cost is estimated at $85,000 for one village.
A solar energy-based water purification system for Mozambique
Candidate: Boris Atanassov/Greenlight
Following the end of a 30 year civil war in 1995, Mozambique is still recovering from the destruction of its infrastructure, particularly in rural districts. As few as 32% of the population have access to adequate sanitation and just 43% to clean water, and the practice of boiling water for purification using inefficient biomass fuel systems brings further health impacts and contributes to deforestation and CO2 emissions.
This project would utilise a water purification system, developed by Solvatten in Sweden, to purify water through solar energy. Each 10-liter unit can purify water in as little as two hours, generating 10-30 litres of safe drinking water per day. Two regions, one urban and one rural, suffering from severe water-quality problems would be chosen in the pilot which aims to reach 500 communities. The total cost of the project is estimated at $49,900.