Recognition highlights FEDCO’s BiTurbo™ technology and continued commitment to innovative desalination solutions

MONROE, Mich. - May 12, 2026 - Fluid Equipment Development Company (FEDCO) announced today it has been selected as a Semifinalist in Track A: System-Level Innovation of the XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition, a $119 million, five-year global initiative focused on enabling widespread access to clean water through reliable, affordable, and sustainable seawater desalination technologies.

FEDCO has been selected as one of the 20 semifinalists from Track A Desalination: System-Level Innovation, in this contest. This distinction includes a $250,000 award, acknowledging FEDCO’s innovative contributions to desalination technology.

“Water scarcity is one of the most pressing global issues of our time and solving it will require both innovation and practical engineering,” said Eli Oklejas, President and CEO of FEDCO. “Being named a semifinalist in the XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition validates the work our team is doing to apply proven technology to a problem that demands real, scalable solutions.”

FEDCO’s submission to XPRIZE is based on its BiTurbo™ multi-stage reverse osmosis (RO) technology, a patented approach that uses energy-recovery turbochargers for both feed and interstage pressure boosting. Unlike conventional single-stage RO systems, the BiTurbo™ configuration applies multi-stage pressure management using energy recovered from the brine stream, allowing RO facilities to produce more usable water while helping to reduce both system complexity and lifecycle cost.

“Our focus has always been on building equipment that performs reliably in demanding, real‑world conditions,” Oklejas said. “The BiTurbo approach reflects that philosophy, using proven energy‑recovery principles to make desalination systems more efficient, more resilient, and more accessible for the communities that depend on them.”

As part of the semifinalist phase, FEDCO will participate in upcoming XPRIZE Water Scarcity Summit held in conjunction with Global Water Intelligence’s Global Water Summit, taking place May 18–20, 2026, in Madrid, Spain. Casey Bly, Vice President Sales & Global Operations, will represent the company at the summit.

XPRIZE Water Scarcity will proceed through several competitive phases, with semifinalists
undergoing additional testing and demonstrations. Finalist teams will compete for prizes, with final awards presented at the competition’s conclusion in 2028.

Global water scarcity already affects billions of people and is expected to intensify as climate change, population growth, and industrial demand place increasing strain on freshwater resources. The prize incentivizes competing teams to create new solutions that are measurably more affordable, reliable, environmentally sustainable, and resilient in a changing climate than existing methods.