The Water Quality Improvement Center 
The Water Quality Improvement Center (WQIC), located in Yuma, Arizona, on the site of the 73 million-gallon-per-day reverse osmosis Yuma Desalting Plant, is a National Center for Water Treatment Technology initiated by the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Water Research Institute, and the U.S. Army. The WQIC serves as a field site to investigate new and improved water treatment technologies, including pretreatment associated with desalination.
WQIC Research Goals:
- Identify technologies and processes to advance the state of water treatment technology and reduce the costs to treat impaired waters. This is accomplished by united research efforts between government, academia, and private industry through Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA).
- Conduct research under the YDP Cost Reduction Program, as authorized under the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act, Title I. This research promotes the identification of technologies and processes that will reduce the cost of operating the YDP.