Net zero water challenge innovations Spring forward

Emission-cutting innovations from three global technology leaders are being accelerated through the UK water sector, thanks to new collaborative platform Spring.

Technologies from Siemens, Xylem and Cobalt Water Global are being mobilised through a collaboration of 10 water companies, as part of the first Spring Accelerator challenge.

Spring is dedicated to water sector transformation through innovation and collaboration. It was launched in 2021 to support the sector in delivering the ambitions of its Water Innovation 2050 joint strategy and is backed by all UK and Irish water and wastewater companies.

The Spring Accelerator sets challenges related to the Water Innovation 2050 themes, facilitating the end-to-end process from ideation and assessment to collaboration and adoption. The initial stages of the first challenge, which asked innovators to find ways to reduce operational emissions, have successfully completed, with three new innovations on the fast-track to scaling and adoption.

Siemens – Optimising performance and emissions reduction using a white-box digital twin of the wastewater treatment process.

Xylem – Xylem Treatment System Optimisation (TSO) digital twin-based control platform for process optimisation and greenhouse gas reduction in wastewater treatment.

Cobalt Water Global – N2ORisk Decision Support System to significantly reduce total greenhouse emissions at wastewater treatment plants by focusing on N2O.