13 Jul 2023
24 May 2023
Ofwat Innovation Fund – latest winners
Farmers could soon be reimbursed for creating water storage ponds or water “batteries” as part of an innovative drought-prevention project that has today received funding from Ofwat’s Innovation Fund. With droughts affecting the UK for much of last summer, the project, from Westcountry Rivers Trust and South West Water, will not only contribute to better […]
24 May 2023
Multi-million-pound project aims to transform national approach to nature-based solutions
The Rivers Trust will co-lead an innovative new project working to remove barriers and develop new enabling mechanisms for the adoption of nature-based solutions at a catchment scale. The project has been officially announced, thanks to a successful bid to the Ofwat Innovation Fund, led by The Rivers Trust, United Utilities, Jacobs, and Mott Macdonald. […]
01 Feb 2023
Ofwat launches £4m Water Discovery Challenge
From Ofwat Ofwat has launched the Water Discovery Challenge, a £4m open-access competition for innovators with bold and ingenious ideas that can solve the biggest challenges facing the water sector today and in the future. The competition is the latest from Ofwat’s £200 million Innovation Fund, which seeks to generate new ideas to tackle issues […]
03 Aug 2022
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 […]
07 Apr 2022
Ofwat consults on Innovation Fund approach for 2022-25
Main changes to existing approach: 1. A new annual £4 million competition for early-stage ideas direct to innovators. We propose to allocate a portion of funding (about £4 million a year) to a new competition focused on enabling and supporting earlier stage idea development. This new competition will target primarily innovators and not require a […]
11 Jan 2022
Water industry predictions for 2022
In advance of the World Water Tech Summit in London next month, water utilities share their industry predictions and offer a glimpse of their innovation objectives. Not surprisingly, there is a focus on net zero and climate change mitigation and adaptation, but also water reuse, digitalization and potentially the largest investment programme since privatization. Read […]
12 Oct 2021
Entries open for second round of Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge
Entries have opened for Ofwat’s second Water Breakthrough Challenge, calling for initiatives to drive innovation and collaboration within the water sector and beyond – with the winning partnerships able to win a share of approximately £39 million. Following the successful partnerships formed in the first Water Breakthrough Challenge between water companies and the likes of conservation […]