Member Article

Ofwat launches £4m innovation competition to reward water sector outsiders

Ofwat - the English and Welsh water regulator - has launched the Water Discovery Challenge, a new £4m open-access competition for innovators with bold and ingenious ideas that can solve the biggest challenges facing the water sector.

The competition is the latest from Ofwat’s £200 million Innovation Fund, which seeks to generate new ideas to tackle issues including managing leaks, preventing pollution, improving water efficiency, reducing emissions, boosting flood and drought resilience, prioritising sustainable practices, and supporting vulnerable customers. 

Where previous Ofwat Innovation Fund competitions have focused on innovations from, and led by, those within the sector, the new Water Discovery Challenge is incentivising ideas from, and led by those outside of the water sector. The goal is to open the sector to new ground-breaking insights and thinking that benefit consumers and the environment.

Announcing the launch, David Black, Chief Executive of Ofwat said: “It’s no secret that the water sector has faced challenges in the last year. As a regulator we’re constantly pushing the sector to overcome these. Water affects everyone, and it’s time we see what the water sector can learn from astronauts, farmers, data specialists, architects and planners. This is about preparing the water sector for the future, and I look forward to the ideas that come out of it.”

Ofwat is looking for bold and innovative entrants from outside the water sector. It has identified five sectors where it believes there is particularly high potential for innovative crossovers: energy, cities and transport, construction, agriculture and farming, and digital, data and internet of things. 

Up to 20 teams of the most promising innovators will be awarded up to £50,000 to develop their ideas, with expert support and mentoring from water companies. Up to 10 will go on to win up to £450,000 to turn ideas into pilots. 

John Russell, Senior Director at Ofwat, said: “Our £200m Innovation Fund has already supported projects that detect and fix leaks, capture carbon emissions from water processing plants to convert them into fuel, and remove fertilisers from waterways to be re-used in our food system. Now, we’re broadening the opportunity to innovators in any industry that can make a difference to improving the water system for all of us.”

To deliver the competition, Ofwat is working with innovation prize experts Challenge Works, alongside global engineering, sustainability and water sector experts Arup, and Isle Utilities. In addition to financial incentives, successful teams will benefit from expert mentoring and capacity-building support, including access to insights and mentoring from water companies and support for scaling solutions for the extensive water network in England and Wales.

Holly Jamieson, Director at Challenge Works, said: “Our experience of nurturing and rewarding innovators across multiple challenge prizes has shown us that it is often the least likely suspects that can provide the solution with the greatest impact. And with the support of Arup and Isle Utilities, we can work closely with innovators from outside the water sector to turn great ideas into real-world solutions.”

Previous Ofwat Innovation Fund winners include small robots called “Pipebots” that can patrol pipes from the inside and use artificial intelligence to monitor for faults and damage, and the Organics Ammonia Recovery project  which turns ammonia in wastewater into green hydrogen fuel. 

The Water Discovery Challenge is open to entries until on 5 April 2023.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andrew McKay .