Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, is offering up to £40 million for innovative projects in its fifth Water Breakthrough Challenge.
The funding will support collaborative projects led by water companies that aim to address climate change, pollution, leakage and improve services and infrastructure resilience.
Previous projects funded by Ofwat include “Pipebots”, a partnership involving Sheffield University, Synthotech Ltd, and three water companies, which created small robots to detect faults inside pipes.
Another project, CaSTCo, involved 12 water companies, The Rivers Trust, Zoological Society of London, charities, and universities and aimed to improve data collection on water environments through citizen science.
Dr Jo Jolly, Ofwat’s Director of Environment and Innovation, said: “Since 2020, the innovation fund has awarded funding to 93 innovative projects that can transform services for customers, communities and the environment.
“From sewage sludge to leaks, smart water neighbourhoods to supporting vulnerable customers, these partnership-delivered projects are helping to solve the big challenges we face.”
