To grow the water sector’s capacity to innovate, Ofwat has established an Innovation Fund. This will help in managing the needs of our customers, society, and environment. Between 2020-25 the fund has provided £200 million of investment. For 2025-30 it will increase to £400 million and £100 million Water Efficiency Fund created.
The fund supports water company initiatives and projects that show bold new approaches to innovation. We've detailed some of the highlights from our projects as part of this:
£27.8 million
35
£24.9 million
You can find out more about the Ofwat Innovation Fund projects we're leading:
The project aimed to help ‘slow the flow’ of rainwater entering sewers.
We're working on preventing bursts and protecting the environment.
We've worked on establishing industry-wide data standards and tools for digital twins.
We're transforming the energy balance of wastewater treatment.
We've improved weather forecasting to help predict business impact.
We're developing a groundbreaking "no-dig" repair technology to tackle leaking water mains.
We're working to deliver the UK's first continuously operating, sludge-fed pyrolysis demonstration plant.
We're incentivising street works to install sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) for flood mitigation.
We're using robots to clean slow sand filters to help improve water purification.
