Carbon-neutral wastewater plant leads Ofwat innovation winners

Using farmland for drought resilience, creating a carbon-neutral wastewater plant and expanding work to use fibre optics for leak detection are among the 16 winning projects in the latest round of Ofwat’s innovation fund.

A total of £40 million will be distributed between the qualifying entries in the third year of the competition, which recognises schemes with the potential to deliver sector-wide transformation.

The largest sum awarded went to Severn Trent which won £10 million to transform a wastewater treatment centre into a carbon-neutral site by trialling treatment techniques at-scale that reduce, remove or avoid carbon.

The company, working with Danish and Australian partners, is retrofitting its plant to create a blueprint for the sector in the UK and beyond to drive down process emissions. The water sector’s work to reach net zero is dependent on innovation in this area because until now the scope of emissions of nitrous oxide and methane were not accurately known and unavoidable.

A project by South West Water to incentivise farmers to store water on their land was awarded £1 million to trial creating a series of natural water stores such as restored wetlands and create lakes. These would act as reserves during times of need, provide natural purification, flood protection by slowing flows and boost biodiversity.

A follow-on from a previous scheme using dark fibre cables by Severn Trent will receive £1.3 million to expand the concept of utilising existing fibre optic networks adjacent to water mains to sense leaks via changes to vibration patterns. The process is used by rail networks to monitor ground stability. The company now wants to scale up the trial and make it ready for wider deployment.

“The water sector has faced mounting pressure over systemic challenges related to the environment and society, while the climate around us continues to drastically change shape. That’s why we’re funding ground-breaking innovations with potential to help us save and reuse water and wastewater products, while supporting wider society,” David Black, Ofwat chief executive, said.

The winners are:

• Net Zero Hub – developing carbon-neutral wastewater treatments at scale – £10 million, Severn Trent
• Biopolymers in the circular economy (BICE) – £6.1 million, United Utilities 
  Creating circular economy value from biopolymers extracted from waste. These are naturally produced in treatment processes and, if successfully extracted, could be used as chemical alternatives.
• Designer liner – £3.3 million, Yorkshire 
  Pipe lines with the potential to prolong the lifespan of pipe networks, reduce disruption from repairs and reduce carbon. The trial will develop a lining suitable for pipe conditions that complements smart technology in pipes.
• Mainstreaming nature-based solutions – £8 million,  United Utilities 
  A collaboration to remove barriers to the widescale mass uptake of nature based solutions. The partnership led by UU will explore real-life examples that could become business-as-usual for the sector to deliver for customers, society, environment.
• Stream – £3.9 million, Northumbrian
  A pilot to open up the use of data in the sector to support “hundreds” of future projects, rather than a specific single scheme. Stream will draw together learnings from banking and energy sectors to identify and address current barriers to datasharing.
• Dark Fibre 2 –leakage detection through broadband cables – £1.3 million, Severn Trent
• Water Net Gain – creating catchment-scale water stores on agricultural land – £1 million, South West
• AI for algal monitoring – £385k, Welsh Water.
  Exploring the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to transform algal monitoring into a high-throughput, high-accuracy laboratory or field-based process at a fraction of the cost and enabling quicker, targeted response to problems.
• Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) – Extreme Heat Scenario – £913k, Anglian 
  To further the sector’s understanding of how extreme heat impacts assets and to forecast future events using a digital twin to help with cross-sector infrastructure decision making.
• Hydro Powered Concentric Smart Meter – £875k, Northumbrian 
  A scheme to extend the battery life of smart meters by using the flow of water as a “limitless power” supply to expand the lifespan of assets, reduce the need for maintenance and eliminate environmentally harmful batteries.
• The world’s first Ecological Digital Twin – £1.2 million Anglian
  A digital twin of a Norfolk chalk stream to model the evolving needs of the water environment to help the sector better understand and respond to pressures.
• Universal access point for water (UAP4W) – £224k, SES Water
  SES seeks to develop a standardised entry point for pressurised water pipes for inserting cameras, leak detection arrays, repair solutions, autonomous robotic solutions and other devices used by the sector to find and fix leaks.
• Using science and nature to end sewer misery – £939k Northumbrian
  This scheme will utilise a process that repels tree roots from sewer pipes with a special coating, which does not harm the tree growth. Roots can damage pipes causing sewer blockages and flooding.
• Water efficiency in faith and diverse communities – £270k, South Staffs
  A collaborative project of faith groups, academics and behaviour change experts to understand faith-based and cultural differences in water habits with a hope to drive down consumption.
• Water industry printfrastructure (WIP) – £1.5 million, United Utilities
  Exploring uses for concrete and polymer printing in bespoke water infrastructure designs. The project will take learnings from the rail industry and academia and create operational demonstrations for use by the water sector.
• Water Literacy – £865k, Northumbrian
  Developing a public campaign to raise awareness of the value of water and connect usage to the environment in consumers’ minds. The Water Literacy Programme aims to encourage better understanding of the systems involved and techniques to empower positive behaviour changes at home, in the workplace or in their community as well as signposting to further learning around water and climate change.

The innovation fund was launched as part of PR19 when the regulator ringfenced £200 million for at-scale transformative innovation schemes that address challenges common to the water industry.

It invites participants from within – and for the first time this year, outside of – the sector to bid for funds and is coordinated by Arup and Isle Utilities. Ofwat has declared its intention to continue and expand the scheme at the next price review as well as a dedicated fund for innovation around water efficiency and demand management.