Ofwat’s £40m Breakthrough Challenge kicks off

Entries for Ofwat’s Water Breakthrough Challenge have opened today (6 May) with opportunities for bids to win up to £10 million to develop and implement innovative solutions for common challenges in the water sector.

The Water Breakthrough Challenge is part of the £200 million Innovation Fund introduced as part of PR19 to encourage collaborative problem solving. It follows the £2 million Innovation in Water Challenge, the winners of which were announced last month.

Like the first competition, the Breakthrough Challenge aims to enable fresh approaches and ways of working to address the issues in the sector such as reaching net zero, driving down leakage, protecting and enhancing the environment, mitigating the impacts of climate change and using open data to enhance customer service.

John Russell, senior director at Ofwat, said: “Our innovation competitions are now in full swing and we are beginning to see a wave of innovation across the sector. Within the Breakthrough Challenge we are looking forward to seeing continued collaboration outside of the sector from a wide range of industries, and even more cutting-edge projects that tackle the greatest challenges facing our sector, and society as a whole.”

All bids, which should be submitted by 3 June, must demonstrate how solutions help the water sector deliver for customers, society and the environment. Successful applications will receive between £1 million and £10 million to support their ideas with additional contributions from the entrant companies.

Entries must be submitted by water companies but partnerships with other organisations in and out of the sector are encouraged. This could include universities and institutes, retailers, start-ups, or small businesses in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, health, or financial services.

Like the Innovation in Water Challenge, the Breakthrough will be run by Nesta Challenges, supported by Arup.