Water Breakthrough Challenge: Catalyst Stream

Entries to Water Breakthrough Challenge 3 have now closed, and the winners have been announced. 

Read more.

The Catalyst stream aims to encourage new ways of working that go beyond business-as-usual innovation practices in the water sector, in particular, increasing and improving collaboration and building partnerships from within and outside the water sector. Approximately £8 million is available for entries seeking funding from £150,000 up to £2 million.

More information about the Catalyst Stream is available below.

• Key materials
• Timeline and key dates
• What you can win
• What we are looking for
• Assessment criteria explained
• Who can be involved
• How to enter
• Requirements for successful entries
• More information and support for your entry

Key Materials

Please review the below materials prior to submitting your entry:

• Catalyst Stream Entrant handbook (PDF, 1MB)
• Breakthrough 3 Entry Template (XLSX, 63KB)
• Terms & conditions
• Privacy policy

Entries must be submitted online via Submittable, no later than 8 December 2022 at 12 noon (GMT).

Other useful links to help you prepare your entry:

• We will ask you to register for a recording slot (Zoom call) where a three-minute pitch from the entry team will be recorded. This will be used to aid the understanding of our assessors when reviewing your entry, and should be the same presentation that you would use if invited to present to judges. You will need to register for a recording slot no later than 25 November at 5 pm (GMT).
• An editable version of the entry form can also be downloaded (DOCX, 369KB) to help you to develop and collaborate on your answers ahead of completing the online form.
• Book a surgery session to answer clarifying questions about the entry and assessment process.

Enter now

Timeline & key dates

The Catalyst stream of Breakthrough 4 uses a streamlined, single-stage entry process, proportionate to the risk and value of entries being submitted.

Entries to the Catalyst stream open on 3 October 2022 at 12 noon (BST), and they close on 8 December 2022 at 12 noon (GMT). Following the closing date, entries will be checked for eligibility and assessed.

A diverse portfolio of shortlisted entries that best meet the relevant assessment criteria will then be shared with an independent judging panel for its review.

The judging panel will convene in March 2023. The judging panel will recommend to Ofwat a diverse portfolio of entries for funding that they consider best meets the relevant assessment criteria and have the potential to deliver tangible positive benefits for customers, society, and the environment. Ofwat will then make the final decision on whether to award funding.

Further details on the selection process can be found in the entry process below. If you are successful in winning funding, you can expect to be notified by mid-March 2023.

What you can win

Through the Catalyst stream, there is approximately £8 million total funding available for successful entries. Individual entries to the Catalyst stream can request between £150,000 to £2 million in funding. If you wish to request more than £2 million, please see the Transform stream.

As such, we expect to receive entries into the competition with a total financial cost of from £165,000 to approximately £2.2 million, inclusive of the 10% mandatory financial contribution.

What we are looking for

Areas for innovation

We are looking for your ideas that address the big challenges facing the water sector – aligned with Ofwat’s four strategic innovation themes. We aim to fund a wide range of entries that will showcase a diverse mix of innovative ways of working and solutions.

These themes have been updated since the second round of the Water Breakthrough Challenge. We no longer explicitly reference open data or vulnerability in the themes – however, both would be implicit in theme 4 (and others), and both would easily be a means to fulfil this theme.

We have published more detailed policy statements on Ofwat’s position around Open Data and customer vulnerability since the start of the Ofwat Innovation Fund. We believe that the breadth of the broader theme allows for greater freedom in proposing improved ways of working and could deliver greater benefits.

While no longer explicitly referenced in the themes, enabling activities are still very important to drive innovation in the sector and have a key role to play in helping the Fund achieve its outcomes. We invite entries in this important area as they will support the Fund’s ambition to embed innovation practices and knowledge within water companies (and the sector) for the long term. ​

We have identified a number of innovation enablers that will be particularly critical to growing and sustaining the water sector’s capacity to innovate. The Fund will consider supporting initiatives that demonstrate and further strengthen these enablers, including but not limited to:

• Collaboration: building and strengthening collaboration and partnerships across companies, the supply chain and outside the water sector.
• Openness: to sharing data, insights, and ideas within the water sector and with other sectors. All projects supported by the Fund should use an “open by default” approach to data and learning.
• Adaptability: flexibility and openness to trying out new ways of working.
• Innovation risk management: delivering value from all innovation projects, particularly more experimental projects, even if they fail.
• Scalability & deployability: improving the ease of scaling up and rolling out of proven innovations within the sector.
• Long-term view: taking both a longer-term and broader perspective to better meet the evolving needs of customers, society, and the environment.

Entry delivery timelines

We are open to a wide range of project delivery timelines, from delivery periods of less than a year to multi-year periods which continue beyond 2025. There is no requirement for project delivery to be completed within the current asset management plan (AMP) period.

We expect entries to the Transform stream that are awarded funding to start within six months of being notified of the award, but we recognise that especially complex entries may require a longer mobilisation period.

Approach to risk

We are seeking truly innovative entries and encourage water companies to adopt an open risk appetite within their Fund entries, supported by strong risk management with a clear plan to share data and learning regardless of the outcome. We recognise that some projects may not deliver the expected direct benefits, but by taking risks and sharing learning across the water sector, customers will stand to benefit.

Entrants should be able to recognise and respond appropriately to issues and opportunities as they arise. This may include:

• Taking decisions about how to adjust delivery if the initial benefits can no longer be realised.
• Adopting an approach of ‘early failure’.
• Thinking widely about possible benefits from their initiative.
• Considering how learning and insights from the delivery of their initiative can best provide value across the sector.

Monitoring and risk management

Entrants will be asked to provide information on their approach to risk in their entry. Entrants will be responsible for:

• Managing delivery and reviewing progress against milestones.
• Adapting delivery to realise the intended impact most efficiently and effectively.
• Sharing significant changes to delivery with Ofwat and its delivery partners.

Ofwat and its delivery partners will monitor the progress of successful entries, including seeking updates at delivery milestones. The monitoring and involvement of Ofwat and its delivery partners will be proportionate to the size and risk of initiatives. In all cases, winning entrants will be responsible for reviewing progress and deciding the best course of action for their entry to deliver its intended impact.

In exceptional circumstances, Ofwat and its delivery partners may intervene if we have concerns that a project is moving materially away from delivering on its intended impact or if there are any concerns about misuse of funds.

Entry value & delivery costs

Entrants to the Catalyst stream can request between £150,000 and £2 million.

We expect entries to demonstrate cost efficiency and good use of customer money, with a clear case for any costs included in the budget.

Reasonable costs are eligible to be funded, including dedicated staff time and fair associated overheads.

The budget, set out in the entry form, should be inclusive of inflation allowances and applicable taxes which are not recoverable, reflecting the true costs of the initiative. Where taxes are fully recoverable, such as VAT, costs should be shown net of the recoverable amount. Taxes that are not recoverable should be included, for example, customs duties payable on goods imported into the UK.

Partnerships

We particularly encourage entries that involve partnerships and collaboration between water companies, including NAVs, as well as with organisations in the water sector supply chain and beyond.

• If you are not a water company – Breakthrough 3 is an opportunity to reach out to one or more water companies to explore the possibility of working together, but you may also be interested in the new Water Discovery Challenge that will be launching in January 2023 where non-water companies will be able to enter without a partnership with a water company.
• If you are a water company, including NAVs – you are strongly encouraged to explore opportunities for new partnerships and consortia, including by signalling opportunities for partnerships on your website and social media channels. You can partner with anyone you wish, including internationally – including other water companies, supply chain partners, new start-ups, SMEs, academia, local authorities, water companies outside of England and Wales, and water supply and/or sewerage retailers. You may also wish to review the supplier pitch videos hosted on our Water Innovation Directory. Please note that it’s your responsibility to carry out any checks and due diligence on partners.

If you are new to the water sector, you may wish to email [email protected] to get in contact with a water company about your innovative idea or solution. This central inbox is managed by an alliance of 19 UK water companies. We recommend you read their innovation strategy and prioritisation exercise, available on the Spring Website, before contacting water companies to understand their innovation priorities. A full list of England and Wales water companies that can be contacted to explore new partnership opportunities can be found on our website.

Assessment Criteria

Entries will be reviewed against three assessment categories, all weighted equally. A full breakdown of the assessment criteria, including assessment guidance and how they relate to questions in the entry form is available in the Catalyst Stream Entrant handbook (PDF, 1MB).

1. Positive impact for water customers, society and the environment

Under this assessment category, we will be looking to understand the benefits your entry seeks to deliver for customers, society, and the environment.

Strong entries will be seeking to address a well evidenced, important need or opportunity in the water sector in England and Wales for water customers, society and/or the environment that aligns with one or more of Ofwat’s four strategic innovation themes.

2. Innovation enablers and innovative solutions

Under this assessment category, we will be looking to understand what is novel about the proposed approach and solution, and how it could deliver a positive sector-wide innovation legacy.

Strong entries will demonstrate how the proposed entry goes beyond the entrant’s business-as-usual approach to innovation and how it may draw inspiration and/or talent from other sectors. This is both in terms of what the entrant proposes to deliver and how they propose to deliver it. This is both in terms of what the entrant proposes to deliver (innovative solutions) and how they propose to deliver it (innovation enablers).

Innovation enablers are the innovative approaches the entry is proposing, which may include how entrants are working internally and externally with collaborators within and outside of the water sector for the benefit of water customers in England and Wales. Entries could include testing new ideas; adapting ideas or practices that have established themselves in other sectors; or adopting proven approaches that haven’t been tried at scale.

3. Capacity, capability, and commitment to deliver

Under this assessment category, we will be looking for a clear narrative demonstrating strong evidence that the proposed entry is feasible and that appropriate resources and governance will be in place for its delivery.

Who can be involved

There are four main categories of eligibility criteria to the Catalyst Stream of the Water Breakthrough Challenge, detailed below:

• Lead entrant – The lead entrant must be a water company (including NAVs) in England and Wales.
• Funding requested – the entry must be seeking between £100,000 and £1 million from the Fund.
• Financial requirements – We expect entry partners to make a minimum 10% financial contribution to Breakthrough Challenge entries. Customers should not bear all the risk of initiatives funded through the competition.
• Terms & conditions – all entry partners must agree to and abide by the terms & conditions.

Lead entrant

The lead entrant must be one of the licensed water companies or NAVs in England or Wales, but they can partner or form a group with any organisation to enter. We strongly encourage lead entrants to enter Breakthrough 3 in partnership or consortia.

For the Catalyst stream, partners other than the lead entrant can submit the entry form on Submittable.

Funding requested

Through Catalyst, the minimum amount of funding that can be requested from the Fund is £150,000, and the maximum that can be requested is £2 million.

Financial requirements

Only 90% of each entry’s financial costs will be provided by funding from Breakthrough 3. The remaining 10% must be provided by entry partners as a mandatory 10% financial contribution. We do not consider that customers should bear all the risk of initiatives funded through the competition and believe that this also encourages strong project management. Entry partners have the flexibility to decide how the remaining 10% is funded, as long as it is not funded by charges to water customers in England and Wales. There is no requirement for this contribution to be shared equally between partners. Entry partners may also consider how they could bring funding from other sources.

We welcome any additional financial and/or non-financial contributions beyond the minimum 10%. Non-financial contributions should be excluded from the total financial cost of the project.

We are open to initiatives that have successfully secured additional external public or private funding. Entrants must confirm that there is no duplicative or double funding and that they are not restricted by their current funding source when applying for additional and alternative funding through this Fund.

Terms & conditions

All entry partners must agree to abide by the terms and conditions.

How to enter

We have worked to ensure the entry process is as efficient and practical as possible, allowing for ease of access for all water companies, in particular smaller companies.

Winning entries will be selected following the assessment process outlined below:

• A. Entry period
• B. Eligibility screening
• C. Assessment
• D. Judging
• E. Ofwat Decision
• F. Award
• G. Feedback

A. Entry period

Stage 1 opens for entries on 3 October 2022 at 12 noon (BST) and will close on 8 December at 12 noon (GMT).

We set out in the questions that should be answered, together with guidance on how to complete your entry in Entry questions, assessment criteria, weighting, and guidance in the Entrant Handbook.

We ask you to register for a recording slot (Zoom call) where a three-minute pitch from the entry team will be recorded. This will be used to aid the understanding of our assessors when reviewing your entry, and should be the same presentation that you would use if invited to present to judges. You will need to register for a recording slot no later than 25 November at 5 pm (GMT).

All entries must be submitted by 8 December at 12 noon (GMT) using the online entry form available via the website. Any entry partner can submit this form, but it must include the details of the lead entrant. The lead entrant will be asked to verify the entry is theirs and confirm they have accepted the terms and conditions during the eligibility screen.

The entry form is available here as a Word document to help you to develop and collaborate on your answers ahead of completing the online form. If entrants wish to work on more than one draft on the online entry form during the entry period, please contact [email protected] for assistance.

Before submitting your entry, please ensure that:

• You and your partners have read and understood the Challenge terms and conditions and privacy policy, including the Ofwat privacy policy.
• Your entry is aligned with one or more of the four Ofwat strategic innovation themes
• You have followed good procurement principles, performed your due diligence on your partners and accept any risk and liability from going ahead with them.
• You and your entry partners have set out in your entry how a 10% minimum financial contribution will be provided for (at least 10% of total entry financial costs will be funded from sources other than the Fund).

Information you provide in your entry may be shared with our partners (including the judges and any due diligence providers) for the purpose of administering Breakthrough 3. For more information on how we use your data, please see the privacy policy and the terms and conditions.

B. Eligibility screening

Entrants are required to meet the eligibility criteria as set out in the Entry requirements in the Entrant Handbook.

When entries close, an eligibility screen will be conducted to ensure entries all meet the eligibility criteria.

For entries submitted by a partner other than the lead entrant, the lead entrant will be contacted by the delivery team to confirm the entry submitted is led by their organisation and that they agree to the terms and conditions.

If no response is received from the lead entrant during the eligibility screening period, the entry may be deemed to be ineligible to proceed and removed from the competition.

C. Assessment

All eligible entries will be assessed by assessors against each of the following three assessment criteria:

1. Positive impact for water customers, society, and the environment;
2. Innovation enablers and innovative solutions;
3. Capacity, capability, and commitment to deliver.

Scoring will be between 1 and 5 (5 being the highest). These scores are then weighted. The assessed entry questions, assessment criteria and weighting is set out in Entry questions, assessment criteria, weighting, and guidance in the Entrant Handbook.

A moderation meeting will be held to discuss and recommend shortlisted entries to put forward to judges. This moderation meeting will ensure that all assessors opinions have been captured and a consistent view on the merits of each entry is provided.

Whilst scoring will form part of this process, in making its decision on whether to put forward an entry to judges, Ofwat will also consider the opinions of the assessors and will seek to ensure that a diverse portfolio of entries, in terms of entry themes, types, entrants and geographic location.

D. Judging

An independent panel of judges will review the shortlisted entries put forward through the assessment. The judging panel will review the entries individually, scoring the entries using the same criteria as the assessors. The judging panel will then convene to discuss entries and recommend to Ofwat which entries they agree best meet the assessment criteria and offer a diverse portfolio for funding.

In this round, we are trialling live pitches to judges in the entry process.

Entries that are shortlisted will be invited to repeat their submitted pitch recording live during the judging days between 9 am and 5.30 pm (GMT) on 8 or 9 March 2023. Following the live pitch, judges will have the opportunity to ask questions to the entry partners relating to their entries. Pitch slots to judges will be allocated to shortlisted entries no later than 7 March 2023, but where possible, we will endeavour to provide as much notice as possible. If teams are not able to attend the live pitch, their submitted pitch recording will be shown to judges in its place.

E. Ofwat Decision

Ofwat will make the final decision on which entries should receive funding. In making its decision, Ofwat will consider the views of assessors and judges on which entries best meet the assessment criteria and offer a diverse portfolio for funding. 

Ofwat intends to publish this decision and its reasons for awarding funding. Ofwat will take account of entrants’ preferences regarding the confidentiality of their entries. 

F. Award

When notified, successful entries will receive a copy of their draft winner’s agreement. This winner’s agreement will be based on a standard template. Please note that this template is only provided for information purposes and may be subject to changes. Winning teams must sign these agreements no later than 5 pm (BST) on 17 May 2024 to be paid by mid-June 2024. 

G. Feedback

After winners have been announced, high-level feedback will be provided to the main contacts and lead entrants of those entries that were unsuccessful, outlining why their entry has not been successful.

Feedback will be given against each of the three assessment criteria and, where relevant, provide guidance on areas of improvement against each of them. Scores provided by the assessors and the judging panel will not be included in the feedback. As mentioned above, scoring forms only a part of the overall assessment process.

Feedback will not be provided to winning entries.

Requirements for successful entries

All participants in the Catalyst stream of Breakthrough 3 will be required to adhere to the full terms and conditions of participation. Please ensure that you and your partners have read and understood these before submitting your entry.

If your entry is selected to win, you will be required to sign a further agreement that will outline arrangements for monitoring and reporting based on your specific winning entry.

In particular, the key requirements of winners will include:

• Use of funding: Any funds awarded through Breakthrough 3 must only be used to fund the initiative described in your entry which must promote the objectives of Breakthrough 3 as set out within this handbook.
• Open data by default: Data, information and learning generated by the winning projects will be open by default (i.e. freely available for everyone to access, use and share). The exception to this would be sensitive data, which in this context would include personal data or data with security implications.
• 10% contribution: All entries must include a minimum of 10% financial contribution to ensure customers do not bear all the risk of initiatives funded through Breakthrough 3 and to encourage good project management.
• Monitoring and reporting: We will need to monitor your progress – this may be through meetings, surveys, written reporting, or other reasonable requests for information. We will endeavour to keep this reporting proportionate to the relative size and risk of your entry.
• Regulatory reporting: Water companies will need to report spending against funding allowed in Ofwat’s Regulatory Accounting Guidelines tables – Table 9A. For regulatory reporting purposes, companies will need to report costs in 2017-18 CPIH deflated prices.
• Intellectual property rights (IPR): You should retain all rights in and to your background IPR, including where a bid involves more than one participant. However, an appropriate form of licence should be granted to all participants in any entry, which is the subject of an entry, for the sole purpose of the entry, to enable it to go ahead. Appropriate licenses for background IPR and foreground IPR should be provided to all current and future water companies in England and Wales.
• Publicity: We may use the names of the organisations and summaries of their proposals in publicity materials for Breakthrough 3. We also ask that you acknowledge our support in any public statements about the entry.
• Conflicts of interest: You (and any partners you work with) must take reasonable steps to manage any conflicts of interest with Ofwat, Challenge Works, Nesta or any of our delivery partners and judges. You must immediately inform Nesta if you become aware of any potential or actual conflict of interest and provide Challenge Works (part of Nesta) and Ofwat with all information reasonably requested in respect of such conflict.
• Settlement Arrangement: Payment of funds awarded through Breakthrough 3 will be settled through an agreed mechanism.

More information and support for your entry

Entrant Support

If you have any questions, please review the frequently asked questions. If you still have questions, please email us at [email protected].

We will be hosting two online sessions:

1. A webinar and Q&A session for potential entrants and partners to clarify their understanding of Breakthrough 3, hosted by the delivery partners and Ofwat. This was held at 11.00 (BST) Wednesday 5 October 2022.
2. A workshop providing guidance on how to develop and write a strong entry, hosted by Science Practice, the entrant support partner for Breakthrough 3. You can find out more on our Entrant support page.

Once these events have happened, recordings and transcripts of all of our public events will be hosted on our events page.

Entrants are able to get one-to-one support with their entry by applying for an entry review and coaching. This support will be provided by the entrant support partner, Science Practice, for Breakthrough 3.

Full details of the support available and how to sign-up are available on our website. This support is intended to help you develop entry writing skills and ensure your answers are clear answer the questions in line with the assessment guidance. Science Practice cannot provide any guidance on the initiative within your entry itself and will be acting independently of assessors.

We will also be running one-to-one surgery sessions for those who need support completing their entry, for example, if you are in need of any clarification on the entry process or the terms and conditions for both streams. The surgery sessions will be run by the Breakthrough 3 delivery partners.

Reasonable adjustments and accommodations

If there are any reasonable adjustments that would support you entering, catering for any additional needs you may have, please contact [email protected].

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

To monitor the impact of and promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), we need to collect relevant data and evidence. For the Water Breakthrough Challenge, this means:

• Entrants are asked to complete questions within their entry forms on how they will promote EDI within their teams.
• Where relevant, entrants are asked to demonstrate how they plan to include EDI considerations relating to their customers.
• Entrants are asked to participate in a post-entry survey.

EDI considerations are highly encouraged where appropriate in the proposal. Entries will continue to be assessed on their merit against the assessment criteria.

Feedback and Learning

If you have any feedback or concerns relating to Breakthrough 3, the Ofwat Innovation Fund or any of the winners of previous rounds, please feel free to reach out to us directly at [email protected] or submit your feedback or concerns anonymously here. We welcome and support feedback from entrants via email and via entrant surveys sent out after entering one of our competitions.

If you would prefer to contact Ofwat directly, you may do so by emailing [email protected]. Ofwat also has a range of materials available relating to whistleblowing and making a complaint.

Back to Home Page