Glass half full –  why innovations in drinking water quality are crucial and why we need more

Innovation is crucial to help address the environmental pressures that climate change and pollution bring to the safety of water resources, alongside the challenges of ageing infrastructure and changing consumer needs. Still, it must also not come at the cost of rising customer bills given the existing cost of living pressures on many households. This blog will showcase some existing projects from the Ofwat Innovation Fund that seek to improve drinking water quality and sustainability of future water resources, as well as highlight ongoing challenges which would benefit from further innovation.

This is a guest blog from Ann Bunting, Principal Inspector at the Drinking Water Inspectorate

Water and the water sector is integral to society, the economy and everyday life, with everyone relying on a secure water system for drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening, construction, manufacturing, agriculture and much more.

Consumers rightly expect and enjoy a safe and stable supply of high-quality water into the home; and whilst drinking water quality in England and Wales is excellent, the sector must innovate to continue improving services for customers, provide value and meet the high standards that the public demands. This is alongside the need for the sector to transform its environmental impact to adapt to the changing climate by building long-term resilience and reliability.

Keeping drinking water quality in England and Wales among the highest in the world

Drinking water quality in England and Wales is among the highest in the world, with 99.96% of all tests meeting required standards in 2022;  we want it to remain that way.  The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) is one of four independent bodies that regulates the water sector in England & Wales, and is responsible for ensuring that companies provide safe drinking water that is acceptable to consumers and meets legal standards.

Whilst the UK is often seen to have a plentiful supply of water, climate change and a rapidly growing and urbanising population is putting pressure on the UK’s water supplies, with England forecast to face a shortfall of nearly five billion litres of water a day by 2050. Some parts of the country like the North and West of England have a significant surplus of water, whereas the East and South East are severely water-stressed.

Drinking water quality and the environment

The changes in the environment are impacting water quality in a number of ways. Many catchments are changing, with algal blooms becoming more common and severe, which can lead to taste and odour problems. Pollution from so-called ‘forever chemicals’ and agricultural activity also impacts on abstractions, meaning water companies have to use more money, chemicals and energy on treatment – at a time when the sector is trying to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

A number of Ofwat Innovation Fund projects working to address these challenges include:

• Reservoir water community monitoring for algal associated risk assessment – led by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, this project built on environmental DNA monitoring methodologies to detect algae in drinking water to improve its taste and smell
• Artificial Intelligence of Things Enabling Autonomous Waste Catchments – led by Severn Trent, this project is piloting artificial intelligence to monitor a waste catchment area in real time, with the aim to minimise the risk of flooding and sewage pollution.
• Artificial Intelligence for Algal Monitoring – led by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, this project is using artificial intelligence to transform algal monitoring to allow better risk prediction, which will enable water companies to take earlier, more cost-effective and targeted action.
• Alternative approaches to phosphorus removal on rural wastewater treatment works – led by United Utilities, this project explores alternative phosphorus removal approaches that would reduce the reliance on metal-based coagulants to remove phosphorus, and dependency on deliveries of chemicals to rural wastewater treatment plants that are being impacted by lorry driver shortages.
• Water Net Gain – led by South West Water, the project will pay farmers to store water on their land, helping farms to manage water demand through dry weather and boost aquatic biodiversity. This approach can also dilute residual pollution not managed through current agricultural water quality incentivisation schemes.

Drinking water quality and infrastructure

The UK’s ageing water infrastructure presents another challenge to water quality – through potential contamination and microbial growth. Both the water mains system and the reservoirs used to store treated water are impacted – for example, reservoirs could become less waterproof allowing rainwater to seep in.  Regulators need to determine a sustainable level of replacement, so that future generations can benefit from a safe water supply

Ofwat Innovation Fund projects working to tackle infrastructure challenges include:

• Leak detection using dark fibre / Dark Fibre 2 – this two-phase project led by Hafren Dyfrdwy and Severn Trent is seeking to use unused optical fibre strands within existing cable networks to detect leaks in water and wastewater networks
• Safe Smart Systems – led by Anglian Water, this project is aiming to use AI and mathematical optimisation to reduce leakage, interruptions and pressure issues across the water cycle, ultimately improving the sector’s long-term operational resilience in the face of climate change and population growth
• Designer Liner 1 / Designer Liner 2 – this two- phase project led by Yorkshire Water is developing a pipe lining solution, reducing the need to repair and replace water pipes which is an expensive and disruptive process
• Managing Background Leakage – led by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, this project aims to redefine the detectable limit of leakage to help pinpoint and repair hidden leaks and other factors that contribute to background leakage – which accounts for c.50% of all leakage.
• Fully Structural Spray in Place Pipe (SIPP) lining providing burst protection for high-risk sewage rising mains – a Water Discovery Challenge winner, this project is seeking to combine existing spray lining techniques with cured-in-place pipe technology, to deliver the world’s first, fully structural, spray-in-place rehabilitation solution for existing deteriorating rising sewer mains.

Drinking water quality and customers

An urgent priority is to ensure consumers have confidence in their drinking water supplies.  Despite drinking water being treated to remove impurities and verified by extensive testing at every stage, many people do not trust the ‘official’ information. According to the 2024 Yale Environmental Performance Index, the UK is one of only 9 countries globally, which score 100% on the index showing there is no associated disease burden for water and sanitation.

Bottled water consumption currently stands at 2.5 million litres per year, and is only forecasted to increase – generating huge amounts of single-use plastic at the same time. Effective communication strategies are vital to rebuild consumer trust in tap water quality, to help them understand the rigorous treatment and testing processes involved so people can enjoy this resource with confidence.

One challenging area is the ongoing existence of lead in the pipework and fittings of older homes, impacting social housing and domestic properties as well as schools across the country.  Innovation could help water companies detect lead pipes, as well as support concerned consumers with easy testing for lead in their water.

As already identified, the UK has huge disparities in access to surplus water. As part of the work to address the water deficit, consumers will need to become more water-efficient through both saving water and reducing their demand. Through Ofwat’s proposed Water Efficiency Fund, £100 million will be made available between 2025-2030 across both a public behaviour change campaign and a funding pot for water-efficiency innovations.

Some examples of Ofwat Innovation Fund projects working in this space include:

• Water Quality as a Service Treatment 2 Tap – Northumbrian Water are leading this behavioural science research to understand how best to engage with and support customers when real-time water quality insight is available. Best practice will be developed for the sector on how to build this insight into day-to-day operations
• Tap Water Forensics – led by Severn Trent Water, this project is developing the use of genetic sequencing which can determine all the bacterial species present in water, to hopefully make water quality investigations faster and more accurate, providing greater confidence to consumers about the safety of tap water.
• ANAMAD – a winner in the Water Discovery Challenge competition, this project is testing the use of ‘cold’ plasma for drinking water decontamination from persistent pollutants, contaminants of emerging concern and microorganisms.
• ACQUIRE – another Water Discovery Challenge Winner, the project is using Drinking Water Inspectorate reports on water quality incidents to develop an interactive portal that identifies previously effective interventions for a given unfolding incident.

Looking ahead

There are many great innovations already in the water industry, some highly technical and some very simple; all of which contribute to the performance and sustainability of the sector.  Drinking water quality is necessarily protected by a robust legal framework, and the DWI will work hand-in-hand with innovators to navigate the regulations.

The DWI’s role is to ensure that any products in contact with drinking water are hygienic and do not cause contamination, and to manage risks to avoid unforeseen problems. There will always be more to do to enhance and protect drinking water quality, and I hope that through the Ofwat Innovation Fund, more projects will develop solutions to tackle some of the ongoing challenges outlined here,  helping to boost consumer confidence in drinking water.

If you’re an innovator seeking to innovate in the water sector, take a look at StreamLine, the regulatory advice service for water innovators – run jointly by the DWI, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to support innovation.

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