News – News & UpdatesWater Discovery Challenge
July 3, 2023
Water-smart cities on horizon as splash-free paving slabs & roadside pollution filters receive Ofwat funding
Kiacrete promises significant environmental improvements, reduced risk of sewage overflows (which occur after heavy rainfall), a more resilient and sustainable water sector, and lower customer bills.
The solution is one of the 20 finalists in water regulator Ofwat’s Water Discovery Challenge, a £4m competition for innovators outside of the water sector with bold and ingenious ideas that can help solve complex challenges.
A filtration device that enables roadside drains to catch particulate pollution is also amongst the finalists. The technology captures pollution that would otherwise be washed into the ocean following heavy rainfall in cities. The system, from Guerrilla Technologies, will capture particulate matter – containing microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems.
“Cities face an increasing challenge from floods due to the impermeability of urban surfaces such as roads, pavements and garden patios, meanwhile extreme weather events such as heavy storms are increasing in frequency due to climate change.
Our permeable paving solution will increase cities’ resilience to heavy flooding, improving conditions for adjacent industries including transport and other utilities, and ultimately future-proofing our urban areas by turning them into water-smart cities.”
Alalea Kia, Project Lead for Kiacrete and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at Imperial College London
“It’s no secret the water sector is facing tough challenges, and difficult choices, related to climate change, the wider environment, and society. As the regulator, it’s our responsibility to help the sector to find new ways to overcome these pressing challenges.
Water affects all industries, so with the Water Discovery Challenge we wanted to cast our net outside the sector, and see what those in adjacent industries propose to help us maintain a safe and sustainable supply. The finalist ideas address numerous core concerns for the future of the sector – from future-proofing cities to anticipating the impact of climate change, and we’re excited to help bring these ideas to life.”
David Black, CEO, Ofwat
The 20 finalists will now be awarded up to £50,000 from the Ofwat Innovation Fund, as well as non-financial, capacity-building support to develop their ideas further, including expert advice and mentoring from water companies. Up to 10 will go on to win up to £450,000, alongside ongoing support, to further develop and test their ideas, including delivering pilots.
Other solutions range from hydropower turbines which can harvest electricity from water flowing through pipes, to a new membrane which could enable energy-efficient desalination, and a novel ‘spray-on’ pipe liner to repair leaks.
The Water Discovery Challenge is part of a series of competitions from Ofwat, run by Challenge Works with Arup and Isle Utilities, designed to drive innovation and collaboration to benefit customers, society and the environment.
To find out more about the competition, visit: waterinnovation.challenges.org/water-discovery-challenge
From ‘lightning in a jar’ to AI; learn about the projects which aim to contribute to a better water system for all
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Mounce Hydrosmart Ltd
The ACQUIRE Project will analyse drinking water quality incident report data from water companies using the latest AI techniques to develop an interactive management tool and online open source portal benefitting the industry and its customers.
Seal Water Technology Ltd
A new signal transmission technology that doesn’t attenuate, travels at constant sonic velocity and can identify and range leaks as well as pipe features, such as tees and elbows, up to 7.5km in all pipe materials.
Waterwhelm Ltd
Waterwhelm will further develop its technology for brackish and sea water desalination powered by low-grade waste heat, enabling energy-efficient and sustainable water supply.
EA Technology
This project will deliver a common framework to evaluate assets and their needs, enabling managers and engineers to maintain the assets in a safe, reliable condition at the lowest possible cost.
School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews
The aim of the project is to develop fuel cell technology for application at wastewater plants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate clean electricity.
Ecosulis Limited
The development of a verifiable framework of analytical metrics, for the aquatic environment, that will allow the end user to quantify the ecosystem uplift of investment activities.
Vysion Technologies LTD
To power pipeline monitoring equipment, the sector relies on a stopgap solution, using short life, single use, unrecycled, batteries. The project aims to develop an advanced micro-turbine designed for long-term value, that overcomes previous barriers to pipeline energy harvesting.
Resimac Limited
This entry focuses on the development of an innovative and highly cost-effective hybrid sewer rehabilitation solution which will combine existing spray lining techniques with cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) technology to deliver a fully structural, spray-in-place rehabilitation solution for existing deteriorating rising sewer mains to reduce bursts and improve network resilience.
GUERRILLA TECHNOLOGIES LTD
Guerrilla is a retrofittable device for membrane-less removal of pollutants from surface water runoff.
Cranfield University
The phosphorus (P) challenge in the UK remains unsolved and alternatives need to be explored, Cranfield Univerity and Microvi propose the new Bio-mineral P removal (BMPR) technology that offers the benefits of no coagulant use, high effluent quality through operation of an intensified reactor and with convenient P recovery.
Water Research Centre
This project will develop a low-cost water sensing platform to monitor the quantity and quality of discharges from water company wastewater assets into receiving waters, providing an improved understanding of the impact of these discharges on the environment.
Lancaster University
The project addresses an urgent industry need for the removal of steeply increasing concentrations of DOC from peatland-fed raw waters using a sustainable technology based on linearly-scalable oscillatory baffle flow process and innovative nanomagneto-composite sorbents.
ANAMAD Ltd
ANAMAD Ltd. will develop a new kind of advanced oxidative process simultaneously generating UV and reactive oxygen species within a water column, requiring no additional chemicals and consumables and efficiently removing persistent and emerging contaminants in a sustainable way.
Riventa Ltd.
This project aims to maximise the net present value over a user defined life of solar photo-voltaic designs at pump station locations through an AI based load-shifting computation of the hydraulic network in which the electricity will be consumed.
Imperial College London
This project StoragePave will develop and test a new sustainable and low carbon pavement system that can capture and gradually release stormwater into the sewer network to decrease the frequency and severity of combined sewer overflow events.
REVAR , ICMEA-UK Ltd
Renewable Energy Via Aqueous-phase Reforming (REVAR) is a highly efficient process taking contaminated wastewater and extracting significant energy content from the organic matter while co-producing clean water that can be recycled into the water industry.
Cardiff University
To meet the safe water challenges of tomorrow and contribute to chlorine elimination, this project is developing green catalytically generated hydrogen peroxide for potable water disinfection.
digiLab Solutions Ltd
digiLab is a pioneer in machine learning, using Uncertainty Quantification and optimisation techniques to create a platform for sensor and water data to drive efficiency in the next wave of sensor deployment and monitoring in the wastewater network, ensuring value for water companies and customers.
INFINITE WATER R&D LIMITED
This project is to develop a novel, ultra-low energy, chemical free direct nanofiltration treatment for cost effective and safe water and wastewater purification, targeting the removal of organic matter, micropollutants, PFAS and contaminants of emerging concern (CEC’s).
The Fish Friendly Hydropower Company Ltd
The Fish Friendly Hydropower Company Ltd is developing the PicoStream Turbine for installation at WWTPs to further efforts to pave a greener and more sustainable future for the UK Water Sector.
Notes to Editors
For all media enquiries, please contact Alice Jaffe or Andrew McKay at Seven Consultancy.
The report ‘Reducing the risk of surface water flooding’ was published by the National Infrastructure Committee in November 2022.
