Through Ofwat’s Innovation Fund, we are delivering a series of innovation competitions that water companies, in partnerships with others, can enter. We expect different rounds of the competitions to run until 2025, but our goal is that the Innovation Fund’s impact will continue well beyond this.
Entries to round one of the Innovation in Water Challenge (IWC) opened on 18 January and closed on 26 February 2021 at 12 noon (GMT). The judging panel convened in March 2021 to recommend which entries should receive funding, and 11 winners were announced on 21 April 2021.
The primary objective of the first Innovation in Water Challenge (IWC) IWC was to encourage new ways of working that went 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. Water companies and their partners could bid for between £50,000 and £250,000 per entry.
11 winning entries shared in £2.16 million to deliver their initiatives.
You can read reflections on the Innovation in Water Challenge, and the first two rounds of the Water Breakthrough Challenge in our End of Pilot Report.
The Water Breakthrough Challenge was the second competition funded through the Ofwat Innovation Fund.
The Challenge aimed to spark ambitious innovation and enable new approaches and ways of working; equipping the water sector to address the big challenges facing the sector, driving far-reaching and long-lasting benefits to customers, society and the environment across England and Wales now and into the future.
Individual entries to the first round of the Water Breakthrough Challenge bid for between £1 million to £10 million from the Innovation Fund.
Nine winning entries are now sharing in £36 million to deliver their innovative initiatives.
You can read reflections on the first two rounds of the Water Breakthrough Challenge, as well as the Innovation in Water Challenge in our End of Pilot Report.
The Water Breakthrough Challenge 2 opened on 11 October 2021, with two streams of funding available for innovative initiatives which deliver benefits for customers, society and the environment.
The Catalyst Stream aimed 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. Water companies (and their partners) could seek funding of between £100,000 and £1 million per entry.
13 winning entries are now sharing in £5.2 million.
The Transform Stream aimed to spark ambitious innovation and enable new approaches and ways of working, equipping the water sector to address the big challenges facing the sector, driving far-reaching and long-lasting benefits to customers, society and the environment across England and Wales now and into the future. Water companies (and their partners) could seek funding of between £1 million and £10 million per entry.
7 winning entries are now sharing in £20.2 million.
You can read reflections on the first two rounds of the Water Breakthrough Challenge, as well as the Innovation in Water Challenge in our End of Pilot Report.
In 2023, 16 solutions were awarded a share of £38 million in the water regulator’s third instalment of the Water Breakthrough Challenge; an innovation competition designed to innovate in the water sector.
Water Breakthrough Challenge 3 encouraged initiatives designed to help tackle the biggest challenges facing the water sector, such as achieving net zero, protecting natural ecosystems and reducing leakage, as well as delivering value to society.
Specific aims of the winning projects include preventing drought, managing water demand, boosting aquatic biodiversity, tackling leakage across England and Wales and slashing the environmental impact of wastewater.
As always, the Water Breakthrough Challenge 3 was split into two streams, Transform and Catalyst.
In 2024, 17 solutions were awarded a share of £40 million in the water regulator’s fourth instalment of the Water Breakthrough Challenge; an innovation competition designed to innovate in the water sector.
Water Breakthrough Challenge 4 encouraged initiatives designed to help tackle the biggest challenges facing the water sector, such as achieving net zero, protecting natural ecosystems and reducing leakage, as well as delivering value to society.
Specific aims of the winning projects include preventing drought, managing water demand, boosting aquatic biodiversity, tackling leakage across England and Wales and slashing the environmental impact of wastewater.
As always, the Water Breakthrough Challenge 4 was split into two streams, Transform and Catalyst.
