Ofwat winners share £42 million for innovative projects
27 May 2025
Sixteen technology pioneers will share Ofwat funding of £42 million to aid development of their innovative solutions for the sector’s major challenges.
Announcing the winners of the Ofwat Innovation Fund’s Water Breakthrough Challenge awards CEO David Black said:
“The level of ambition of this year’s winners – including deploying robots, drones, satellites and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence – is remarkable.
“We are supporting these projects to prove their impact so that they can be scaled, not only here in England and Wales, but exported around the world as a driver of economic growth.”
Among the winners is Smart Skies, Healthy Waters which receives £6 million for its drones, robotics and sampling techniques ‘drone- and lab-in-a-box’ solution that provides onsite lab-grade analysis for coastal bathing water qualityin minutes rather than days.
Meanwhile, micro-satellite operator Space Eye gets £1.3 million to ensure continual imaging of the entire UK water pipe network, using machine learning algorithms to locate leaks, identify water wastage from unauthorised or unnecessary water use, and analyse the presence of harmful chemicals.
Thames Water-led initiative SandSCAPE involving four water companies won £2 million to test 5 metre robotic tanks that provide a more efficient form of chemical-free slow sand filtration for safe drinking water.
Project winners are required to provide an additional investment themselves, amounting to a minimum of 10% of their Ofwat award, meaning the combined value of funding for the projects will be £48.8 million-plus.
Set up five years ago, the Ofwat Innovation Fund was established to encourage water firms to partner industry, charities, and academia in order to accelerate transformation of the sector.
View Ofwat's winning Water Breakthrough Challenge award winners here.
Pic: Sandscape skimmer (Thames Water)
