£400m for innovative water schemes to tackle pollution, leaks and climate change
£400m for innovative water schemes to tackle pollution, leaks and climate change
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Regulator Ofwat is doubling funding to £400 million for a scheme to support innovative projects that improve water supplies and help the environment. The Ofwat Innovation Fund has already awarded cash to 93 collaborative projects, from developing “pipebots” – robots that spot cracks in pipes to curb pollution in rising mains – to encouraging people to install specially designed water butts to reduce heavy rain overwhelming sewers.
Other projects funded by the original £200 million fund, established in 2020, include creating a blueprint for restoring seagrass habitats, harnessing citizen science nature recording to assess the state of rivers, and tackling sewage sludge to remove “forever chemicals”.
Now, the regulator is extending and doubling the original fund to £400 million up to 2030, for water firms to work with other partners including companies, local authorities and conservation groups to develop and deploy solutions to the challenges faced by the sector.
The announcement comes amid intense scrutiny of the water sector – and regulators – over the degraded state of rivers, lakes and coasts, rising bills, shareholder dividends and executive bonuses. Ofwat ruled in December that water companies could raise bills by 36% on average, before inflation, over the next five years to pay for a £104 billion upgrade to the sector, including new reservoirs and action to curb sewage pollution and protect the environment.
