United Utilities is one of the nine winners of Ofwat’s Water Breakthrough Challenge, sharing in £36 million to deliver wide scale, transformational change to benefit customers, society and the environment.  

Run by Ofwat and Nesta Challenges, in partnership with Arup, the Water Breakthrough Challenge is the second competition delivered under Ofwat’s £200 million Innovation Fund.

The nine winning initiatives will receive up to £10 million each to tackle the biggest challenges facing the water sector – from reaching net zero, to protecting our natural ecosystems, to using open data to deliver value to customers, society and the environment.

United Utilities has won funding for two ground-breaking schemes:

Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative (CaSTCo) – a partnership led by United Utilities between the Rivers Trust, twelve water and sewerage companies as well as academia and environmental charities to help gather robust evidence to tackle environmental challenges.

Alternative P rural sites - In partnership with Southern Water, Thames Water, University of Portsmouth, Power & Water, Kolina, Evergreen and Hydro Industries, United Utilities will lead a project providing a holistic view of what can be achieved using alternative phosphorus removal approaches.

Amina Aboobakar from United Utilities is currently seconded to the Rivers Trust as their commercial director to help deliver the CaSTCo project. She explained:

“For the CASTCo project we’ve been awarded £7.1 million to revolutionise the way crucial data about England and Wales’ water environment is gathered and shared, in particular on the health of the nation’s rivers. This project will ensure there is robust evidence base for tackling environmental challenges with direct support for local evidence gathering and community and customer engagement in eight demonstration catchments, and a national framework of standardised tools and training.”

United Utilities’ Innovation Manager, Selwyn Rose, added:

“The phosphorus partnership project aims to find more sustainable solutions if we are to maintain water quality within our watercourses and reduce our carbon footprints. The water industry is heavily dependent on the use of metal based coagulants for the removal of phosphorus on rural wastewater treatment plants. The UK water industry spends in the region of £39 million a year on metal coagulants. Finding a suitable alternative would reduce this and the carbon associated with the manufacture and delivery of these chemicals.”

The Water Breakthrough Challenge tackles the biggest challenges facing water and wastewater services, including net zero, reducing leakage, protecting natural ecosystems, and using open data to deliver value to customers, society and the environment.

Entries were encouraged from water companies in England and Wales in partnerships with organisations in and outside the water sector, including universities and institutes, retailers, start-ups, or small businesses in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, health, or financial services.