Ofwat has formally launched the Water Innovation Implementation Programme - a new £40 million funded programme of support within  Water Innovation Fund, currently being designed by Ofwat and its delivery partners, Isle Utilities and Arup.

Part of Ofwat’s expanded £400 million Innovation Fund, the Programme aims to accelerate the speed and scale that proven innovations are implemented in the water sector across England and Wales.

The programme, which is being run as a trial to understand what best supports innovation implementation at scale, will run to 2030 and will initially invest up to £40 million across two complementary streams of activity:

• Early Adopter & Fast Follower Stream – matchfunding up to £1 million per project to support first-of-a-kind implementations and rapid roll-out across other companies.
• Implementation Enablers Stream - funding to tackle cross-cutting barriers that slow innovation uptake across the sector.

Ofwat held a Launch Webinar yesterday for potential applicants and suppliers to learn more about the Water Innovation Implementation Programme, its aims and the application process, and ask their questions to the delivery team.

First Implementation Enablers Challenge is lack of testing capacity for full Regulation 31 testing

The first barrier that the Water Innovation Implementation Programme will seek to address is the lack of long-term resilient UK-based facilities capable of undertaking full Regulation 31 testing (Regulation 31 of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 (as amended)).

This is a critical bottleneck that can delay, increase the cost of, or prevent the implementation of new, technically validated innovations – and may discourage innovative suppliers from entering or scaling in the UK market.

At present, there are no UK-based and Reg31 assessed facilities that provide full testing services. In the past, Even when designated labs were in operation, there has been a capacity constraint which has resulted in sometimes long and unpredictable waiting times.

The Programme is working with the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) to address this challenge through a new Implementation Enablers competition. Deadline to submit applications for the Challenge, which opened yesterday, is 5pm on 1 st May 2026.

The Challenge statement says:

“How can we design and establish a resilient, financially sustainable and sector-aligned UK Regulation 31 testing system that maintains the highest drinking water safety standards while providing sufficient capacity, fair pricing and long-term certainty for innovators and water companies?”

The Challenge is inviting companies and consortia to suggest approaches for achieving this objective in a way that:

• Addresses the root causes of current capacity, cost and resilience challenges, rather than simply expanding existing arrangements
• Supports the long-term availability and continuity of Reg 31 laboratory testing for the UK water sector
• Provides fair, transparent and predictable access and pricing for a wide range of innovators, including SMEs and new market entrants
• Meets the requirements of Reg 31 as outlined in the Advice Sheets and Test Protocols and aligns with DWI and other regulatory requirements while supporting faster, more confident implementation of proven innovations
• Makes the UK water sector a more attractive landscape for innovators seeking to bring new solutions to market.

The total award budget for the Challenge is up to £3 million across two stages, with each applicant being considered for:

• Stage 1: Successful Stage 1 applicants will each receive up to £50,000 to develop a detailed delivery plan including a feasibility assessment for the proposed solution.
• Stage 2: Delivery plans will go through assessment and sector review by an appointed Sector Implementation Committee, made up of representatives from water companies, supply chain, regulators and industry groups. Successful delivery plans will be eligible for awards of up to £1 million each to accelerate implementation.

Click here to watch the recording and access other assets from the webinar on the Early Adopter & Fast Follower stream page.

Click here to download the Application Guidance for the Implementation Enablers Reg 31 Challenge