United Utilities named double winner at this year’s Water Breakthrough Challenge

United Utilities has been awarded £7.1m from the Ofwat Innovation Fund after being named a double winner at this year’s Water Breakthrough Challenge.

The Ofwat Innovation Fund is investing £600 million between 2020 and 2030, with winners of this year’s challenge working with promising innovators from across different sectors and around the world to develop solutions to the water sector’s biggest challenges.

The two projects being led by United Utilities are:

Metagenomics: Making Microbes Matter – led by United Utilities with Newcastle University, Yorkshire Water, Northumbrian Water, Anglian Water – £1.4m. Metagenomics uses rapid gene-sequencing in place of slower lab-based culturing to identify what specific microorganisms are in a sample – these can be linked to site health and performance at wastewater treatment centres. It will be a huge step for understanding the composition of wastewater, to better measure and reduce process emissions, as well as delivering value for customers by increasing site efficiency and effluent quality.

Next-Gen Digestion – led by United Utilities with Jacobs UK, Imperial College London, Cranfield University and others – £5.7m. Next-Gen Digestion will enable water companies to generate additional biogas, a gas product from the breakdown of organic matter during wastewater treatment and reduce the volume of residual biosolids (treated sludge). It will convert biogas into energy which can be used to power treatment processes, reducing operational costs for water companies and their customers. The technology will run at full scale at Leigh Wastewater Treatment Works.

Kieran Brocklebank, Head of Innovation at United Utilities said: “We are pleased to continue our track record of tapping into the Ofwat Innovation funding, applying the results to our own operations – and then sharing with other water companies so everyone can benefit. Together with our fantastic partners, we can develop and deliver innovative solutions to wastewater treatment here at United Utilities, and ultimately safeguard the future of our environment.

“United Utilities is investing a record £13bn of investment over the next five years to create a stronger, greener and healthier North West, and I look forward to working with our colleagues in the water, construction and education sectors to develop these exciting projects. Thank you to Ofwat and the Water Breakthrough Challenge for recognising the merit in our submissions, and we look forward to showcasing our progress toward a more resilient and sustainable water sector.”

David Black, CEO of Ofwat said: “Water underpins our society and economy, and the water sector faces a range of challenges requiring urgent solutions. The Ofwat Innovation Fund was established five years ago to incentivise the water sector to collaborate with partners across industry, charities, and academia to accelerate the pace of transformation and create lasting benefits for customers and the environment.

“The level of ambition of this year’s winners – including deploying robots, drones, satellites and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence – is remarkable. The 16 winning projects involve 15 water companies working with 70 partners – from world-class universities to engineering powerhouses, environmental charities and even NASA. 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”.