South West Water is partnering on seven new pioneering projects designed to help tackle some of the biggest environmental and operational challenges facing the water sector.
The projects have been awarded funding through the Ofwat Innovation Fund’s sixth Water Breakthrough Challenge.
Together, they will explore how new technologies, data and nature-based solutions can improve river health, reduce pollution, strengthen resilience and support a lower-carbon future.
Working with partners across the UK, South West Water will help develop and trial innovative approaches to improving water quality and resilience.
Carolyn Cadman, Chief Sustainability and Natural Resources Officer at South West Water, said: “It is brilliant to be involved in such a wide range of innovation projects, especially those which are looking to nature and natural processes to solve our carbon and water management challenges.”
The projects will explore how technology, data and nature-based solutions can:
- identify pollution risks earlier and improve understanding of river health
- use natural filtration methods to remove pollutants from water
- monitor rivers and coastal waters using satellite technology
- find new ways to remove harmful chemicals and phosphorus from wastewater and agricultural run-off
- improve how operational incidents are identified and managed
- develop lower-carbon and less disruptive ways to repair and renew water infrastructure
- turn wastewater by-products into valuable low-carbon materials and energy sources
Lauren Isbister, Mainstreaming Nature Based Solutions Project Manager at South West Water, is leading on three of the projects and said she’s excited to get started.
“We’re delighted that seven projects we are partnering on have been awarded funding. Innovation is essential to helping the water sector respond to some of the biggest environmental and operational challenges we face,” Lauren said.
“These projects bring together expertise from across industry, academia and environmental organisations to develop and test new approaches that could improve river health, strengthen resilience and support a more sustainable future for our region and the wider sector.”
The Ofwat Innovation Fund’s Water Breakthrough Challenge supports projects across England and Wales aimed at improving water quality, reducing pollution and accelerating innovation across the sector.
For more information about the projects visit https://waterinnovation.challenges.org/
Notes to editors
The seven funded projects South West Water is a partnering on are:
- Open Catchment Intelligence, Insights and Integration (OCI³) – developing AI-powered tools to identify pollution risks and improve understanding of river catchments
- Mycofiltration – trialling fungi-based filtration systems to remove pollutants from water
- Smart Watch – using satellite technology to detect emerging risks to water quality
- I’m a P-Leaver – exploring new ways to remove phosphorus and PFAS from wastewater and agricultural run-off
- Smart Alarm Management – using AI to improve how operational alarms are managed during incidents
- SI12 Challenge – investigating lower-carbon and less disruptive approaches to renewing water infrastructure
- Splitting Biogas, Multiplying Value – exploring how wastewater biogas can be converted into hydrogen and graphene