The second Water Breakthrough Challenge opens for entries

Entries have opened for Ofwat’s second Water Breakthrough Challenge, with the winning partnerships able to win a share of approximately £39 million.

Following the successful partnerships formed in the first Water Breakthrough Challenge between water companies and the likes of conservation charities, technology giants and academia, the second challenge is encouraging even more creative partnerships, focused on all kinds of innovation – from cutting-edge technologies, to new ways for the water sector to collaborate and engage with customers.

The Water Breakthrough Challenge is part of Ofwat’s pioneering £200m fund to unleash a wave of innovation in the water sector and deliver transformative benefits for consumers, society and the environment. It aims to encourage radical start up and scale up partnerships from both within and outside the water sector, tackling major issues such as achieving net zero, protecting natural ecosystems and reducing leakage, as well as taking opportunities to use open data and deliver value to society.

This fund is specially for initiatives to drive the long-term transformation in the services water companies provide– drawing in new perspectives and fresh ideas from across the globe, and across the worlds of academia and business.

The winners of the first round of the competition were announced last month with water companies partnering with the likes of Airbus, Microsoft, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and the Rivers Trust. £9 million was awarded to projects that tackle the health of rivers and waterways, while a further £12.8 million was awarded to projects that will target the need to drastically reduce the emission of CO2 and other pollutants from the water treatment process. An additional £14.2 million was awarded to projects that aim to resolve challenges facing communities and vulnerable water users, as well as prevent leakages to reduce bills.

For this round of the competition, there are two streams of funding:

• Catalyst Stream – Approximately £5 million is available for entries seeking funding of between £100,000 – £1 million. The Catalyst Stream will close for entries at 12pm on 8th December 2021.
• Transform Stream – Approximately £34 million is available for entries seeking funding of between £1 million – £10 million. Stage 1 of the Transform Stream will close for entries at 12pm on 16th November 2021. Stage 2 entries will open on 15 December 2021 and close at 12pm on 8th February 2022.

Both streams are open to initiatives aligned with one or more of Ofwat’s five strategic innovation themes. Initiatives in the Catalyst stream should, at a minimum, reach the stage of prototyping and testing some components of their solution with real users; while initiatives in the Transform stream should go beyond this and deliver tangible benefits for customers, society and the environment.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE WATER BREAKTHROUGH CHALLENGE 2 HERE