What was the Water Breakthrough Challenge 1?
Part of the Ofwat Innovation Fund, a £200 million fund to grow the water sector's capacity to innovate, enabling it to better meet the evolving needs of customers, society and the environment in England and Wales. Read more about the Innovation in Water Challenge.
The Breakthrough Challenge was the second competition funded through the Ofwat Innovation Fund.
It provided an opportunity for water companies, in partnership with other organisations, to receive funding for innovative initiatives that go beyond business as usual to deliver tangible benefits for customers, society and the environment. Run by Ofwat and Challenge Works, supported by Arup, the Water Breakthrough Challenge was funded through Ofwat’s £200 million Innovation Fund, as part of the regulator’s goal to create an innovative and collaborative water sector that meets the needs of customers, society and the environment in the years to come.
The Breakthrough Challenge aimed to encourage collaborative innovative initiatives that help tackle the biggest challenges facing the water and wastewater services, 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. It was for initiatives that water companies would otherwise be unable to invest in or explore – and may exist in other sectors of our economy or worldwide. This might include, for example: trialing new technology, commercial models, ways of working or business practices. Find out more about the Fund