Eight finalists win £50k each to develop Reg 31 plans

(by Karma Loveday)

Eight finalists – including water companies, universities and labs – will receive £50,000 each from Ofwat’s Water Innovation Implementation Programme to explore expansion of UK-based Regulation 31 testing capabilities.

The first Implementation Enablers challenge, newly part of the Ofwat Innovation Fund, has been run in collaboration with the Drinking Water Inspectorate. The aim is to tackle a key bottleneck holding back the adoption of innovative products and materials in the water sector because of a lack of Reg 31 testing facilities. Reg 31 testing is needed for any materials and products that come into contact with drinking water. Over the past three years, an absence of UK facilities has created long waiting times for new approvals and renewals, as well as cost uncertainty for suppliers – ultimately impacting which innovations water companies are able to use.

The finalists of the challenge will each receive £50,000 in Stage 1 funding to explore their proposed solutions further and develop detailed delivery plans. Following Stage 1, selected winners will receive up to an additional £1m each to accelerate delivery of their proposed solutions.

The eight finalists were: 

• Affinity Water – will explore converting office space at its Egham site into a not-for-profit materials testing laboratory, building on the experience, governance and management structures of its existing drinking water laboratory. 

• Eurofins Water Hygiene Testing UK – will explore expanding its UK water hygiene testing capability to provide Reg 31 materials testing, initially through dedicated laboratory space at its Wolverhampton site and supported by its wider UK and European laboratory network. 

• Determinant Labs, with NSF, WRC, United Utilities, the University of Liverpool and the University of Manchester – will explore a federated UK Water Innovation Testing Network, combining university-based hubs, industry expertise and shared standards to meet testing demand. 

• PI Projects Analytical, with the University of South Wales – will explore a dedicated Reg 31 testing centre designed to support complex products and materials, combining specialist regulatory testing infrastructure with advanced analytical capability and embedded research expertise. 

• Bangor University, with Welsh Water and Swansea University – will explore a distributed, university-anchored UK testing network designed to provide transparent access to Reg 31 testing for water companies, suppliers and innovators. 

• Thames Water, with Mott MacDonald – will explore embedding long-term Reg 31 testing capabilities within a new Thames Water laboratory facility. This project is also supported by Northumbrian Water, Affinity Water and Southern Water. 

• Wessex Water, with YTL-UK Group – will explore incorporating Reg 31 testing into a new multi-disciplinary water scientific services laboratory at the Brabazon site in Filton, Bristol, alongside complementary testing services. 

• R-TECH Group – will explore expanding its existing UKAS-accredited analytical laboratory into a dedicated water testing centre of excellence, leveraging laboratory partnerships and a future purpose-built facility.