Ofwat has today launched the first of the two competitions being funded by its new £200m Innovation Fund, which seeks to stimulate innovative responses to water challenges, including climate change, leakage and pollution. Specifically, the Fund seeks to encourage initiatives that water companies would not otherwise be able to invest in.
The smaller competition – the £2m Innovation in Water Challenge – has opened to entries from partnerships between water companies and others, and seeks to foster collaborations within and outside the sector – for example, from energy, manufacturing, health or financial services. Each winning partnership will receive between £50,000 and £250,000 to support their initiatives.
The competitions are being run by Ofwat in partnership with Nesta Challenges, Arup and Isle Utilities. Chris Gorst, director of challenges at Nesta, said the organisers were“open to all kinds of entries" and added: "We know the best ideas can often come from the most unlikely places, so we hope to see a range of partnerships from both within and outside the sector.”
The deadline for entries is 12 noon on 26 February 2021.
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