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Water Breakthrough Challenge 6: Transform Stream

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The Transform stream will award innovative water company-led entries between £2 million and £10 million* per entry through a two-stage entry process. While the Fund welcomes a range of innovation stages, entries to the Transform Stream should be at a stage of development where the concept is supported by evidence and progressing toward real-world application. Very early-stage concepts with high levels of uncertainty or limited testing may be better suited to the Catalyst Stream. If successful, such entries are welcome to seek further funding through future rounds of the Transform Stream.

*subject to certain conditions, Ofwat is open to accepting entries bidding for greater than £10 million.

More information about the Transform Stream is available below.

Key Materials

Please ensure you have reviewed the below materials prior to submitting your entry:

Stage 1 entries must have been submitted online via Submittable, no later than 29 September 2025 at 12:00 noon (BST).

Submit your entry

Book a surgery session to answer clarifying questions about the entry and assessment process.

We will open stage 2 to invited entries on 24 November 2025 at 12 noon (GMT) and will close for entries on 14 January 2026 at 12 noon (GMT).

Timeline & key dates

The Transform Stream of Breakthrough 6 uses a two-stage entry process, illustrated in the figure below.

B6 Timeline - Transform timeline

[see the visual above enlarged or download it]

Stage 1 of the Transform Stream opened on 8 September 2025 at 12 noon (BST) and closed on 29 September 2025 at 12 noon (BST).

Following the closing date on 29 September 2025, stage 1 entries will be checked for eligibility and undergo a screening assessment. Entrants will be invited to a live Q&A session with assessors to take place after the Stage 1 entry period has closed. This allows assessors to ask specific questions about the entry and seek clarifications on aspects of the written submission in order to inform decisions.

A diverse portfolio of entries that best meet the relevant assessment criteria will then be invited to submit a Stage 2 entry from 24 November 2025 at 12 noon (GMT). The Stage 2 entry period will open for just under eight weeks, closing on 14 January 2026 at 12 noon (GMT). Following the closing date, Stage 2 entries will be assessed.

In this round, there will be a single, unified judging panel reviewing entries to the Catalyst and Transform Streams. The aim is to increase visibility across the streams and to ensure a streamlined approach to portfolio recommendations based on gaps in the market and various levels of innovation risk.

The judging panel will convene in late March 2026. Shortlisted entries will be invited to a live Q&A session with the judges during the judging days. Please note entrants will not be requested to pitch to the judges in this round.

The judging panel will recommend to Ofwat a diverse portfolio of entries for funding that they consider best meets the relevant assessment criteria and has the potential to deliver tangible positive benefits for customers, communities, and the environment. Ofwat will then make the final decision on whether to award funding.

Further details on the selection process can be found in the ‘how to enter’ section. If you are successful in winning funding, you can expect to be notified by late April 2026. Winners will be announced publicly in mid-May 2026.

What you can win

In this round, individual entries to the Transform Stream can bid for funding of between £2 million and £10 million.

Water companies seeking funding of between £150,000 and £2 million are invited to enter the Catalyst Stream of the Water Breakthrough Challenge on its dedicated page, which closes to entries on 6 January 2026.

Who can be involved

There are four eligibility criteria in the Transform Stream of Breakthrough 6, detailed below:

  • Lead entrant – The lead entrant must be an appointed ‘Water Company’ (a water and/or sewerage undertaker or infrastructure provider) in England and Wales.
  • Funding requested – the entry must be seeking between £2 million and £10 million* from the Fund.
  • Financial requirements – We expect entry partners to make a minimum 10% financial contribution to Breakthrough entries. Customers should not bear all the risk of initiatives funded through the competition.
  • Terms & conditions – all entrants must agree to and abide by the terms & conditions.

Lead entrant

The lead entrant to Breakthrough 6 must be an appointed ‘Water Company’ (a water and/or sewerage undertaker or infrastructure provider (i.e. Tideway) in England and Wales. We strongly encourage lead entrants to enter Breakthrough 6 in partnership or consortia.

For the Transform Stream, only the lead entrant can submit the entry form on Submittable. If entrants wish to work on more than one draft on the online entry platform during the entry period, please contact [email protected] for assistance.

Funding requested

The minimum amount of funding that can be requested from the Transform Stream is £2 million, and the maximum that can be requested is £10 million*.

*In exceptional circumstances, where an entry will deliver impact across the water sector in England and Wales, we are open to accepting entries requesting more than £10 million. We ask that this impact be demonstrated by having at least ten water companies in England and Wales as entry partners.

Submitting an entry requesting greater than £10 million is subject to the prior approval of Ofwat. For more information and to request approval to bid for above £10 million, you must have emailed [email protected] no later than Monday 15 September 2025 at 5 pm (BST).

If Ofwat approves your entry for more than £10 million, this does not in any way guarantee that your entry will be successful in winning funding. All entries (regardless of how much funding is requested) are subject to the same entry process and terms and conditions once their entry has been accepted.

Financial requirements

A maximum of 90% of each entry’s financial costs will be provided by funding from Breakthrough 6. Entry partners must provide the remaining 10% of the entry’s total financial costs as a mandatory 10% financial contribution.

In Breakthrough 6, we continue to look for further granularity in the financial information provided. Entrants need to specify the source of funds for their contributions in the entry form, divided between:

  • The amount of financial contributions entry partners are committing from sources other than charges to water company customers.
  • Any amount of financial contributions entry partners are committing from charges to water customers. There is no requirement for entries to include additional financial contributions from charges to water customers. However, if any such contributions are included, entrants should specify this in the entry form.

We do not consider that customers should bear all the risk of initiatives funded through the competition and believe this encourages strong project management. Entry partners can decide how the remaining 10% is funded, as long as it is not funded by charges to water customers in England and Wales (i.e. it must be from the organisation’s own funds). There is no requirement for this contribution to be shared equally between partners. Entry partners may also consider how they could bring funding from other sources.

We welcome any additional financial and/or non-financial contributions beyond the minimum 10% and have seen many entries do this in previous rounds. Non-financial contributions should be excluded from the total financial cost of the entry.

We are open to initiatives that have secured additional external public or private funding. Entrants must confirm that there is no duplicative or double funding and that they are not restricted by their current funding source when applying for additional and alternative funding through this Fund.

Terms and conditions

All entry partners must agree to abide by the terms and conditions.

What we are looking for

Areas for innovation

We are looking for your ideas that address the big challenges facing the water sector and deliver benefits for customers, communities and the environment. We aim to fund a wide range of entries that will showcase a diverse mix of innovative ways of working and solutions.

We have published more detailed policy statements on Ofwat’s position around Open Data and customer vulnerability since the start of the Ofwat Innovation Fund. We believe that the breadth of the broader theme allows for greater freedom in proposing improved ways of working and could deliver greater benefits.

We also invite entries in this important area as they will support the Fund’s ambition to embed innovation practices and knowledge within water companies (and the sector) for the long term.

We have identified a number of innovation enablers that will be particularly critical to growing and sustaining the water sector’s capacity to innovate. The Fund will consider supporting initiatives that demonstrate and further strengthen these enablers, including but not limited to:

  • Collaboration: building and strengthening collaboration and partnerships across companies, the supply chain and outside the water sector.
  • Openness: to sharing data, insights, and ideas within the water sector and with other sectors. All projects supported by the Fund should use an “open by default” approach to data and learning.
  • Adaptability: flexibility and openness to trying out new ways of working.
  • Innovation risk management: delivering value from all innovation projects, particularly more experimental projects, even if they fail.
  • Scalability & deployability: improving the ease of scaling up and rolling out of proven innovations within the sector.
  • Long-term view: taking both a longer-term and broader perspective to better meet the evolving needs of customers, communities, and the environment.

Benefits to customers

One of the priorities for Ofwat’s Innovation Fund is enabling the water sector to better meet the evolving needs of its customers. This is focused on household customers because the Fund is financed by household water and wastewater customers in England and Wales.

Benefits to non-household customers are also encouraged. All entries that propose primarily to benefit non-household customers must also demonstrate how the proposal can benefit household customers. Entries should clearly explain how the proposed innovation will make a difference for customers – for example, by lowering costs, giving them insights to help them plan their water use, or improving their experience of their local water environments.

Entry delivery timelines

We are open to a wide range of project delivery timelines, from less than a year to multi-year periods that continue beyond 2031. There is no requirement for project delivery to be completed within the current asset management plan (AMP) period.

We expect entries to the Transform Stream that are awarded funding to start within six months of being notified of the award. However, we recognise that particularly complex entries may require a longer mobilisation period.

Based on past winners’ experience and feedback, we strongly encourage entrants to consider the following points in advance of the project start to avoid delays if the entry is successful:

  • Ensuring you’ve agreed how the project will be governed, and the role of each partner.
  • Ensuring you have started discussing contractual arrangements with partners, including developing collaboration agreements and allowing sufficient time in the project plan for these to be completed (if they aren’t already in place).
  • Considering your procurement needs, and possible supply chain delays
  • Considering any regulatory requirements: you may wish to reach out to StreamLine, the regulatory advice service for innovators in England and Wales, run jointly by Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and The Environment Agency.
  • Considering resourcing requirements for each stage of the project, with mitigations in place for any changes.

Approach to risk

We are seeking truly innovative solutions that deliver greater value than current practices in the sector; advance the water sector’s understanding; and could not otherwise be funded (see our definition of innovation for more information). We encourage water companies to adopt an open risk appetite within their Fund entries, supported by strong risk management with a clear plan to share data and learning, regardless of the outcome. We recognise that some projects may not deliver the expected direct benefits, but by taking proportionally mitigated risks and sharing learning across the water sector in a regular, timely and accessible manner, customers will stand to benefit.

Further detail about the Fund-level risk principles can be found on our website but for Breakthrough 6 entrants should demonstrate that they are able to recognise and respond appropriately to issues and opportunities as they arise. This may include:

  • Making decisions about how to adjust delivery if the initial benefits can no longer be realised.
  • Demonstrating strong project management with robust controls (e.g. appropriate contingency and inflation budgets; environmental risk assessments; capable teams, including senior engagement; clear project plans).
  • Adopting an approach of ‘early failure’.
  • Having a clear plan to proactively manage compliance and regulation including engaging with the relevant regulators.
  • Thinking widely about possible benefits from their initiative, beyond the project’s intended outcomes.
  • Including solid success criteria in the project scope, allowing understanding of what they are testing and why, and how they will know if they have succeeded or not (and what happens if not).
  • Considering how learning and insights from the delivery of their initiative can best provide value across the sector, with a clear pathway towards successful implementation and wider scaling, both internally (amongst the lead and partner water companies) and externally (amongst the rest of the water companies and wider sector stakeholders where applicable).

We actively encourage entrants whose projects move across several innovation stages to use stage gates as part of their governance plans to mitigate innovation risks. This is an established approach to innovation and project management. Entrants will be responsible for managing delivery against milestones and adapting delivery to realise the intended impact most efficiently and effectively, with the support of Ofwat and the Breakthrough 6 delivery partners. Please note we are unable to offer partial funding, so the decision to fund or not fund is made against the entire entry.

Monitoring and risk management

Entrants will be asked to provide information on their approach to risk in their entry. Entrants will be responsible for:

  • Managing delivery and reviewing progress against milestones.
  • Adapting delivery to realise the intended impact most efficiently and effectively.
  • Sharing significant changes to delivery with Ofwat and its delivery partners.

Ofwat and its delivery partners will monitor the progress of successful entries, including seeking updates at delivery milestones. The monitoring and involvement of Ofwat and its delivery partners will be proportionate to the size and risk of initiatives. In all cases, winning entrants will be responsible for reviewing progress and deciding the best course of action for their entry to deliver its intended impact.

In exceptional circumstances, Ofwat and its delivery partners may intervene if we have concerns that a project is moving materially away from delivering on its intended impact or if there are any concerns about misuse of funds.

Entry value and delivery costs

Entrants to the Transform Stream can bid for between £2 million and £10 million. Subject to certain conditions, Ofwat is open to accepting entries bidding for greater than £10 million. Please see Who can be involved above for more details.

We expect entries to demonstrate cost efficiency and good use of customer money, with a clear case for any costs included in the budget.

Reasonable costs are eligible to be funded, including dedicated staff time and fair associated overheads.

The budget, set out in the entry form, should include inflation allowances and applicable taxes, which are not recoverable, reflecting the actual costs of the initiative. Where taxes are fully recoverable, such as VAT, costs should be shown net of the recoverable amount. Taxes that are not recoverable should be included, for example, customs duties payable on goods imported into the UK.

Partnerships and collaboration

We particularly encourage entries that involve partnerships and collaboration between water companies, including small water and sewerage undertakers and Infrastructure Providers (i.e. Tideway), as well as with organisations in the water sector supply chain and beyond.

  • If you are a water and/or sewerage undertaker or infrastructure provider (i.e. Tideway): you are strongly encouraged to explore opportunities for new partnerships and consortia, including by signalling opportunities for partnerships on your website and social media channels. You can partner with any organisation you wish, domestic or international, including other water companies, supply chain partners, new start-ups, SMEs, academia, local authorities, water companies outside of England and Wales, and water supply and/or sewerage retailers. Please note that it is your responsibility to carry out any checks and due diligence on partners.
  • If you are not a water company: Breakthrough 6 is an opportunity to reach out to one or more water companies to explore the possibility of working together. If you are new to the water sector, you may wish to contact Spring, the water sector’s centre of excellence for innovation. In particular, we recommend you read the water sector’s innovation strategy before contacting water companies to understand their innovation priorities.

Collaboration agreement template

Where relevant, entries that are successful will need to develop agreements with partners (commonly referred to as ‘collaboration agreements’). The Fund does not require the use of any particular template for collaboration agreements. However, should you wish to refer to an example, you can consider the one available via the website. It is suggested that the collaboration agreement is shared between partners even before it is known if the project has been successful. This will aid the development of collaboration agreements in advance of the project start (which is strongly recommended) to avoid delays if the entry is successful.

Note: The example collaboration agreement linked above is a cross-water company effort between the legal and innovation teams of water companies including Anglian Water, Thames Water, United Utilities, Severn Trent, Affinity Water, Welsh Water, Northumbrian Water and Southern Water. This agreement is flexible and therefore it is a basis for early discussion between water companies and other project partners. It may be adapted over time. The Ofwat Innovation Fund and any of the above organisations cannot provide any legal support or advice, nor be legally liable, in the event of any issues relating to a project’s collaboration agreement.

Assessment Criteria

Entries will be reviewed against three assessment categories, as set out below. A full breakdown of the assessment criteria, and how they are weighted at each stage, is available in the Transform Stream Entrant Handbook (Key Materials).

1. Positive impact for water customers, communities and the environment

Under this assessment category, we are looking to understand the benefits entries seek to deliver for customers, communities, and the environment. Strong entries to Breakthrough 6 will address a well-evidenced, important need or opportunity in the water sector in England and Wales for water customers, communities and/or the environment that aligns with one or more of Ofwat’s four strategic innovation themes.

2. Innovation enablers and innovative solutions

Under this assessment category, we want to understand what is novel about the proposed approach and solution and how it could deliver a positive sector-wide innovation legacy.

Strong entries will demonstrate how the proposed entry goes beyond the entrant’s business-as-usual approach to innovation and how it may draw inspiration and/or talent from other sectors. This is both in terms of what the entrant proposes to deliver (innovative solutions) and how they propose to deliver it (innovation enablers).

Innovation enablers are the innovative approaches the entry is proposing, which may include how entrants are working internally and externally with collaborators within and outside of the water sector for the benefit of water customers in England and Wales. Entries could include testing new ideas, adapting ideas or practices that have established themselves in other sectors, or adopting proven approaches that haven’t been tried at scale.

3. Capacity, capability and commitment to deliver

Under this assessment category, we are looking for a clear narrative, demonstrating strong evidence that the proposed entry is feasible and that appropriate resources and governance will be in place for its delivery.

How to enter

Winning entries will be selected following the assessment process outlined below. The two-stage entry process aims to ensure that entrants can develop proposals that have the greatest chance of being awarded funding.

We have worked to ensure the entry process is as efficient and practical as possible, allowing for easy access for all water companies, particularly smaller ones.

Information you provide in your entry at Stage 1 and Stage 2 may be shared with our partners (including the judges and any due diligence providers) to administer Breakthrough 6. For more information on how we use your data, please see the privacy policy and the terms and conditions.

The steps of the entry process, detailed below, are:

A. Stage 1 – Screening entry period
B. Eligibility screen
C. Stage 1 assessment, including Stage 1 live Q&A
D. Stage 1 Feedback
E. Stage 2 – Full entry period
F. Stage 2 Assessment
G. Judging, including live Q&A
H. Ofwat Decision
I. Award
J. Stage 2 Feedback

 

A. Stage 1 – Screening entry period

Stage 1 opened for entries on 8 September 2025 at 12 noon (BST) and closes on 29 September 2025 at 12 noon (BST).

Changes to the entry form

Based on feedback from the previous round, we have updated the entry form to improve entrant experience and improve the gathering of information about entries to aid assessors and judges in their decision making. The main changes to the entry form are detailed below.

Terminology change: Going forward entries will need to demonstrate how they benefit ‘customers, communities and the environment’ (a change from ‘customers, society and the environment’)

Updates to entry questions and criteria

Entry form guidance has been updated and the flow of the questions has been strengthened based on feedback from previous rounds, to enable smoother completion of the form.

Unassessed Questions

Further guidance has been included on responsibilities of the main contact to ensure that the right person is chosen for this role.

Columns have been added to the partner contacts template to gather information on whether partners count as a Small and Medium Sized Enterprise, and whether they are a UK Incorporated Entity. Guidance has been added to the entry form to support this. This data is for reporting use only and has no bearing on the assessment of the entry.

Assessed Questions

You can now upload pitch decks separately from the main submission, and the guidance on providing visuals has been made clearer.

Assessed Criteria

Criterion 1: A new question 1.2.2 has been added about the intended outputs of the entry (see definitions below). The strategic themes have been removed, and the associated criterion has been eliminated. Due to these changes, the word counts for this criterion have increased at Stage 1 (+250), and Stage 2 (+350).

Criterion 2: A new sub-criterion (2.2) now focuses on how the lead entrant and their partners plan to develop and implement the innovation, separate from its wider adoption in the water sector. Because of this and some other minor changes to questions, the word count has increased at Stage 2 by 50 words.

Criterion 3: The guidance for 3.1 has been updated to clarify what is being assessed, with additional guidance about this included in this handbook under the section Senior sponsorship of the entry and innovation. A question around plans for dissemination has been moved from 3.2 into 2.3. A word count has now been added to question 3.5.1 for Stage 2. As a result of these changes and some other minor changes to questions in this criterion, the word count has decreased slightly for Stage 2 by 50 words.

Criteria Weighting

Although the above changes have not resulted in a change to the weighting across the main criteria 1, 2 and 3. there are changes to the weighting of some of the sub-criteria. Please review the criteria weighting carefully when completing your entry.

Inputs, Outputs, Outcomes and Impacts

This round, the entry form makes more mention of these, and their definitions are as follows:

  • Inputs  The resources required to achieve the project objectives (this includes programme, expenditure and costs, risks, including any approvals and consents required, and project partners).
  • Outputs The direct result of the activity, e.g. technological progress, or increased knowledge (this includes lessons learnt and any changes in approach)
  • Outcomes  The changes or benefits that result, generally to the direct beneficiaries of the project e.g. benefits to the environment resulting from the innovation (these are different for each project and will be based on the SMART outcomes included in the original entry)
  • Impact  The final, wider changes that result from the programme (these are different for each project and will be based on the impacts included in the original entry)

Water cycle tags

Water Cycle Tags refer to specific parts of the water cycle. These have been updated in this round and you can see more information about them in this diagram:

An image depicting the Water Cycle Tags

We set out the questions that should be answered, along with guidance on completing the entry process in the Transform Stream Entrant Handbook (Key Materials).

All entries to Stage 1 must have been submitted by 29 September 2026 at 12 noon (BST) using the Transform online entry form available via the website. The lead entrant must submit this form.

The entry form for both stages is available as a Word document (Entry drafting form) along with the entry template (budget) as an Excel document via the website to help you develop and collaborate on your answers before completing the online form.

If entrants wish to work on more than one draft on the online entry platform during the entry period, please contact [email protected] for assistance.

Before submitting your entry, please ensure that:

  • You and your partners have read and understood the Challenge terms and conditions and privacy policy, including the Ofwat privacy policy.
  • You have followed good procurement principles, performed your due diligence on your partners and accepted any risk and liability from going ahead with them.
  • You and your entry partners have set out in your entry how a 10% minimum financial contribution will be provided for (at least 10% of total entry financial costs will be funded from sources other than the Fund). The detail of which partners are contributing to the 10% is asked at Stage 2.

B. Eligibility screening

Entrants must meet the eligibility criteria set out in the Who can be involved section above.

When entries close, an eligibility screen will be conducted to ensure entries meet all the eligibility criteria.

C. Stage 1 assessment

During stage 1, all eligible entries will be assessed by assessors against each of the following three assessment criteria categories:

  1. Positive impact for water customers, communities, and the environment.
  2. Innovation enablers and innovative solutions.
  3. Capacity, capability, and commitment to deliver.

Scoring will be between 1 and 5 (5 being the highest). These scores are then weighted. The assessed entry questions, assessment criteria and weighting are set out in the Transform Stream Entrant Handbook which can be found in the key materials.

Live Q&A sessions for Stage 1

Entrants will be invited to a live Q&A session with assessors to take place after the Stage 1 entry period has closed. This will allow assessors to ask specific questions about the entry and seek clarifications on aspects of the written submission in order to inform decisions.

Every eligible entry will be booked for a Q&A session as soon as the Stage 1 entry period closes. Sessions will be held between late October and mid-November. The sessions will be held online, with assessors remaining anonymous, and interaction led by a Facilitator from the Breakthrough 6 delivery team.

There is no cap on the number of project members that attend the Q&A session, but each entry will need to choose a team captain. Team captains will field each question and may choose to delegate the response to another member of the project team.

Questions will be targeted (answerable live, no multi-part questions) and will be asked live and not shared with teams in advance. Follow up questions may be asked for further clarification. No additional materials will be allowed to supplement answers during the session, other than those submitted with the written entry (per question 0.4 on entry visuals and diagrams).

Full details and instructions for Stage 1 Q&A sessions will be provided after the Stage 1 submission date.

A moderation meeting will be held to discuss and recommend entries for stage 2. This moderation meeting will ensure that all assessors’ opinions have been captured and that a consistent view on the merits of each entry is provided.

Whilst scoring will form part of this process, in making its decision on whether to put forward an entry to stage 2, Ofwat will also consider the opinions of the assessors and will seek to ensure a diverse portfolio of entries in terms of entry themes, types, entrants and geographic location. Entrants should note that there is no guarantee of funding even if the entry reaches stage 2.

D. Stage 1 feedback

Feedback will be provided to the lead entrant for all entries.

For those invited to Stage 2, entries will receive up to three bullet points from assessors by 5 December to support them in developing their Stage 2 entry. For those entries not invited to Stage 2, we will provide high-level information about why the entry was unsuccessful.

Due to the streamlined Stage 1 entry form, feedback provided at the end of this stage will be high-level, and timing will depend on the number of entries received. We aim to deliver this to unsuccessful entrants no later than mid-January 2026.

In exceptional circumstances, unsuccessful entrants may wish to consider entering the Catalyst Stream of Breakthrough 6. For more information, please refer to Appendix 2 of the Transform Stream Entrant Handbook which can be found in the key materials. Please note, this does not represent a recommendation from us to unsuccessful entrants in stage 1 of the Transform Stream to enter the Catalyst Stream. Entering the Catalyst Stream will not in any way guarantee that your entry will be successful in winning funding. All entries to the Catalyst Stream are subject to the same entry process, terms and conditions, and assessment.

E. Stage 2 – Full entry period

We will open Stage 2 to invited entries on 24 November 2025 at 12 noon (GMT) and close for entries on 14 January 2026 at 12 noon (GMT).

We set out the questions that should be answered, together with guidance on how to complete the questions, in the Transform Stream Entrant Handbook (Key Materials).

All entries must have been submitted by 14 January 2026 at 12 noon (GMT) using the Transform online entry form available via the website. At Stage 2, we will be looking for a complete, evidenced and referenced narrative, as well as the completion of our entry template and a pitch recording. Entrants can update their Stage 1 entry form and will be asked to book a pitch recording session. The entry form for both stages is available as a Word document (Entry drafting form) along with the entry template (budget) as an Excel document via the website to help you develop and collaborate on your answers before completing the online form.

Pitch recordings

At Stage 2, entrants are required to book a slot to record a 5-minute pitch video. The purpose of the pitch recording is to provide a video explainer to help assessors and judges quickly understand your entry.

Pitches should outline:

  • The problem the entry aims to address and what benefits it will have for customers, communities and/or the environment if successful (around 25% of the pitch)
  • What about the entry is innovative (around 25% of the pitch)
  • What entrants intend to do within their entry, focusing on activities that will be undertaken (around 50% of the pitch)

Please note that the booking window is from 24 November to 23 December 2025. Slots are available from 26 November 2025 to 13 January 2026. Please book a slot via Calendly.

To promote equity, diversity and inclusion and reduce any potential bias in the entry process, we will continue to exclude speaker videos in pitch recordings for Breakthrough 6. Entrants are asked to present slides or other visuals whilst talking.

F. Stage 2 Assessment

The stage 2 process will consist of a more detailed assessment of entries against each of the three assessment criteria categories:

  1. Positive impact for water customers, communities, and the environment.
  2. Innovation enablers and innovative solutions.
  3. Capacity, capability, and commitment to deliver.

Assessors will review and score answers to all assessed stage 1 and stage 2 entry questions against set assessment criteria. Scoring will be between 1 and 5 (5 being the highest). These scores are then weighted. The stage 2 assessed entry questions, assessment criteria and weighting are set out in the Transform Stream Entrant Handbook which can be found in the key materials.

A moderation meeting will be held to ensure that all opinions from the assessors are captured and a consistent view on the merits of each entry is provided. Whilst scoring will form part of this process, Ofwat will consider the assessors’ opinions and will also seek to ensure that a diverse portfolio of shortlisted entries, in terms of entry themes, types, entrants and geographic location, is put forward to the judges.

Drinking Water Inspectorate involvement

Entries that align with the Water Cycle tags Water Abstraction, storage, Clean water Treatment, or Water network (as selected by entrants in the entry form) may be referred to the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) for additional review. Entries that do not select these categories but still relate to drinking water may be flagged by assessors for DWI review. DWI’s views may in turn be provided to judges and Ofwat to aid their decision-making. All funding decisions will be made in accordance with the published assessment criteria.

Further information on the Water Cycle can be found under ‘More information and support for your entry’ in the Catalyst Stream Entrant Handbook (Key Materials).

Environment Agency involvement

Building on the work we have done with the DWI in Breakthrough 5, entries in Breakthrough 6 may be passed to the Environment Agency for review. This is to allow the Fund to make informed funding decisions and ensuring policy coherence. The Environment Agency’s views may in turn be provided to judges and Ofwat to aid their decision-making. All funding decisions will be made in accordance with the published assessment criteria.

G. Judging

An independent panel of judges will review the shortlisted entries put forward through the Stage 2 assessment. The judging panel will review the entries individually, scoring the entries using the same criteria as the Stage 2 assessors. The judging panel will then convene to discuss entries and recommend to Ofwat which entries they agree best meet the assessment criteria and offer a diverse portfolio for funding.

Breakthrough 6 will continue to offer the opportunity of a live Q&A session for the entrants to respond to judges’ questions as part of the entry process. Please note entrants will not be required to pitch to the judges. Questions will not be provided to entry teams in advance to enable a more dynamic conversation.

Judges will ask questions relating to shortlisted entries during the judging days between 9 am and 5.30 pm (GMT) on 24, 25 or 26 March 2026. Q&A slots will be allocated to shortlisted entries no later than 11 March 2026, but where possible, we will endeavour to provide as much notice as possible.

If teams are not able to attend the live Q&A, they should notify the delivery partners at [email protected] as soon as possible, for a chance to answer the judges’ questions in writing. No other opportunities for questions and answers will be provided, with the exception of clarifying conflicting entry answers.

H. Ofwat Decision

Ofwat will make the final decision on which entries should receive funding. In making its decision, Ofwat will consider the views of assessors and judges on which entries best meet the assessment criteria and offer a diverse portfolio for funding.

Ofwat intends to publish this decision and its reasons for awarding funding. Ofwat will take account of entrants’ preferences regarding the confidentiality of their entries.

I. Award

Entries should expect to be notified if they have been awarded funding by late April 2026.

Winner’s Agreement

When notified, successful entries will receive a copy of their draft winner’s agreement. This winner’s agreement will be based on the standard template available via the website. Please note that this template is only provided for information purposes and may be subject to changes. Winning teams must sign these agreements no later than 5 pm (GMT) on 15 May 2026 to be paid by late June 2025.

A winners’ onboarding event will be held online on 9 June 2026, 1-3 pm (GMT).

Further information and a joining link will be shared with winning entries in the weeks ahead of the event.

J. Stage 2 feedback

After winners have been announced, feedback will be provided to the lead entrants who did not win funding at stage 2, outlining why their entry was unsuccessful.

Feedback will be provided on each entry, in line with the assessment criteria and, where relevant, provide guidance on areas of improvement. The feedback will not include scores provided by the assessors and the judging panel. As mentioned above, scoring forms only a part of the overall assessment process.

Feedback will not be provided to winning entries.

Requirements for successful entries

All participants in the Transform Stream of Breakthrough 6 will be required to adhere to the full terms and conditions of participation. Please ensure you and your partners read and understand these before submitting your entry.

If your entry is selected to win, you must sign a winner’s agreement outlining arrangements for monitoring and reporting based on your specific winning entry.

In particular, the key requirements of winners will include:

  • Use of funding: Any funds awarded through Breakthrough 6 must only be used to fund the initiative described in your entry, which must promote the objectives of Breakthrough 6 as set out within the handbook.
  • Open data by default: Data, information and learning generated by the winning projects will be open by default (i.e., freely available for everyone to access, use and share). The exception to this would be sensitive data, which in this context would include personal data or data with security implications.
  • 10% contribution: All entries must include a minimum of 10% financial contribution to ensure customers do not bear all the risk of initiatives funded through Breakthrough 6 and to encourage good project management.
  • Monitoring and reporting: We will need to monitor your progress – this may be through meetings, surveys, written reporting, or other reasonable requests for information. We will endeavour to keep this reporting proportionate to your entry’s relative size and risk.
  • Regulatory reporting: Water companies will need to report spending against funding allowed in Ofwat’s Regulatory Accounting Guidelines tables – Table 9A. For regulatory reporting purposes, companies will need to report costs in 2022-23 CPIH deflated prices.
  • Intellectual property rights (IPR): You should retain all rights in and to your background IPR, including where a bid involves more than one participant. However, an appropriate form of licence should be granted to all participants in any entry, which is the subject of an entry, for the sole purpose of the entry to enable it to go ahead. Appropriate licences for background IPR and foreground IPR should be provided to all current and future water companies in England and Wales.
  • Publicity: We may use the names of the organisations and summaries of their proposals in publicity materials for Breakthrough 6. We also ask that you acknowledge our support in any public statements about the entry.
  • Conflicts of interest: You (and any partners you work with) must take reasonable steps to manage any conflicts of interest with Ofwat, Challenge Works, Nesta or any of our delivery partners and judges. You must immediately inform Nesta if you become aware of any potential or actual conflict of interest and provide Challenge Works (part of Nesta) and Ofwat with all information reasonably requested in respect of such conflict.
  • Settlement arrangement: Payment of funds awarded through Breakthrough 6 will be settled through an agreed mechanism.

More information and support for your entry

Entrant Support

Please review the frequently asked questions (FAQs) if you have any questions. If you still have questions after doing so, please email us at [email protected].

On Tuesday 9 September 2025, at 11.30 am (BST), we hosted a live online session for potential entrants and partners to clarify their understanding of Breakthrough 6. The session covered the key information for prospective entrants:

  • An overview of the Fund’s aims and ambitions;
  • The Breakthrough 6 entry process, including changes from previous rounds and support available to entrants;
  • Eligibility, assessment and requirements for winning entries;
  • Examples of good practice in knowledge sharing and dissemination of learning;
  • Q&A with the audience.

You can watch a recording and access other assets from the webinar here.

If you require any clarification on the entry process or the terms and conditions, you can book a 15-minute surgery session. The surgery sessions will be run by the Breakthrough 6 delivery partners. Entrants can book a slot on Calendly, please access the Catalyst booking page or the Transform booking page based on which stream you are entering. You will be asked a few questions during the booking process to better help us answer your queries.

Recordings of the entry writing workshops we ran in previous rounds are available to all entrants on our website. These are intended to help you develop entry-writing skills, ensure your answers are clear, and answer the questions in line with the assessment guidance.

Default platform for online events, including surgery sessions, live Q&A and pitch recording

We currently use Zoom for all of these, although this is subject to change. Please ensure you have downloaded the desktop version of Zoom to enable full functionality. You can find advice on joining a test call here.

Reasonable adjustments and accommodations

If there are any reasonable adjustments that would support your entering, catering for any additional needs you may have, please contact [email protected].

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

We need to collect relevant data and evidence to monitor the impact of and promote equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). For the Water Breakthrough Challenge, this means that entrants are asked to:

  • Answer question 0.5 in the entry form on how they will promote EDI within their teams and tackle accessibility challenges via the delivery of their project. This includes:
    • Describing how diverse representation will be incorporated into the design and delivery of their entry;
    • Outlining how accessibility challenges will be tackled in the development of any outputs of the entry;
    • Demonstrating how wider company EDI policies will be integrated into the entry;
    • Where relevant, demonstrating how they plan to include EDI considerations relating to their customers.
  • Participate in a post-entry survey.

EDI considerations are highly encouraged where appropriate in the proposal. Entries will continue to be assessed on their merit against the assessment criteria.

Feedback and Learning

If you have any feedback or concerns relating to Breakthrough 6, the Ofwat Innovation Fund or any of the winners of previous rounds, please feel free to contact us directly at [email protected] or submit your feedback or concerns anonymously. We welcome and support feedback from entrants via email and via entrant surveys sent out after entering one of our competitions.

If you would prefer to contact Ofwat directly, you may do so by emailing [email protected]. Ofwat also has a range of materials available relating to whistleblowing and making a complaint.

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