Ofwat, the economic regulator of water and wastewater services in England and Wales, is delivering a £600 million, 10-year Water Innovation Fund to grow the water sector’s capacity to innovate, enabling it to better meet the evolving needs of customers, communities and the environment.
Alongside the Water Innovation Fund is the Water Efficiency Lab, established by Ofwat as part of its £100 million Water Efficiency Fund to drive a transformative, sustained, and measurable reduction in water demand across England and Wales. The Water Efficiency Lab (WEL) will make up to £25 million available through annual competitions to fund the development of new technologies and processes for water efficiency.
The Fund is delivered in partnership with Challenge Works (formerly Nesta Challenges) and supported by Arup and Isle Utilities.
Through a number of different funding streams, the Fund supports ambitious and collaborative initiatives that move beyond business-as-usual and have the potential to create significant value for customers, society and the environment.
All of the competitions are open to innovators from across sectors and worldwide. Some of our competitions are water company-led, while others are open directly to innovators to develop their ideas with access to water company facilities and staff. You can find out more by looking at the entry criteria for each of our competitions (linked below).
Since its launch, the Water Innovation Fund has invested over £190 million across 109 projects through the Innovation in Water Challenge, Water Breakthrough Challenge and Water Discovery Challenge competitions. These projects have involved almost 300 partners, ranging from water companies, large and small businesses, universities, environmental charities, local governments and other utilities.
The Water Efficiency Lab 1 is now closed for entries. More information about Water Efficiency Lab 2 will be published in mid-April 2026. It will award up to £5 million in each competition to the most innovative solutions to specific water efficiency challenges that unlock progress on water efficient technology, processes and approaches.
The Water Breakthrough Challenge 6 is now closed for entries. The Water Breakthrough 7 will open in Autumn 2026. It will award up to £50 million to collaborative projects between water companies and innovators from across sectors and worldwide. It seeks broad solutions that tackle big water sector challenges, including climate change, pollution, leakage and nature restoration – all while ensuring good value for customers.
The Water Innovation Implementation Programme has launched on 2 March 2026.
The Water Discovery Challenge 2 is open until 8 April 2026.
For specific information about each competition stream, please read this detailed blog or refer to each competition specific page
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As well as directly supporting innovative initiatives through its innovation competitions, the Water Innovation Fund aims to provide resources and support to help the sector innovate.
📖 Insights from the winning projects, thematic reports, case studies and more can be found in the Access Innovation section
📣 Blogs and updates about the Fund, the competition and the winning projects can be found on our News & Views section
📅Information on past and upcoming events can be found on our Events page
🤝🏽Support for organisations looking to collaborate with the water sector is available on Spring’s brokerage service page (external)
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Water Breakthrough Challenge
News & Updates
Water Discovery Challenge
