The Water Efficiency Lab 1 (Actionable Insights) (the “Challenge”) is run by Challenge Works, part of Nesta (“Nesta”) in partnership with Isle Utilities (“Isle”) and Ove Arup & Partners (“Arup”) on behalf of the Water Services Regulation Authority (“Ofwat”). Please note that these terms and conditions apply at all stages of the Challenge, from its opening on 25 November 2025 through to when funded projects have concluded and an evaluation of the competition is completed.
Entrants to the Challenge may seek funding of between £150,000 to £1.5 million. Subject to certain conditions (which shall, without limitation include a requirement that the project be digital-led and be delivered within 12 months), and as determined by Ofwat in its sole discretion, Ofwat may deem entrants seeking less than £150,000 eligible to enter. Approximately £5 million in funding is available across this Challenge.
Full information about the Challenge and what participating in it will involve is published on the Challenge website. We draw your particular attention to the Entrant Handbook which forms part of and should be read alongside these terms and conditions.
In these terms and conditions “you” and “your” means the lead entrant that leads an entry submitted to the Challenge.
Please read these terms and conditions carefully before submitting an entry to the Challenge. By submitting an entry, you accept these terms and conditions on behalf of your organisation and agree to comply with them. By submitting an entry, you also confirm that you have authorisation to accept these terms and conditions on behalf of any partners, and other participants, identified within your entry, and you acknowledge that you are responsible for making sure that those partners and participants comply with these terms and conditions.
1.1 Entries received by the relevant deadline will be assessed against the Eligibility Criteria as set out on the Challenge website. Entries which do not meet the Eligibility Criteria shall not be accepted. The eligibility assessment will be conducted by Nesta with oversight from Ofwat. Ofwat reserves the right to refuse any entry that does not, in its assessment, meet the Eligibility Criteria.
1.2. This Challenge is not limited solely to entry by Water Companies (meaning a water and/or sewerage undertaker or infrastructure provider holding an appointment under Chapter 1 Part 2 of the Water Industry Act 1991), as has been the case for some previous challenges funded by Ofwat. There is also no requirement for organisations to partner or receive sponsorship from a Water Company to enter. To be eligible, entries must:
1.3. Subject to the foregoing and these terms and conditions, the Challenge welcomes entries from all sectors and all types of organisations, including international entities participating as part of a consortium entry, however entrants must be able to demonstrate that their solutions will benefit customers, communities and the environment across England and Wales in alignment with the Challenge Statement.
1.4. A maximum of 90% of each entry’s total cost will be satisfied by funding from the Water Efficiency Lab. Accordingly, at least 10% of the total cost of the project to which your entry relates (“Mandatory Contribution”) must be from sources other than funding received from the Water Efficiency Lab (more information on this requirement is included in the Entrant Handbook). The Mandatory Contribution must comply with the further following requirements:
1.4.1 Subject to clauses 1.4.2 and 1.4.3, if an entry relates to a project that is to be delivered by a consortium, the Mandatory Contribution does not have to be made solely by the lead entrant and may be satisfied by contributions made by any combination of the relevant consortium members.
1.4.2 Any and all contributions made by a Water Company to the Mandatory Contribution (whether as a sole lead entrant or as a member of a consortium) must be satisfied by way of a financial contribution only and must not be funded by charges to English and Welsh customers of the Water Company. Please note that Ofwat may request information to confirm that its entry complies with this requirement as part of the entry form.
1.4.3 Contributions to the Mandatory Contribution made by entities that are not a Water Company may be satisfied by way of either a financial or in-kind contribution to your project. Please note that Ofwat may request information to confirm that its entry complies with this requirement as part of the entry form. Determination as to whether the in-kind contribution is sufficient to satisfy the Mandatory Contribution shall be determined by Ofwat in its sole discretion (more information on this requirement is included in the Entrant Handbook).
1.5. Ofwat reserves the right to refuse acceptance of any entry, where the entry is inconsistent with these terms and conditions in Ofwat’s view.
1.6. An organisation (which shall include any partners or participants of a Water Company) is not eligible to enter or participate in the Challenge:
1.6.1 if it shares common ownership with, or is a subsidiary of, Isle, Arup, ICF or a WEC Delivery Partner, except where such a relationship is declared and measures taken to manage any risk of conflict have been approved by Ofwat; or
1.6.2 if it is a member of the Nesta Group (defined below), except where such a relationship is declared and measures taken to manage any risk of conflict have been approved by Ofwat; or
1.6.3 if any individual in its project team or any senior member of its staff is:
(i) an employee of Nesta Group or Ofwat or an immediate family member of such employee, including any other relationship which may reasonably generate a conflict of interest;
(ii) an employee of Isle, Arup, ICF or a WEC Delivery Partner that is working or has worked on the research, design, administration, delivery and/or evaluation of any aspect of the Water Efficiency Lab, or any immediate family member of such employee; or
(iii) any other individual that is working or has worked on the research, design, administration, delivery and/or evaluation of the Water Efficiency Lab or any immediate family member of such individual,
except where such a relationship is declared and measures taken to manage any risk of conflict have been approved by Ofwat.
1.7 You can submit more than one entry to the Challenge, but each entry submitted must relate to a different initiative or innovation.
1.8 You must bear all the costs of entering and participating in the Challenge, including travel costs and other out of pocket expenses. Please note for the avoidance of doubt that you are responsible for all costs to enter regardless of the outcome of your entry.
1.9 Ofwat reserves the right (in its discretion) not to accept late entries or entries submitted in languages other than English. Neither Nesta nor Ofwat are responsible for, and Ofwat may in its discretion disregard, entries that are lost, incomplete, damaged or late due to computer, network or telecommunications failure based on third party telephone or data networks.
1.10 The contact details you provide will be used to contact you about the Challenge. All communications from you in relation to the Challenge must be in English. If you do not respond within 14 days, or if you withdraw or are disqualified from the Challenge for any reason, another entry may be selected in your place, but there is no requirement or obligation for this to happen.
1.11 Eligible entries will be assessed against the assessment criteria as set out within the Entrant Handbook in order to determine the winners of the Challenge awards. Ofwat’s decision on the selection of winner(s) and the amount of the Challenge awards (including in relation to queries on the assessment process) is final. Ofwat will receive recommendations from the Challenge judging panel which it will take into consideration when making its decisions. However, Ofwat is not bound by the judging panel’s recommendations, and all and any awards are at Ofwat’s sole discretion. For the avoidance of doubt, Ofwat may at its sole discretion decide not to award any funding in relation to the Challenge. Ofwat, may at its sole discretion, provide generalised or individual feedback to entrants or winners.
1.12 In consultation with Nesta, Ofwat may vary the form or substance of the Challenge (including deadlines and event dates) as it deems appropriate in the circumstances to ensure the Challenge objectives, as set out within the Entrant Handbook, are achieved. Ofwat may suspend or withdraw the Challenge if it considers that the Challenge will no longer achieve its objectives.
1.13 Nesta, in consultation with Ofwat, reserves the right to vary these terms and conditions at any time. Variations will take effect from the date they are posted on the Challenge website so please check regularly to see the current version.
1.14. For the purposes of this clause:
1.14.1 “Nesta Group” shall mean in relation to Nesta;
1.14.2 “WEC Delivery Partner” shall mean partners selected by Ofwat to assist with the delivery of the Water Efficiency Campaign.
2.1 The payment of any funds awarded through the Challenge shall be settled in accordance with an agreed settlement mechanism. Neither Nesta, Ofwat nor any of their respective partners in the Challenge shall have any responsibility or liability to anyone, however, arising for the non-payment or delay in payment of any funds awarded through the Challenge.
2.2 Funding will be awarded in pounds sterling and the recipient is responsible for payment of tax and other charges.
2.3 If you are selected as a winner of the Challenge, you will be required to enter into a Challenge award agreement before funds will be awarded. Any funds awarded by the Challenge must only be used to fund the project described in your entry. Such usage must comply with the terms of the Challenge award agreement and must promote the objectives of the Challenge as described on the Challenge website. You must comply with all reasonable monitoring requirements specified by Ofwat, either directly or in conjunction with Nesta, to verify the proper use of such funds, and you consent to the sharing of all monitoring information between Nesta and Ofwat and with any third party Ofwat or Nesta (with the approval of Ofwat) may in future appoint in respect of the monitoring of the Challenge.
2.4 Nesta and Ofwat reserves the right to include terms within the Challenge award agreement which may impose additional conditions on the release of funds during the course of the project if either Nesta or Ofwat, in their sole opinion, form the view that (i) the Challenge has not resulted or will not result in sufficient public benefit in line with Nesta’s charitable objects or the objectives of the Challenge and/or (ii) if such conditions are required or are appropriate according to Ofwat’s discretion in light of other legal or regulatory requirements.
2.5 If you fail to comply with any of the provisions of a Challenge award agreement, Ofwat reserves the right to refuse your entry to future competitions at its own discretion.
3.1 To participate in the Challenge, you must:
3.2 You must:
3.3 Ofwat, in consultation with Nesta, reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify you from the Challenge if you or your partners do not comply with these terms and conditions, if you or your partners behave in a way which is misleading, disruptive, inappropriate or potentially dangerous, if you or your partners fail to participate fully or do anything to damage the reputation of Nesta, Ofwat or Nesta’s partners. Ofwat, in consultation with Nesta, reserves the right to require repayment of any funding awarded to you and/or your partners through the Challenge if you and/or your partners fail to comply with these terms and conditions and/or the terms of any Challenge award agreement and/or the terms of the Settlement Agreement.
4.1 Neither Ofwat, Nesta, or any of its delivery partners will obtain ownership of any intellectual property rights in your entry to the Challenge.
5.1 Please see Nesta’s Challenge Privacy Policy and Ofwat’s Challenge Privacy Notice for information about how we will use personal information obtained for the purposes of participating in the Challenge.
6.1 Ofwat, Nesta and Nesta’s partners may carry out publicity and promotion for the Challenge and publish research and evaluation in relation to the Challenge. You agree, and you confirm that your partners agree, to the use of each of your organisation names and a summary of your proposal in promotion and publications in any media and online and to participate in any other publicity reasonably required by Nesta or Ofwat in connection with the Challenge. Before publication, any concerns you have about the confidentiality of your entry will be considered. You should specifically draw any such concerns to the attention of Nesta within the terms of your entry. Nesta may ask you and your partners to support and/or participate in promotional activities related to the Challenge on reasonable notice.
6.2 Any public statements made by you or your partners in relation to the Challenge must acknowledge the support of Ofwat, Nesta and their partners and must be approved in advance by Nesta, in consultation with Ofwat. For the avoidance of doubt, you and your partners will not announce Ofwat’s decision on the outcome of your Challenge entry without the prior written approval of Nesta, in consultation with Ofwat.
6.3 In this clause “FOIA” means the Freedom of Information Act 2000 together with any guidance and/or codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner or relevant Crown body in relation to such legislation; and “EIR” means the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. You and your partners acknowledge that Ofwat is subject to the requirements of the FOIA and the EIR and may be required under the FOIA and the EIR to disclose information concerning you, your partners, your project and participation in the Challenge (including commercially sensitive information) without consulting or obtaining your (and/or your partners) prior consent. In these circumstances Ofwat shall, in accordance with any relevant guidance issued under the FOIA, take reasonable steps, where appropriate, to give you and/ or your partners’ advance notice, or failing that, to draw the disclosure to you and/or your partners’ attention after any such disclosure. Ofwat shall be responsible for determining in its absolute discretion whether any information is exempt from disclosure in accordance with the FOIA and/or the EIR.
7.1 To the extent permitted by applicable law, Nesta and Ofwat exclude all liability for any direct or indirect loss or liability, costs, claims, taxes, charges or expenses arising from your participation in the Challenge or your reliance on statements made or advice given by Ofwat, Nesta or Nesta’s partners. If you submit any materials or items as part of your entry to the Challenge, this is at your own risk. Neither Nesta nor Ofwat give any undertakings to keep safely, maintain or return any materials or items.
7.2 Without prejudice to Clause 7.1, each of Nesta and Ofwat’s maximum liability to you in connection with the Challenge (if any) is limited to £500. Nothing in these terms and conditions excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or fraudulent misrepresentation.
8.1 These terms and conditions shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and you hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
