Ofwat backs hydrogen from sewage trial

Nine projects have been awarded funding from Ofwat’s breakthrough challenge, which aims to support the health of England’s rivers and fresh water as well as meet the UK's climate challenge. In order to qualify for funding the schemes would need to deliver “wide scale, transformational change to benefit customers, society and the environment”.

Ofwat awarded £9M to projects that will tackle the health of rivers and waterways and building resilience to climate change. A further £12.8M has been awarded to projects that will target the need to drastically reduce the emission of CO2, and £14.2M has been awarded to projects that aim to resolve challenges facing communities and vulnerable water users, as well as reduce leakages to benefit customers and slash bills.

Individual projects include £3.5M awarded to Anglian Water in a partnership with the University of East Anglia, Brunel University, Cranfield University and Element Energy for plans which will see hydrogen produced as part of the sewage treatment process, with the project aiming to reduce the energy used for water treatment by up to 85% as well as reduce emissions.

According to Ofwat the water industry consumes between 2 and 3% of electricity produced in the UK – equivalent to 3.8-5.7M.t of oil annually – with just over half of this (55%) linked to the processing of wastewater.

£6.4M has been awarded to Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative (CaSTCo) for a project which will "revolutionise the way crucial data about England and Wales’ water environment is shared". It will do this through low-cost sensors, engagement with citizen scientists, and the development of a new national framework for how data is managed, with a particular focus on the health of the nation’s rivers.

Affinity Water has been awarded £2.9M for a project to minimise water demand and offset water consumption with new technologies from development sites to ensure the total water use in the community remains the same as it was before new homes were built.

Ofwat senior director John Russell said: “From Airbus and Microsoft to ZSL and the River Trust, the water breakthrough challenge has led to the formation of exciting partnerships with water companies to improve services for customers and improve the environmental footprint of the sector.

"Each of the winners will contribute to the resilience, sustainability and effectiveness of the water sector in the years to come for the benefit of customers across the country. Thank you to the independent judging panel for its challenge and insight in recommending these impressive winners.”

New innovation challenges will be announced through to 2025, with a further £35m available for the next wave of innovative water sector initiatives, which opens for entries on October 11.

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