Why innovation is so important
Without thinking in new ways, and coming up with new solutions, there is no progress. That’s why innovation is at the heart of all our plans for the future. We must meet stretching, ambitious targets to overcome increasing challenges presented by climate change, our aging infrastructure, and new expectations of us from customers and regulators.
New ideas, new ways of thinking and new technologies are the way forward. We need solutions that have far-reaching, cross-cutting benefits. Solutions that deliver a step change in reducing carbon emissions and environmental improvements, that secure a resilient service, and can be delivered at a fair cost.
Innovation in action
From new ways of repairing pipes, to tracking down leaks, working with university students, using latest treatment technology and more. We’re busy finding solutions to our most pressing issues every day.
Water Net Gain
Water Net Gain is an Ofwat funded project led by South West Water and Westcountry River Trust.
The project is a catchment-scale approach whereby farmers are paid to store water on their land.
Restoring natural sponges, like healthy soils, woodlands and wetlands, can passively contribute water to summer base flows, but the creation of additional, remotely monitored, smart ponds and lakes, can be used to actively release flows during droughts.
Hele Attenuation Tank
Under the Ofwat AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) Project, we're working with digiLab Solutions Ltd to optimise the use of storage at Hele Tank. The intention is to minimise storm overflow volumes at Ilsham Valley Pumping Station, whilst causing no detriment to the existing flood mitigation function of the tank. This is a 3-stage project with the objective to:
- Determine whether the available environment signals could be used to make improved control decisions.
- Demonstrate a machine learning based control agent is able to perform as well as engineering judgement.
- Demonstrate the use of data-driven control rules on a simulation representative of the target catchment.
Areas of focus
We have four areas of focus for future innovation which will support our delivery of Our Plan for Change. If you have an idea, technology, or concept that you know can help us do this, please get in touch using the form below.
1. Water quality & resilience
- Upgrading a third of water treatment works across our regions
- Building new resources – including Cheddar 2 in Bristol
- Creating a water grid to ensure all our strategic reservoirs are connected and we can move resource across the region
- Reducing leakage on our networks to less than 10% and less than 4% on customer properties
2. Storm overflows & pollutions
- Tackling every beach by 2030 – 5 years ahead of target
- Building trust in our bathing water quality with a commitment to a sampling and monitoring programme
- Taking a ’Green First’ principle for tackling storm overflows
- Achieving the lowest in sector pollution levels, with zero 'serious' pollutions
3. Net zero & environmental gains
- Achieving Net Zero by 2030
- Planting 300,000 trees to boost nature recovery and launching our ponds initiative
- Recycling more waste and generating enough energy to power 20,000 homes
- Expanding our award-winning Upstream Thinking catchment management programme to deliver 146,500 hectares by 2030
- Creation of an independent WaterFit environmental advisory board
4. Addressing affordability & delivering for our customers
- Extending our zero water poverty pledge to 2030
- Ensuring fair charging for all our customers
- Accelerating smart metering, helping household customers use 5% less water