Members of UKWIR have decided on the next round of research priorities for the organisation and are inviting expressions of interest (EoI) from expert partners and consortiums.
UKWIR is responsible for facilitating the shaping of the water industry’s research agenda, developing the research programmes, procuring and managing the research and disseminating the findings.
Between December 2022 and January 2023, the organisation’s members, comprising the water companies of the UK and Ireland, voted to decide which projects they want the organisation to deliver in the coming months. The nine projects selected fall under four of UKWIR’s Big Questions – which are focussed on tackling the biggest challenges facing the water sector.
They include projects related to carbon reduction, drinking water compliance, wastewater services and pipe performance. UKWIR is now seeking EoI from parties able to deliver this valuable research, including collaborations between utilities, consultancies, contractors and technology companies.
Expressions of interest are open until Thursday 23 March 2023.
Projects related to carbon
EoI are now open on the following projects related to Big Question 10 – How do we remove more carbon than we emit by 2050?
· Greenhouse gas (GHG) estimation and reporting tools for 2024
· Wastewater treatment works process emissions: optimisation of current processes to reduce GHG emissions
· Nature-based solutions and their carbon footprint
· Supporting whole-life carbon reduction: practices, evidence base and data
Primary outcomes from these projects will include:
· Cross-cutting: low carbon, sustainable water cycle management
· Process emissions: minimised emissions through prevention, optimisation or capture
· Investment and procurement: minimised emissions in materials, consumables, products and services
· Credible offsets
The GHG estimation and reporting tools for 2024 project will provide an updated carbon accounting workbook (CAW), to be used for annual accounting in the fiscal year 2023-24. In addition, a parallel but separate calculation tool will be developed so water companies can report to Ofwat against their common performance commitment for operational GHG emissions in AMP8 – the regulatory asset management plan for 2020-25.
This is a new performance commitment and does not yet have a finalised scope or agreed calculation, but will need a common methodology and supporting tool to ensure undemanding and consistent reporting is possible.
Drinking water compliance
EOI are also open on the following projects related to Big Question 4 – How do we achieve 100% compliance with drinking water standards (at point of use) by 2050?
· Horizon scan – update of current knowledge of threats and mitigations
· Efficient algae removal during the water treatment process
Primary outcomes from these projects will include an appropriate balance of risks for substances of concern, assessment of the public health impact and necessary mitigations, as well as ensuring customers are satisfied with their drinking water.
Wastewater services
Three projects relating to wastewater services map to UKWIR’s Big Questions 5 and 6 and EoIs are now open.
Big Question 5 – How will we deliver an environmentally sustainable wastewater service that meets customer and regulator expectations by 2050?
· Source and pathway control of non-sanitary pollutants
· Alternative permitting approaches
Big Question 6 – How do we achieve zero uncontrolled discharges from sewers by 2050?
· Industry alignment on storm overflow data
Primary outcomes from these projects will include: monitoring sewers to enable proactive intervention and sufficient resources for incidents, achieving net positive natural capital, net zero carbon and minimal waste, and providing an efficient service.
Pipe performance
UKWIR has also issued a call for expressions of interest for the development of a Pipe Asset Performance Register. The aim of this project is to build a new database to replace the current UKWIR National Failure Database (NFD), which holds attribute and failure data for both water mains and sewers.\
The NFD remains a valuable resource for UK and Irish water industries as it contains up to 30 years of asset failure data, which is invaluable to water companies for asset planning and forecasting. The primary objective of this project is to create a new user-friendly database to replace the existing NFD.
EoIs for this project must be submitted by Friday 10 March.
For detailed information each project, visit ukwir.org
