Satellites, Robots, and Drones to Share in £42 Million Windfall from Ofwat Innovation Fund

Image Credit: Thames Water

In a sweeping new round of funding, Ofwat has awarded over £42 million to 16 breakthrough projects designed to revolutionize how the UK monitors, manages, and maintains its water infrastructure. The Ofwat Innovation Fund’s Water Breakthrough Challenge initiative is backing frontier technologies—think AI, drones, robotics, and even space-based satellite systems—to tackle everything from leak detection to chemical-free water purification.

Among the headline winners is the Smart Skies, Healthy Waters project, which has secured £6 million to deploy a high-tech ‘lab-in-a-box’ using autonomous drones, mobile robotics, and state-of-the-art sampling tools. The goal? To deliver lab-grade analysis of coastal water quality in near real time, slashing the current three-day testing window to mere minutes. This leap in responsiveness could empower beachgoers with instant water-quality updates, not post-facto advisories.

Meanwhile, Space Eye, another standout project, is set to launch micro-satellites into orbit to deliver continuous imaging of the UK’s vast water pipe network. Backed with £1.3 million, Space Eye will integrate machine learning algorithms to pinpoint surface-level pipe leaks, detect unauthorized water use, and even identify chemical contamination in surface water—all from space. It’s a vision of preventative maintenance on a national scale—faster fixes, fewer service disruptions, and sharper environmental oversight.

Not all innovation is orbital. The SandSCAPE initiative has received £2 million to pilot tank-sized, submersible robots—some up to five metres long—that clean slow sand filtration beds while they remain in operation. Traditionally, these natural filtration systems must be periodically drained and paused to maintain water quality. But with SandSCAPE’s underwater cleaners, the process becomes seamless—and entirely chemical-free.

Elsewhere, Anglian Water spearheads TORCH, a project awarded £1 million to explore how AI can recover heat from sewers and wastewater systems. The captured energy would then feed district heating networks, slashing carbon emissions, trimming costs, and extending the useful life of sewer infrastructure.

From underwater robots scrubbing sand to satellites scanning the stratosphere, this year's Water Breakthrough Challenge showcases a radically reimagined water sector defined by cross-sector collaboration, AI-powered precision, and a deep commitment to sustainability.

“Water underpins our society and economy, and the water sector faces a range of challenges requiring urgent solutions,” said David Black, CEO of Ofwat.

“The level of ambition of this year’s winners – including deploying robots, drones, satellites, and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence – is remarkable. The 16 winning projects involve 15 water companies working with 70 partners – from world-class universities to engineering powerhouses, environmental charities, and even NASA. 

“We are supporting these projects to prove their impact so that they can be scaled, not only here in England and Wales, but exported around the world as a driver of economic growth”.