UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR), the trusted research organisation at the centre of the UK and Irish Water Industries, has confirmed the first batch of projects for its 2022 / 23 research programme – and is seeking expressions of interest to deliver it.
Between December and January, our members voted to decide which projects they want us to deliver in the coming months. The 13 projects selected fall under five of our Big Questions (the biggest challenges the water sector faces), and three broad topics. These projects have the potential to deliver over £1 million of benefits to the industry and its customers.
Projects under our Wastewater Big Questions will help improve the accuracy of sewer modelling, maximise sewer capacity and explore further options for partial treatment of storm discharges.
· WW1245 – Understanding the long-term costs and wider benefits of surface water removal and SuDS
· WW1246 – Treatment options for storm overflows
· WW1247 – Quantifying, managing, and communicating the differences in storm overflow spill data between EDM outputs and hydraulic model predictions
· SW1215 – Modelling sewer inlet capacity restrictions
· SW1216 – Learning and recommendations from customer behaviour change campaigns
Projects under our Zero Leakage and Zero Interruptions Big Questions will help companies find and fix leaks quicker, protect the resilience of new water mains and better identify assets at risk of interrupting supplies.
· L1211 – Assessing the levels of leakage on new polyethylene networks
· L1212 – Update on non-acoustic leak detection and location
· WM1229 – Identifying the root causes of failures that lead to interruptions
Projects under our Carbon and Zero Waste Big Questions will seek to better understand emissions from wastewater operations, maximise the potential for carbon sequestration and support the transition away from fossil fuels.
· CL1193 – Air pollutant emission across wastewater operations
· CL1194 – Biosolids to land – carbon emissions and carbon capture
· CL1196 – Integrating and producing hydrogen
We are seeking expressions of interest from expert partners or consortiums able to deliver this valuable research. Expressions of interest are open until 8th April 2022.
We’re also looking for expert partners from beyond the water sector to deliver vital research to enhance diversity, equality and inclusion in the water industry.
Water companies provide essential services in every community but are not always fully representative of the communities they serve. We want to understand how under-represented groups perceive the water industry, and any barriers they feel exist to a career in the sector. We also want to understand what our ambitions should be in this space and the practical steps we can take to achieve them.
Steve Kaye, UKWIR CEO, said “I’m really excited to share the first part of our 2022/23 research programme and invite expressions of interest from those with the skills, insight and expertise to help shape the future of the water industry.
Our research programme goes from strength to strength, and outputs from this work will support the UK and Irish water sectors deliver better services, improve their resilience and enable the essential transition to net zero operational carbon emissions. We’re hoping for expressions of interest from partners new and old, of all sizes. Limited diversity in thought means we miss out on the new, innovative ideas we need to meet the big challenges we face.
Expressions of Interest are open until 8th April. For more information, and to submit an Expression of Interest, visit ukwir.org.
