Water Innovation Implementation Programme

Funding Amount

The Water Innovation Implementation Programme is designed to help move innovations from successful trials into implementation at scale across England and Wales. The programme is being run as a trial to understand what best supports innovation implementation at scale and will run to 2030.

The programme will initially invest up to £40 million across two streams of activity:

• Early Adopter & Fast Followers

• Implementation Enablers

Early Adopter & Fast Followers

• Funding amount per project/application: Applicants can request £100,000 to £1 million in 50:50 match-funding to implement a proven innovation.

• Maximum total match-funding per innovation: £5 million in total match-funding per innovation across an Early Adopter and cohort of Fast Followers.

Implementation Enablers

• Stream funding pool: Funding is flexible and needs-based, drawn from up to £10 million available for the stream.

Eligible Applicants

Early Adopter & Fast Followers

The lead entrant must be an eligible water company in England and Wales, including:

• Water and wastewater companies

• Water-only companies

• New appointees

• Infrastructure Provider Project Licensees

Implementation Enablers

Activities funded through this stream may be led by different types of organisations, including:

• Water companies

• Suppliers

• Academics

• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

• Other sectors

Eligible Activities

The programme is designed to support implementation of innovations at scale and address barriers to implementation across the water sector in England and Wales. The programme is intended to:

• Support water companies to implement proven innovations at scale

• Address cross-cutting barriers to innovation, such as:

• Data

• Skills

• Processes

• Culture

• Enable Early Adopter and Fast Follower water companies so that customers, communities and the environment get the benefits of innovation sooner

Early Adopter & Fast Followers supports projects to implement a proven innovation. Implementation Enablers supports activities aimed at solving shared barriers to implementation across the sector.

Program Deadline

The stream will run until 2030, with a formal review of the trial phase by 31 March 2027.