Drought resilience through innovation
Castle Water
The UK's largest independent business water supplier & the only water retailer that will give you an instant online.
According to the National Infrastructure Commission, new water supplies equivalent to the water consumed by over nine million people will be needed by the mid 2030s. Water companies are proposing large regional projects to increase water supplies, supported by regulators, but there is a need for more flexible, local options too.
Last year, Castle Water went into partnership with RWE Renewables, Bristol Water, the University West of England, and water specialist Binnies. We launched a pilot scheme which aims to provide more flexible local water supplies, improve drought resilience, and incentivise business customers to save water. And we're delighted that the scheme won Ofwat’s inaugural Water Breakthrough Challenge for Innovation.
A sustainable solution that could reinvent the water market
Our drought resilience initiative is developing a pilot plant to explore more localised options for water supply. Distributed water schemes like this have the potential to alleviate water shortages during periods of drought, reacting more quickly to rapid changes in demand while greatly reducing the carbon emissions required to pump water from one region to another. Household and retail water customers also stand to benefit, with decreased infrastructure and transport costs and additional competition potentially driving down bills.
As part of the project, we are investigating whether land owned by electricity firm RWE at Didcot power station can be used to supply treated water to us. Bristol Water will be using its extensive knowledge of water treatment to help aid and manage the process. If successful, this will be the first-time public water has been provided outside land owned by water companies.
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The funding has been provided as part of Ofwat’s ￡36 million Water Innovation Challenge. This is the first of a series of Ofwat competitions to explore new projects with the potential to deliver long-lasting benefits for customers, society and the environment through innovative thinking.
The Water Breakthrough Challenge seeks solutions to the difficulties facing water and wastewater services today, such as achieving Net Zero, reducing leakage, and protecting natural ecosystems.
John Reynolds, CEO of Castle Water, said, “This could reinvent the retail and wholesale market as we know it today, fit with our low carbon future and provide much-needed incentives for a step change in business water efficiency.”