Welsh Water has hosted its annual innovation conference looking ahead to the next five years of investment where customers, regulators and the wider industry expect change.
The conference, held at the Swansea.com Stadium, brought together over 200 people who are passionate about innovation, including Welsh Water employees, key industry figures, academic experts and other key stakeholders to look at the challenges faced by the industry.
Representatives from Natural Resources, Ofwat and the Drinking Water Inspectorate set the scene to provide a regulatory perspective on innovation.
Leading academics also presented research findings across a broad range of subjects including climate change, wastewater, and emerging contaminants.
Pete Perry, CEO of Welsh Water, set the scene:
“If there was ever a time to look to do things better, more efficiently, with better environmental credentials, it’s now. The challenge for innovation at Welsh Water is to make things better for customers and the environment, whilst delivering value for money.
“Welsh Water has had innovation at its heart for some time, an example of which is the innovation portal, Dŵr Eka, which allows colleagues who have an idea, product, technology or research proposal that aligns with challenges the company faces to share their ideas with the research and innovation team.”
Welsh Water has been making waves with its innovative projects, and one standout is Storm Harvester. This cutting-edge initiative aims to minimize the environmental impact of assets, particularly storm overflows, which can trigger up to 7,000 alarms a day during stormy conditions. By streamlining alarm data, Storm Harvester empowers teams to zero in on the alarms that need attention, ensuring a more efficient, early and effective response to help reduce environmental impact.
The conference also paid a touching tribute to Tony Harrington, previous Director of Environment at Welsh Water, an environmental champion and pioneering force who played a lead role in getting innovation off the ground in the company and the wider water industry. Tony passed away in December 2024 and his contribution to innovation was further marked with a ‘Tony Harrington Award’, for a poster competition for PhD and MSc students.
