Innovation competition launched by Anglian Water

Anglian Water has launched a competition to find innovative ways of restoring water to customers quickly after a pipe-burst.

The two-month long 'Big Water Challenge 2016' is the brainchild of the Water Innovation Network – a partnership between Anglian Water and Opportunity Peterborough – aiming to encourage companies to find innovative ways of maintaining supplies to customers’ homes and restoring water after a burst pipe as quickly as possible.

The participating companies will have six weeks to refine and submit their ideas before the final shortlist is drawn up. The shortlisted entries will get the chance to pitch to a panel of senior Anglian Water staff, and the winning idea will get financial and technical support from the company to make it a reality.

Anglian Water head of networks David Ward said: “We want to explore the way our people, our network and our IT systems work to see how innovation can help make us faster and more efficient – and we’re asking for help.

“We’ve worked in the past with some really forward thinking, innovative companies on technology which has made a big difference to our business.

“So setting them a challenge like this is a great way to inspire and encourage innovation in the water industry whilst finding a solution to a current challenge. It could be an engineering solution, it could be a piece of software or it could be something else entirely – and it doesn’t matter how big or small it is.

“We want to guide companies through the process and support them to hone their ideas. We’re really excited to see what they come up with.”

Companies wishing to participate should register for an event in Peterborough on 6 May, where they will get to quiz experts, explore the difficulties of dealing with supply interruptions and get to grips with the challenge.

Questions about the event should be sent to info@waterinnovation.net

Visit the Big Water Challenge event website here.

This story first appeared on Utility Week.