Key Features
The water sector in England and Wales is at risk of falling short of its long-term goals for water efficiency. The Water Efficiency Lab (WEL) is a new challenge-led competition to attract the most innovative solutions to specific water efficiency challenges and unlock progress on water efficient technology, processes and approaches.
Programme: Ofwat
Award: Share of up to £5 million
Opens: 25th Nov 2025
Closes: 10th Mar 2026
The water sector in England and Wales is at risk of falling short of its long-term goals for water efficiency. The Water Efficiency Lab (WEL) is a new challenge-led competition to attract the most innovative solutions to specific water efficiency challenges and unlock progress on water efficient technology, processes and approaches.
England and Wales face an urgent water shortfall, with an estimate deficit of nearly 5 billion litres per day in England by 2050*. To meet this deficit, the Environment Agency is mandating a strategic goal that almost two-thirds of the required capacity must come from reductions in demand.
Demand reduction is being addressed through multiple, simultaneous approaches, for example, targeted interventions by water companies, the rollout of smart water meters, and forthcoming policies.
While the sector drives these systemic changes, meeting the national challenge requires everyone, including households and businesses, to engage in saving water.
This is why the theme for WEL 1 is Actionable Insights – using data to inform customers and change behaviours. It’s crucial that customers are empowered to act, and the first step is providing the clear, intuitive understanding they need to engage fully.
Currently, customers often lack the granular, timely data and tailored insights they need to truly understand their specific usage patterns. This prevents them from easily identifying where water is being used or wasted, and it limits their ability to take meaningful action to reduce overall consumption.
WEL 1 is calling on innovators to develop innovative solutions which deliver tailored water usage insights that drive a reduction in water consumption for households and/or businesses in England and Wales.
The first round of the WEL will be a single-stage competition, with a single stage of assessment and successful entries selected and awarded upfront.
The entry period will be 3.5 months, launching on 25 November 2025 and closing for entries on 10 March 2026.
The winners will be announced in mid-June 2026.
The challenge is open to innovators, including, for example, water companies (both wholesalers and retailers), behavioural science firms, tech companies, software developers, hardware manufacturers, consultancies, non-profit organisations and universities.
Key eligibility factors:
Detailed information about who can enter will be published on 25 November 2025.
The total funding available for the first round of the WEL is up to £5 million.
The actual amount awarded will depend on the entries received and the quantity, quality and amounts requested by individual projects.
Individual entries will be able to request between £150,000 and £1.5 million, with exceptions possible for projects requesting less than the lower limit but still able to meet the challenge statement and criteria (e.g. digital-led solutions).
More information will be published on 25 November 2025.
Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.
Call 
Back
