8power Wins Share Of £2.8M For Cutting-Edge Water Sector Innovation

• 8power’s ‘Fit & Forget’ condition monitoring system has formed part of a winning bid to Ofwat’s £36 million Water Innovation Challenge.
• ‘Fit & Forget’ is part of the winning Artificial Intelligence of Things Enabling Autonomous Waste Catchments project which seeks to build artificial intelligence into connected waste assets, creating a blueprint for autonomous waste catchments that can be scaled up across the UK.
• ‘Fit & Forget’ captures real time condition monitoring data and analytics that lets industrial clients see how their assets are performing at all times, typically across thousands of remote assets including pumps, motors and gearboxes. 8power are leaders in condition monitoring, responsible for bringing asset health into AI decision making.
• Partners in the project include 8power, Severn Trent Water, Southern Water, South West Water, BT, Microsoft, Rockwell, Exeter University and Blackburn Starling.
• The Water Breakthrough Challenge tackles the biggest challenges facing water and wastewater services, including net zero, reducing leakage, protecting natural ecosystems, and using open data to deliver value to customers, society, and the environment.

​8power, as part of a coalition of partners lead by Severn Trent Water, have won £2.8M in Ofwat’s first Water Breakthrough Challenge to build artificial intelligence into connected waste assets, creating a blueprint for autonomous waste catchments that can be scaled up across the UK.

A key part of the bid, 8power’s ‘Fit & Forget’ condition monitoring system captures real time condition monitoring data and analytics that lets industrial clients see how their assets are performing at all times, typically across thousands of remote assets including pumps, motors and gearboxes.

AI has the potential to transform the way the water sector delivers for customers, society and the environment. This project will combine emerging technologies for comprehensive testing, creating a shared and proven blueprint that will allow water companies to:

• Minimise the risk of flooding and pollutions in real time through intelligent localised autonomous control of the catchment.
• Minimise the risk of asset failure by integrating prescriptive, condition-based maintenance of sewage pumping stations and rising mains.
• Reduce energy consumption and process emissions, and maximise resource recovery, by maintaining steady-state conditions to the sewage treatment works.
• Protect the system from cyber threats and malicious attacks (a key barrier to the adoption of AI solutions) by developing a security wrapper for connected Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) devices.

Paul Egan, CEO of 8power said: “This collaborative project is an excellent opportunity for 8power to support the climate crisis and generate the attention it needs. The best way to solve the wastewater challenges of the future is with the help of AI, machine learning and smart sensors.

Our innovative ‘Fit & Forget’ condition monitoring strengthens our commitment to the water industry by transforming the way the water sector delivers for our customers, society and the environment”.

Entries to the Water Breakthrough Challenge were encouraged from water companies in England and Wales in partnerships with organisations in and outside the water sector, including universities and institutes, retailers, start-ups, or small businesses in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, health, or financial services.

John Russell, Senior Director at Ofwat said: “From Airbus and Microsoft to the Zoological Society of London and the River Trust, the Water Breakthrough Challenge has led to the formation of exciting partnerships with water companies to improve services for customers and improve the environmental footprint of the sector. Each of the winners contribute to the resilience, sustainability and effectiveness of the water sector in the years to come for the benefit of customers across the country. Thank you to the independent judging panel for its challenge and insight in recommending these impressive winners.”

Holly Jamieson, New Frontiers Director, Nesta Challenges said: “The cross-sectoral collaborations established by water companies, academia, engineering and technology sectors in response to the Water Breakthrough Challenge are hugely impressive. From turning sewage into a valuable natural resource to the smart use of open data to reduce negative environmental impacts and reduce costs for water customers, today’s funding is an exciting step for the water industry in the UK. I congratulate all of the winners and look forward to seeing them deliver their projects in the months and years to come.”

The Water Breakthrough Challenge contributes to economic water regulator Ofwat’s goal of creating an innovative and collaborative water sector that can meet the needs of customers, society, and the environment into the future. The Challenge funds initiatives that water companies would otherwise be unable to invest in or explore.

A second Water Breakthrough Challenge will open for entries on 11 October 2021 to provide funding for further innovative water sector initiatives. Up to £35 million will be available to be shared between entries that deliver benefits for water customers, society and the environment.

Arlene Good, Innovation and Infrastructure Adviser, Arup said: “The winning entries represent an exciting spectrum of innovative initiatives and we look forward to seeing the outcomes and benefits of those initiatives come to fruition. A further £35 million will be available for the next wave of innovative water sector initiatives through the second Breakthrough Water Challenge, opening on 11 October. We’re looking forward to seeing how the water sector continues to step up to the challenge, with more partnerships established to deliver breakthrough solutions that benefit both consumers and the environment.”

New innovation challenges will be announced through to 2025, however Ofwat’s goal is that the Innovation Fund’s impact will be felt well beyond this. To find out more about the winners, and find out how to enter the second Water Breakthrough Challenge from Ofwat, Nesta Challenges and Arup, visit: waterinnovation.challenges.org.

About 8power
8power is a Cambridge, UK based innovative technology company specialising in self-powered wireless sensor solutions for industrial plant applications. We are enabling machine condition monitoring at lower cost and easy installation for water/waste treatment, manufacturing industries and oil and gas industries. The 8power solution is based on ground breaking, patented technology from the University of Cambridge.

About Ofwat’s Innovation Fund
Ofwat has established a £200M Innovation Fund to grow the water sector’s capacity to innovate, enabling it to better meet the evolving needs of customers, society and the environment.

The Water Breakthrough Challenge is run by Ofwat and Nesta Challenges in partnership with Arup and is the second in a series of competitions funded through the Fund following the Innovation in Water Challenge earlier this year.

Entries were encouraged from water companies in England and Wales, alongside partnerships with organisations within and outside the water sector, including universities and institutes, retailers, start-ups, or small businesses in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, health, or financial services.

For more information, visit https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/about-us/our-duties/.

Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge Judges

• Anusha Shah, Director Resilient Cities, Arcadis , BEng, CEng, FICE (Chair)
• Paul Connell, Founder, Open Data Institute Leeds
• Prof Tony Conway, Visiting Professor, Sheffield University and prior Executive Director, United Utilities
• Sharon Darcy, Director, Sustainability First
• Paul O'Callaghan, Founder & CEO, BlueTech Research & Brave Blue World
• Niki Roach, President, The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management , Director and Co-Founder of AxiaOrigin, FCIWEM, CEnv
• Frank Rogalla, Director of Innovation and Technology, Aqualia (Spain)
• Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy, Executive Director, International Water Association

About the Second Water Breakthrough Challenge
A second Water Breakthrough Challenge will open for entries on 11 October 2021 to provide funding for further innovative water sector initiatives. Up to £35M will be available to be shared between entries that deliver benefits for water customers, society and the environment

Water companies in England and Wales, as well as partnerships with organisations in the water sector supply chain and beyond, are encouraged to apply. A total of £5M is available through the ‘Catalyst Stream’ for entries that bid for between £100,000 and £1M. A total of £30M is available through the ‘Transform Stream’ for entries that bid between £1M and £10M.

About Nesta and Nesta Challenges
Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills, and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society. We've spent over 20 years working out the best ways to make change happen through research and experimenting, and we've applied that to our work in innovation policy, health, education, government innovation and the creative economy and arts.

Within Nesta, Nesta Challenges exists to design and run challenge prizes that help solve pressing problems that lack solutions. We shine a spotlight where it matters and incentivise people to solve these issues. We are independent supporters of change to help communities thrive and inspire the best placed, most diverse groups of people around the world to act.

We support the boldest and bravest ideas to become real and seed long term change to advance society and build a better future for everyone. We are part of the innovation foundation, Nesta. We are challengers. We are innovators. We are game changers.

About Arup
Arup is an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists, working across every aspect of today’s built environment. Together we help our clients solve their most complex challenges – turning exciting ideas into tangible reality as we strive to find a better way and shape a better world. With a community of over 1700 water professionals, Arup is leading global thinking across key areas like innovation, resilience, net zero carbon and sustainable water management. For more information, visit https://www.arup.com.