Parliamentary reception and exhibition, House of Lords

The All Party Parliamentary Water Group (APPWG) is bringing together three British companies in a parliamentary exhibition that have developed new and innovative technologies to prevent, identify and fix leaking water pipes. These technologies will have the potential to save huge amounts of water and make disruption caused by the digging up of roads a thing of the past.

Showcasing their new technologies to Professor Martin Cave and parliamentarians will be i2O, a start-up company based at Southampton University Science Park, which has successfully developed technology to significantly reduce leaks within water pipes. The new technology has already reduced leakage by up to 25% in trials with Severn Trent Water, South Staffs Water and Portsmouth Water. Salamander group, a company based in Manchester, has developed a technology called Hydraclam to continuously monitor water quality and provide other relevant data about the state of the water supply network. Yorkshire Water will be exhibiting new Platelet® technology which can fix pipes from the inside without the need to dig up roads and disrupt customer supplies.

Earlier this year the APPWG identified the need for further encouragement of innovation within the sector to meet the pressing challenges of climate change while improving services for customers. Similarly the Government is due to publish the interim findings of Professor Martin Cave’s Review looking at how to encourage further innovation within the water sector.

As part of the event the APPWG will therefore be highlighting to parliamentarians the many challenges still faced by companies in successfully innovating new products within the water sector. In partnership with i2O, Salamander and Yorkshire Water, the APPWG will therefore call for:

An extension to the current five year payback period for new capital investment, which would make it more feasible for water · companies to invest in and introduce new and innovative technologies · Changes to the current regulatory system to ensure that environmentally sustainable objectives are given equal priority to economic objectives, which would provide further incentives to invest in new innovative technologies · The development and encouragement of a market in which new technologies can develop, increase funding, give greater support for companies developing new technologies and thereby widen accessibility to new innovations.

Vice Chairman of the APPWG and the host of the exhibition Lord Selborne said:

'In the current economic climate, it is now more important than ever that we look to encourage and nurture the development of new technologies for the water sector. Companies involved in this work will not only play an important role in combating climate change but also in providing jobs, growth and prosperity here in the UK in the future.’

In a joint statement, Adam Kingdon, Managing Director of i2O, Dr Stephen Boult, Managing Director of Salamander, and Richard Flint, Yorkshire Water’s Chief Operating Officer, said:

'We all have developed and invested in new innovative technologies despite significant challenges and we are keen to ensure that customers receive the full benefits of these new technologies. These products will make a real difference to the service provided for water customers.’

'We are committed to working with Government and regulators in ensuring that we have a system in place which can break down the barriers to innovation in the water sector. It is important that Britain remains a world leader in the development of new technology in the sector.’