Retail water sector market operator MOSL has announced the successful projects from the third round of the Market Improvement Fund (MIF).

For this round, the MIF offered up to £200k from a £1m fund for projects that will benefit the non-household water market, its customers and the environment.

MOSL received 15 applications in total, the highest amount since the fund launched. All applications were reviewed for eligibility and scored by the independent Selection Committee and subsequently approved by the Strategic Panel.

The Strategic Panel awarded £753k in total to seven successful projects. There is currently a eighth bid under additional review. If successful, this article will be updated accordingly.

Markus Lloyd, MOSL’s Head of Market Performance, said:

“We are thrilled with the projects approved for this round of the Market Improvement Fund. The MIF provides a platform for innovators to conduct pilots, undertake research and test potential solutions to problem areas in the market that aim to make it better for customers and the environment. The projects are excellent examples of innovation in the market and we look forward to seeing what they produce.”

We will be producing a MIF Special Feature later this year, featuring interviews with the successful applicants. To keep up to date with progress from any MIF project, please visit the project updates page, sign up to receive MIF emails, or read our monthly Market Focus publication.

The successful awarded projects, which are all subject to legal contracts, are:

Project Concordia

Applicant and sponsor: Wave Utilities

Delivery Partner: InferSens

This project aims to test two hypotheses that:

Manual Legionella monitoring activities account for around 8% of all NHH consumption; and

NHH users can change their behaviour in relation to Legionella risk management and save around 80% of the water dedicated to manual activities through remote flow and temperature sensing technology.

Over a two-year period, Project Concordia will deploy 1,000 remote combined flow/temperature sensors, across a range of customer types, to see if it can harmonise water demand reduction with water safety and the effective management of Legionella risk in non-domestic buildings.

CATRID (Customer Access to Retailer ID)

Applicant and sponsor: MOSL

Delivery Partner: CGI

This project involves building a query engine on the Open Water website that will enable customers to find out the name of their retailer by inputting their postcode or meter serial number.

Revolutionising Water Efficiency in Non-Household Customers: The ISO 46001 Implementation Framework

Applicant: Water Research Centre (WRc)

Sponsor: Waterscan

Delivery Partner: Waterwise

This project focuses on reshaping water efficiency in the non-household market by establishing a water management framework. By delving into the ISO 46001 (the current standard for certifying water efficiency management systems) certification's underutilisation and its potential impact, the project aims to address barriers hindering its adoption and develop a framework to act as a ‘stepping stone’.

Identifying Opportunities to Strengthen Engagement with Non-Household Businesses

Applicant: 20FIFTY Partners

Sponsor: Business Stream and Yorkshire Water

Delivery Partner: 20Fifty Partners

This research project aims to identify opportunities for retailers and wholesalers to strengthen their engagement with non-household customers on the implementation of water stewardship practices. The applied research programme will help participants to understand and reduce their water use, which will help reduce financial cost relating to water and energy. It will also help businesses to help address and mitigate shared water challenges.

An independent trial of Wizso tablets

Applicants: Wizso Limited

Sponsor: Southern Water

Delivery Partner: KR Social Research

An independent product trial of Wizso tablets (a tablet-form neutralising agent that neutralises the colour and smell of urine), which save water by not needing to flush after urinating, in four non household locations to assess product adoption rates, water saved (using sensors from Aguardio as flush counters) and actual behavioural change around toilet flushing.

Ready to Read

Applicant: Sagacity

Sponsor: Clear Business Water

Delivery Partner: Sagacity

Ready to Read aims to unlock insight captured in the CMOS free text fields by harnessing the capabilities of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) natural language processing techniques. An AI solution will convert unstructured free text meter and outreader descriptor data held in CMOS into meaningful and actionable metrics that can be applied by trading parties to identify, prioritise, and resolve meter read and accessibility issues.

Incentivising non-household water saving

Applicant: Waterwise

Sponsor: Wave Utilities

The project will review the options and appetite amongst retailers, wholesalers and water using businesses for an incentive scheme to encourage businesses to fit water efficient products.