# Ofwat names judges for its £5m competition to tackle leaks on the customer side

> The second Water Efficiency Lab is targeting leaks inside homes and businesses, estimated at 1–1.5 billion litres a day across England and Wales. Awards range from £150,000 to £1.5m.

Published 3 November 2026 by The Water Wire. Topic: Investment & infrastructure. Canonical: https://waterwire.co.uk/story/ofwat-wel2-customer-side-leakage-judges

Ofwat has appointed seven independent judges for the second Water Efficiency Lab (WEL2), with Niki Roach as chair ([Water Magazine](https://www.watermagazine.co.uk/2026/11/03/ofwat-appoints-judges-for-5m-customer-side-leakage-innovation-competition/)). The £5m competition is looking for ways to prevent, predict, pinpoint or repair leaks within household and non-household properties. That is the part of the leakage problem that sits on the customer's side of the boundary, outside company networks.

> **1–1.5bn litres** — estimated daily loss from leaks in homes and businesses in England and Wales ([source](https://envirotecmagazine.com/2026/08/04/ofwat-launches-5m-innovation-competition-to-tackle-customer-side-water-leaks/))

## What we know

- **Awards:** £150,000 to £1.5m each, from a total pot of up to £5m.
- **Scope:** pipes and fittings, internal plumbing, and external supply pipes within property boundaries.
- **Delivery:** the competition is run by Challenge Works, part of Nesta, with Arup and Isle Utilities. It is funded from Ofwat's £100m Water Efficiency Fund ([Envirotec](https://envirotecmagazine.com/2026/08/04/ofwat-launches-5m-innovation-competition-to-tackle-customer-side-water-leaks/)).
- **Timing:** applications opened on 3 August and closed on 20 October 2026 ([CIBSE Journal](https://www.cibsejournal.com/news/ofwat-doubles-funding-to-tackle-domestic-leaks/)). Winners are expected in April 2027.

Ofwat notes that companies have cut leakage from their own networks by around 40% since the mid-1990s. Without further action, England and Wales could face a shortfall of nearly five billion litres a day by 2055.

## Background

Ofwat's figures put customer-side losses at up to 547 billion litres a year, costing households and businesses an estimated £1bn to £1.6bn a year. The public network loses almost 3 billion litres a day ([Envirotec](https://envirotecmagazine.com/2026/08/04/ofwat-launches-5m-innovation-competition-to-tackle-customer-side-water-leaks/)). At launch, Paul Hickey, managing director of Ofwat's RAPID unit, said a quarter of all water lost to leaks is lost in homes and businesses. The competition ties into the Environment Act target to cut personal public-network use from about 144 litres per person per day to 122 by 2038.

Insurers have a stake too. Escape-of-water claims cost UK insurers £1.25bn in 2024, almost three-quarters of it from household leaks ([CIBSE Journal](https://www.cibsejournal.com/news/ofwat-doubles-funding-to-tackle-domestic-leaks/)).

The first Water Efficiency Lab named seven winners in June 2026. They included Quensus's WIN Initiative, which received £495,000 to fit more than 1,000 sensors across 30 commercial buildings. That project targets the 10% to 30% of commercial water lost to leaks and continuous flow, and Aviva is looking at whether a water management standard could help building owners, including through insurance.

## What we don't know yet

- How many bids WEL2 attracted, and from which sectors.
- How companies would scale winning solutions, given that repairs inside the boundary are normally the owner's responsibility.

## What to watch

- WEL2 winners, expected in April 2027.
- Results from WEL1's commercial-building sensor trials.
- Whether retailers and wholesalers build customer-side leak detection into non-household services.

Customer-side leakage sits outside the network leakage targets companies report against, but it shows up in per-capita consumption and demand forecasts. On Ofwat's figures it is equivalent to a third to a half of network losses. A £5m competition is small against a problem costing more than £1bn a year. Its value lies in finding solutions that can be scaled, for example through smart meters, plumbing standards or insurance.

The obstacle is ownership. Pipes inside the boundary belong to the customer, so even well-proven technology needs someone to pay for and carry out repairs. That is a role for insurers, landlords, retailers and plumbers as much as water companies. The insurance angle that runs through the Lab is worth watching. With escape-of-water claims at £1.25bn a year, insurers have their own reason to fund leak prevention, and could become an important route to market.

## Sources

- [Water Magazine — Ofwat appoints judges for £5m customer-side leakage competition](https://www.watermagazine.co.uk/2026/11/03/ofwat-appoints-judges-for-5m-customer-side-leakage-innovation-competition/)
- [Envirotec — Ofwat launches £5m innovation competition to tackle customer-side water leaks (4 August 2026)](https://envirotecmagazine.com/2026/08/04/ofwat-launches-5m-innovation-competition-to-tackle-customer-side-water-leaks/)
- [CIBSE Journal — Ofwat doubles funding to tackle domestic leaks (6 August 2026)](https://www.cibsejournal.com/news/ofwat-doubles-funding-to-tackle-domestic-leaks/)