Research to tackle grand challenges for water sector gets £3.9m boost
Release Date 16 October 2015
The University of Reading is taking part in a new £3.9million research project announced today [October 16] to ensure the UK maintains a clean, sustainable water supply for the future. The project will help the UK water sector tackle key challenges, including population growth, ageing infrastructure and climate change.
The project is part of the £21 million ‘Engineering Grand Challenges' funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), announced today by the Science Minister, Jo Johnson.
Named TWENTY 65 (Tailored Water to Ensure sustainability beyond 2065), the project will ensure flexible and adaptive water systems by developing multiple solutions and technologies that can be ‘tailored' to suit specific circumstances. The academic partners - the Universities of Sheffield, Exeter, Manchester and Reading, Newcastle University and Imperial College London - will undertake research across eight technical themes, focusing on demand based technologies, social practices, water energy systems to minimise carbon emissions and the use of robotic autonomous systems for infrastructure inspection and repair.
The project will also create a Hub involving ten water companies, their supply chain and academic researchers to encourage shared idea generation, strategic roadmapping, networking, innovation stimulation and research leadership.
This combination of multi-disciplinary academic research and collaborative work with the UK water sector will enable the TWENTY 65 project team to lead UK and international transformation in the sustainable supply of safe water.
The project is led at Reading by Dr Joanna Clark, from the University's School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science.