Double Utility Week shortlisting for North West water company

We are proud to announce that we have been shortlisted for two awards in the 2025 Utility Week Awards.

Celebrating innovation and excellence, the annual awards recognise where utilities go above and beyond their regulatory requirements. We are delighted to have been selected as finalists in two categories:

• Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Initiative of the Year Award - Driving change through rainwater innovation
  
  
• Innovation Award - Beyond ALT-P: Taking plant-based coagulants from bench-scale to BAU

Both awards recognise how United Utilities are embracing innovation to help to better protect our environment now and for the future.

Driving change through rainwater innovation

United Utilities ran a £9m programme of 15 schemes across the North West which has enabled public realm, travel corridors, schools and catchments to soak up the rain and use it as a valuable resource to boost biodiversity and social impact.

The schemes ranged from the creation of green travel corridors and spaces in town centres and schools, including tree pit installations, rain gardens and swales, through to restoring woodland and implementing slow the flow techniques upstream in the River Wyre catchment.

In addition to redirecting surface water flows into the green features and local watercourses, the projects introduced additional benefits including biodiversity, recreation, amenity, health, and carbon sequestration.

Head of Rainwater management, Tim Armour, said: “We’re delighted to be shortlisted for the Utility Week’s ESG Award. We’ve worked hard to establish new approaches to increasing challenges, sharing our findings across the industry to help drive change.

“On the success of this programme and in conjunction with our Integrated Water Management approach, we’ve launched a £rainwater management programme, which is the largest in the water industry. By embracing more green solutions, we can not only better manage rainwater to reduce flooding, spills and required wastewater storage, but also provide additional environmental and social benefits that strengthen our communities.”

 Find out more about our Rainwater Management plans

Adopting plant-based phosphorus removal – a UK first

United Utilities led a nationwide project to put alternative methods of phosphorus removal to the test. Backed by Ofwat’s Water Breakthrough Challenge, and in collaboration researchers examined three alternative phosphorus removal methods. A range of different technologies were explored in lab tests and onsite trials to find a more sustainable way of managing phosphorus removal.

Excess phosphorus remains the most common cause of water quality failure in England and Wales, with ever-tightening regulatory targets driving investment in 2025-30. UK water companies spend an average of £39 million a year on metal-based chemicals to remove phosphorus, with demand and prices rising.

United Utilities’ Principal Engineer (Innovation), Callum Grundy, explained the importance of the project saying: “This trial delivered fantastic outcomes, and we are incredibly excited that we are now introducing solutions based on natural coagulants more widely across our region.

“The extensive research means we now understand the capacity for phosphorus removal, the ideal site characteristics and how best to implement them.

 “Innovative approaches such as this support the water sector’s drive to embed more sustainable treatment processes. They help us increase resilience, deliver financial and carbon savings and help maintain compliance, which will ultimately mean a cleaner environment.”

Read more about the alternative phosphorous removal trials.

Collaborative working is pivotal to the success of projects like these. We’d like to thank our partner local authorities who were instrumental in the process.

The winners of the Utility Week Awards will be announced on 2^nd December.