Today MOSL published its response to the draft Water Innovation Strategy 2050 in the form of an open letter to strategy owners – the 19 water companies who collaborated with Water UK and Arup to develop the strategy for the water industry.
The draft Water Innovation Strategy 2050 seeks to “stimulate transformational change and achieve the best value for customers, the environment and wider society in the long term.” It seeks to do this through increased collaboration and by adopting a holistic, sector-wide approach to mitigating and responding to challenges now, and in the longer-term, such COVID-19, the climate crisis, and the industry’s targets for reaching net zero.
MOSL’s response focuses on the role of the non-household market in supporting innovation and tackling wider sector challenges. We believe that in order for the water sector to benefit from technology and innovation, it is crucial that the non-household market, its participants, as well as business customers are part of exploring and developing tangible solutions.
In response to the draft strategy’s call to action, we ask for:
- MOSL and other market operators (as custodians of data) be considered as key stakeholders in driving data insight to target innovation where it is most needed
- A clearer focus on the non-household market and business water usage to be seen as key drivers for wider water efficiency and consumption targets
- The Market Improvement Fund (as part of change proposal CPM018: ‘Treatment of MPS & OPS charges’) to be considered as a potential fund for innovation
- MOSL to be considered as a facilitator of innovation, to leverage our central position and collective expertise in the market to ensure a holistic and aligned approach to tackling environmental, social and economic challenges across the business and domestic markets.
We fully support the ambitions set out in the draft strategy and have focused our response on the common themes we share with the strategy’s vision principles and themes, and how MOSL can support with key initiatives outlined under the concept of its Centre of Excellence. We also set out the role MOSL can play in water resource management and securing resilience in systems and infrastructure.
We look forward to continuing to engage with the strategy owners – the water companies who operate in the market - as they continue to shape the final strategy and as we work together to drive innovation to deliver the best outcomes for customers. The final strategy is due to be published at the end of this month.
If you have any questions regarding MOSL’s response or would like further information, please email
