Networks November: Non-Household Water: Open Data, Industrial Demand and Emerging Risks

Draft Agenda

09:30-09:45 | Welcome and scene-setting

·    Frame industrial and non-household water as an underserved sector conversation.

·    Explain the engagement gap across business customers and the implications for water risk.

·    Set the focus for the day: regulation, data, emerging risks and industry action.

09:45-10:30 | Keynote: The scale of the problem

·    Explore water stress, business awareness and the implications for UK and European supply chains.

·    Discuss abstraction licence reductions and the risk of businesses being caught unprepared.

·    Connect water risk to finance, ESG, export support and national water-resource planning.

10:30-11:15 | Session 1: Smart meter data and business demand

·    Examine what smart-meter data reveals about business and non-household consumption.

·    Discuss peak demand, customer engagement and the regulatory barriers to proactive savings.

·    Explore metering-policy gaps, funding constraints and technical issues such as boundary-box signal loss.

11:15-11:30 | Break

·    Refreshments and networking.

·    Informal discussion of business demand and smart-meter data themes.

·    Transition into market structure and open-data content.

11:30-12:15 | Session 2: The non-household market: data, retailers and wholesalers

·    Review open-data and data-sharing activity across wholesalers, retailers and the supply chain.

·    Explore how smart-meter insight can be integrated into market systems and targeted interventions.

·    Discuss missing supplies, unmetered demand, developer oversight and lessons from current pilots.

12:15-13:00 | Session 3: Industrial water risk and business resilience

·    Explore supply-chain water management gaps across sophisticated users and their supplier networks.

·    Discuss international water-risk models, co-investment and nature-based replenishment approaches.

·    Consider industrial monitoring trends and the need for stronger sector organisation.

13:00-13:45 | Lunch

·    Networking and informal discussion.

·    Opportunity to connect market, industry and regulatory perspectives.

·    Reset ahead of emerging-risk and reuse sessions.

13:45-14:15 | Session 4: Emerging industrial demands: data centres, semiconductors and PFAS

·    Assess escalating water demand from data-centre cooling and semiconductor manufacturing.

·    Explore water-quality risks from industrial processes and the need for UK preparedness.

·    Discuss PFAS, legal risk, measurement capabilities and gaps in product disposal planning.

14:15-14:45 | Session 5: Water reuse for industrial and non-potable demand

·    Explore the role of reuse in closing the projected water shortfall beyond efficiency alone.

·    Discuss industrial and commercial case studies for rainwater and stormwater harvesting.

·    Consider governance, accreditation, guidance and reuse-ready building requirements.

14:45-15:00 | Panel: Regulation, policy and what needs to change

·    Identify regulatory changes that could unlock industrial water efficiency.

·    Discuss how to close the awareness gap between large sophisticated users and SMEs.

·    Define what a water-secure industrial business should look like over the next decade.