Future Water Award Finalists 2026

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The Awards, in a way, represented what 40 years of Future Water looks like. It is a place where a leakage specialist, an innovator with a pitch, a researcher on a river and a rower with a water-quality kit can all belong to the same conversation.

CEO Paul Horton started the awards with this reflection, alongside recognising just some of the partners who supported the Association's Journey. AVK UK, a founding member, has been with Future Water for its entire lifetime and were partners of the evening, along with the sponsors behind each award: Murray McIntosh, Hydrosave, WRc, and ACO.

The evening also marked a new chapter in the Future Water story. After two years of working together, SMS (formerly Horizon Water Infrastructure) has become Future Water's Smart Infrastructure Partner. Simon Bryant took the stage to share what the partnership means to them, a reminder that the sector's future will be built by organisations willing to work side by side.

400 innovations

Water Dragons - in partnership with Hydrosave and WRc - started the awards announcements. Over 18 years, more than 400 innovations have pitched to the water companies, contractors and investors who can help them grow, making it a launchpad for some of the sector's breakthroughs.

Highly Commended:

Daphne Water Solutions whose ambition is clean water for all by introducing a Daphnia (water flea) to wastewater to act as nature's hoover.

BioLargo with their Advanced Oxidation System (AOS) that supports the removal of: Naphthenic acids; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; BTEX compounds; Dissolved metals; Viruses; Protozoa; PFOAs; Residual prescription and OTC drugs.

Winner:

The overall winner was Groundbreaker Systems for their NRv2 LoFlo for regulating flow and preventing backflow in properties with water meters.

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Looking to the future of the sector

Some of the evening's most encouraging moments came from the people just starting out. Future Water's Emerging Talent network, chaired by Abby Stern of Hydrosave, exists so that younger professionals do not just attend the conversation but shape it. Abby did exactly that when she stood up to speak at our Leakage Conference.

The network is supported in partnership with Murray McIntosh, and Brad Haworth from the company, was on hand to present the award.

Highly Commended:

Harriet Dingle of WRc, who brought the water and data-centre sectors together to examine how much water our digital world uses

Eleanor Pendle of Waterscan, a Geography graduate who arrived in water almost by accident and is now helping organisations see their water use as part of their resilience.

Winner:

Tanisha Bisla of Anglian Water. In 3 years she has championed diversity and inclusion, led a smart systems project with a team of 15 early-career colleagues, and won a debate at the UK Water Partnership Summit on river water quality.

The ones who lift others up

Sector progress is often made by people who make others better. The People Award, presented in partnership with ACO and David Smoker, recognised exactly that.

Highly Commended:

Eoghan Kilroy of Wessex Water was Highly Commended for mentoring colleagues through chartership and making sure early-career voices are heard.

Dave Miller of Cleaner Seas Group was recognised for more than 20 years of working across government, industry and academia against microplastic pollution, including helping establish the world's first microfibre recycling centre.

Winner:

James Chapman of Xylem, was nominated twice by two different people, and both described the same thing. He makes water quality and river health understandable for everyone, from industry experts to citizen scientists. He once gave up a day on the Thames to help a community map their stretch of river, and kept helping afterwards by email and phone.

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Above and Beyond

The Above and Beyond Award celebrated the people who go out of their way make remarkable things happen.

Highly Commended:

Dr Neil Sewell of SDS Infrastructure was Highly Commended for a reputation built on technical excellence and generosity with his time.  

Winner:

Elsa Germain of Arup, was central to the UK Water Partnership's response to the Cunliffe Review, gathering government, regulators, water companies, academia and consultancies and turning conversations into action.

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A lifetime of lifting people up

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AVK's Rick Bradbury-Jones presented the Lifetime Award and reflected on what 40 years of partnership with Future Water means. AVK UK marked its own 40th anniversary last year, and his point was clear: no single organisation can solve the sector's challenges alone.

The award went to Stuart Mobbs. Stuart began his career in the 1980s, grew a specialist leakage business into one of the UK's largest, and helped detect hundreds of thousands of leaks. His greatest legacy, though, is the people he mentored, from trainees and apprentices to senior managers. Stuart's legacy lives on through the people he's supported throughout his career.

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The Future Water Award

The Future Water Award is deliberately different. It goes to people and organisations outside the traditional edges of the sector who make us think differently about water.

Winners:

Team Nautilus who rowed 2,000 miles around the UK coast earlier this year while collecting water quality data. Not only did they collect vital information about micropollutants, temperature, salinity, acoustics, but they also picked up Guinness World Records for: fastest unsupported row around the British mainland by a mixed crew of six as well as youngest woman to row around the British Mainland.

The Environment Agency's Beaver Reintroduction programme, accepted by Sam Nicholson, was recognised for its work with a hardworking team he simply calls his colleagues: beavers. They slow down the flow of water and help to store it, reconnect rivers with floodplains and build resilience against flood and drought. Bringing them back means working with communities, farmers and infrastructure owners, which makes it collaboration in its most literal form, between people and with nature.

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What 40 years teaches you

Nobody in that room got there alone. The winners were nominated, mentored, backed by sponsors, judged by peers and supported by colleagues. The sponsors, partners and members who filled the room are why the last 40 years have been possible, and they will shape the next 40.

Congratulations to every finalist, and thank you to everyone who nominated, judged, sponsored or simply showed up. Here's to the next chapter, and to writing it together.

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