A WATER supply company has been awarded more than £300,000 for its initiatives which seek to improve the efficiency and resilience of its water supplies.

Affinity Water, which serves the Tendring district, received the money as part of a new challenge which sought to push key players in the water industry to collaborate on environmental fronts.

Ofwat, the water services regulation authority, conjured up the Innovation in Water challenge to try and encourage this collaboration – with £200m available in a fund.

And Affinity Water’s two winning schemes were awarded the money after collaborating with other companies, UK universities and Government agencies.

Its Seagrass Seeds of Recovery initiative was awarded £249,791 and it will look to explore innovative solutions which will contribute to tackling the global challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

It will use nature-based solutions to restore seagrass and improve estuaries and coastal waters by increasing biodiversity and absorbing carbon and nitrogen emissions.

The project, it is hoped, will help Affinity Water and other companies in the sector to achieve net zero operational carbon emissions by 2030.

The second initiative, Smarter Tanks, was awarded £94,500, and will develop a business model canvas to harness real-time monitoring and control solutions for existing water tanks and towers.

This will help to improve the efficiency when water is needed most, such as during dry spells or droughts.

It looks to unlock hidden gems by making the most use of existing water storage assets in a new way in order to build network resilience and pave the way for the industry to further explore new solutions.

Affinity Water will also contribute to the two projects from its own funds, pledging more than £40,000.