UKCRIC - Urban Water Facilities at Cranfield

Water infrastructure is vital to human health, wellbeing and the economy, delivering a clean and secure water supply, reducing the risks of flooding and ensuring sanitary conditions. Water supply and sanitation has done more to enhance and protect human health than all medical advances combined. Over £25B will be invested in the UK's water infrastructure over the next five years, but these systems face significant challenges in the form of climate change, a growing and increasingly demanding population, and an asset base that includes over 800,000 km of sewer and water supply pipes with an estimated average age of 70 years.
The UKCRIC facilities at Cranfield provide capabilities to advance the understanding of long term performance and serviceability of water infrastructure, deliver cheaper and more environmentally benign approaches to water treatment as well as enable full scale testing of new technologies for treatment, distribution and collection networks and flood management. The facilities provide experimental and testing capacity in critical areas of science and engineering such as advanced sensors, point-of-use treatment, drinking water treatment, the control of fats, oils, and greases (FOG), and bio-resource recovery. Of value to researchers working across disciplines (chemistry, biology, digital, materials, control systems engineering etc) the facilities will also be used to develop and test new approaches to water infrastructure design and operation.

Investment in a suite of complementary water treatment and infrastructure research facilities will provide an internationally leading capacity to deliver;
(i) improved long term structural, operational, and economic performance of water infrastructure
(ii) cheaper and more environmentally sensitive approaches to water treatment, including reuse
(iii) smarter water management systems and their integration into smart cities.
Technological and methodological developments will be driven through industrial scale testing. These advances will result in;
Minimised energy use for water, wastewater and stormwater treatment and conveyance
Integrated solutions to water and resource reuse, maximising the contributions of the water sector to the circular and green economies.
Water services that are informed by societal preferences and better tailored to household, neighbourhood, and community demands.
Improved understanding of process intensification, real time water quality monitoring & control
Better use of integrated data systems & visualization technologies, network security and vulnerability testing.
Innovative low energy treatment technologies, integrated engineered / natural treatment trains and new processes for recovering water from contaminated sources.
The economic & social benefits of these advances will be substantial. The UK has over £250bn invested in water infrastructure and the UK Water Partnership has estimated that £12bn in cost savings, 9,000 jobs and £5bn in exports could be created by 2050 through innovations in just one area supported by UKRIC's water agenda (combining smart grid and conventional technologies). Progress in improving water use efficiency will also generate savings in energy bills estimated at potentially £140 per household per annum. The UK's estimated £500m bill for summer surface water flooding in 2012 is also indicatory of the magnitude of potential contribution from a concerted investment in water infrastructure test facilities.