The Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW) — a research collaboration between South West Water and the University of Exeter — presented its latest work to international delegates at the International Water Association (IWA) World Water Congress in Glasgow this month.

Visitors to the CREWW stand explored projects tackling key industry challenges, including environmental resilience, leakage, water quality, catchment management and reducing pollution.

Showcased initiatives included South West Water's Upstream Thinking programme, modelling of groundwater infiltration risk, a machine learning tool to pinpoint historic lead pipes, CREWW's microplastics laboratory, and broader research to enhance water quality and strengthen the resilience of water and wastewater systems.

The team also highlighted PEDAL (Prediction and Early Detection of Algal Blooms), a £2 million Ofwat Innovation Fund project deploying innovative techniques to forecast and manage harmful algal blooms in lakes and reservoirs. Representatives from both South West Water and the University of Exeter shared insights from the work.

Alongside this, CREWW researchers presented studies on the impacts of combined sewer overflows and surface water outfalls on receiving waters, contributing to discussions on water quality and environmental resilience.

Delegates could also listen to CREWW's new audio storytelling project, Storying Water (www.exeter.ac.uk/research/creww/research/storyingwater/), at the stand.

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As part of the congress, CREWW hosted a well-attended Business Forum – Partnering with Nature – How Nature Based Solutions Make Business Sense – bringing together participants from across the sector to examine nature-based solutions, catchment management and partnership working to protect water quality and improve environmental resilience.

The session shared lessons from more than a decade of collaboration with farmers, land managers and local partners, and considered how catchment-based approaches can help address common environmental challenges facing water companies worldwide.

The event underlined the importance of partnerships between water companies, researchers and industry in developing fresh approaches to shared challenges across the sector.

Carolyn Cadman, Chief Environment and Compliance Officer at South West Water and CREWW Board Member, said: "It was wonderful to see such a high level of interest in CREWW's work throughout the congress. It was a brilliant opportunity to share the research taking place through the partnership and demonstrate how it can help address practical challenges facing the water sector.

"CREWW's Business Forum was also a great success and brought together a range of perspectives and expertise on the work we are doing through Upstream Thinking and catchment management, highlighting the value of collaboration in developing solutions that benefit customers, communities and the environment."

Professor Ed Keedwell, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Exeter and Co-Director of CREWW, added: "The IWA World Water Congress was a valuable opportunity to showcase how CREWW brings together research, innovation and industry expertise to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing the water sector.

"From using AI and data science to improve understanding and prediction, to exploring the potential of nature-based approaches to support water quality, our work demonstrates the importance of collaboration in developing practical, evidence-led solutions. As CREWW celebrates its fifth anniversary, it was particularly rewarding to share our progress with an international audience and explore how our research can help build more resilient water systems for the future."

Marking its fifth anniversary, CREWW used the congress to showcase progress, engage with international experts and build relationships to support future research and innovation.

For more information about CREWW visit www.creww.org.uk.