Northumbrian Water Group

A local partnership for global innovation

Northumbrian Water Group is one of the major water and sewerage companies in the UK.

We work together on a wider range of engineering, scientific and technological challenges.

One of our major project's is the £1.7m Biological Engineering: Wastewater Innovation at Scale (BE:WISE) research facility. This is the largest of its type in Europe.

The facility is based at one of Northumbrian Water’s sewage treatment plants. BE:WISE will play a key role in improving how sewage is treated. It will speed up the transition from existing energy-intensive treatment processes to low carbon alternatives that have lower running costs.

Our work together on Digital Twin technology has the potential to change the way cities test and plan for major disruption to infrastructure systems.

Case Studies

• Blue-Green Cities: Demonstrating the multiple benefits of blue-green infrastructure (PDF: 464KB)
• National Green Infrastructure Facility: pioneering integrated solutions for water infrastructure (PDF: 533KB)
• BE-WISE Biological Engineering: Wastewater Innovation at Scale (PDF: 656KB)
• Digital Twin - Replica allows real-time testing of city’s infrastructure in the face of emergencies – and in future could be used in cities worldwide - links to The Observer article, December 2018
• The Rise of the Digital Twin - podcast featuring researchers from Newcastle University and Northumbrian Water

A leaflet is also available showcasing each of the projects: A Local Partnership for Global Innovation (PDF: 519KB)

All of the projects are examples of how water research at Newcastle University is working towards Goal 6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Clean Water and Sanitation.