50L Home wins £1.5M Ofwat grant to scale water-saving pilot across England
What's the deal? The 50 Liter Home Coalition has won a £1.5 million grant from OfwatDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the regulator of water and wastewater services in England and Wales, to run a three-year pilot cutting domestic water use. Expected to start in late 2026, the pilot will fit up to 150 homes with high-efficiency appliances, fixtures, and consumer products.
Why now? The award lands as the UK faces more frequent heatwaves and mounting pressure on water resources. It is part of Ofwat's Water Efficiency Lab, which awarded £5.2 million across seven projects in late June 2026 — the 50L Home pilot took one of the largest single allocations.
What's the endgame? Convened by the World Business Council for Sustainable DevelopmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and the World Economic ForumDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the coalition wants to show households can slash water use without sacrificing quality of life. The England pilot builds on a Los Angeles trial where participating homes averaged 79 litres per person per day, against the city's 182.
Appliances from Electrolux GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s premium AEGDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → brand will feature in the England pilot. Members include IKEADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, KohlerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Procter & GambleDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, alongside housebuilders and the University of Surrey.
What did the trial show? The Los Angeles pilot retrofitted 15 homes over two years. Daily laundry water use fell 32%, hot water use dropped 48%, and combined kitchen sink and dishwasher use fell 14% — even as households ran 13% more dishwasher cycles weekly.
"The England pilot will take the US pilot to the next level," said Elena Breda, SVP product strategy, innovation, sustainability at Electrolux GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. "We are scaling up from 15 to 150 homes and, as smart metering is prevalent in the UK, we can take advantage of this data instead of collecting it manually from each home."
What could go wrong? The project remains at pilot scale. Its commercial impact depends on whether results are strong enough to drive wider adoption by utilities, appliance makers, and homebuilders.
The signal: The Water Efficiency Lab is the first round in a £25 million prize programme under Ofwat's £100 million Water Efficiency Fund, signalling sustained regulator-backed capital for tools that cut domestic consumption. For a grant round, £1.5 million is substantial — but the real weight here is the pilot's designation as a testbed within England's national water-efficiency strategy.
Read more: EME Outlook Magazine
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
