United Utilities Group Plc (United Utilities) provides water and wastewater services across the Northwest of England. The company sources raw water primarily from open reservoirs, as well as lakes, rivers and boreholes, and supplies treated drinking water to households and businesses. It also collects, treats and returns wastewater to the environment through an extensive network of wastewater assets. In addition, the company processes sewage sludge through its bioresource’s operations, producing biogas for renewable energy generation and biosolids that are used as agricultural fertilizer. The company serves around eight million people and businesses across the Northwest of England, with the vast majority of its activities undertaken within its regulated water and wastewater business.

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United Utilities places research, development, and innovation at the center of its strategy to enhance operational efficiency, resilience, and long-term sustainability of water and wastewater services. The company invests in real-time monitoring, advanced analytics, smart assets, digital technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning to improve network performance, asset management, and decision-making. During the year, it accelerated smart metering deployment with over 200,000 meters installed and expanded dynamic network management capabilities. Innovation initiatives include Project Blueprint, which standardizes designs and procurement to improve efficiency and reduce costs, the use of AI-driven monitoring systems, predictive modelling, intelligent sewer inspection technologies, and collaborative innovation projects with suppliers, academic institutions, and industry partners. The company also launched projects such as “Metagenomics: Making Microbes Matter” to understand and reduce wastewater emissions, and “Next-Gen Digestion” to increase biogas generation while reducing biosolids volumes. The company is focused on technological development, process improvement, and collaborative research partnerships. United Utilities have developed LowCast cement-free concrete technology, FujiClean chemical-free phosphate removal systems, carbon capture and hydrogen production through the LOOP demonstration project, nitrous oxide monitoring programs, biopolymer extraction from sludge for use as coagulants, nature-based wastewater treatment solutions, digital carbon-management platforms, and renewable energy generation from bioresources. In FY2026, the company spent GBP0.5 million on research and development activities, which as a percentage of revenue stood at 0.03%.