A groundbreaking white paper published by the UK Water Partnership (UKWP) in collaboration with data and AI engineering firm Aiimi highlights how artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionise the water industry. Titled "AI Within Reach", the paper offers an urgent but optimistic roadmap for deploying AI to tackle critical challenges, from climate change to customer affordability.
As the industry enters AMP8, companies face mounting pressure to deliver ambitious capital programmes, respond to climate change, and improve resilience – all while maintaining affordability for customers. AI presents a critical opportunity to help achieve these goals, but without coordinated action, much of its potential may remain untapped.
From worsening climate change effects to rising customer bills and expectations, the paper outlines how AI can enhance resilience, environmental protection, and service delivery across the board
“With ambitious plans in place for AMP8, AI will be crucial in the delivery of new assets; providing efficient ways to interrogate and interact with data, and enabling process automation, especially within supply chains,” said Chris Newsome, Director of UKWP. “I’m optimistic about our ability to leverage AI to get the best outcomes for our customers, the environment, and our businesses, and I encourage our industry leaders to take action now – our future generations will thank us for it.”
The white paper calls for a pragmatic, use-case-driven approach to adopting AI in the water sector. It lays out real-world scenarios in which generative AI, machine learning, and agentic AI can create immediate operational impact, such as summarising incident data, optimising storm overflow management, or supporting vulnerable customers through AI-enabled financial assistance tools.
Addressing industry-wide challenges
From worsening climate change effects to rising customer bills and expectations, the paper outlines how AI can enhance resilience, environmental protection, and service delivery across the board. “The water industry needs to use data to help solve its big challenges. But although the data is available, it’s in a poor state,” the report cautions.
Steve Salvin, CEO of Aiimi, underscored the transformational power of AI when paired with quality data. “If we get to grips with our data, using AI to help us, then we can leverage AI to get the answers to our toughest challenges,” he said. “If we can get those answers, we can outperform our business plans.”
From pilot projects to industry blueprint
The white paper builds on sector-specific AI projects, including Yorkshire Water’s AI-powered decision-making for pollution risk and Anglian Water’s “Virtual Blue Box” project, which uses AI to consolidate critical asset information. Both initiatives showcase how AI can cut costs, reduce risk, and improve safety by turning unstructured data into actionable insights.
“By separating and removing the noise and information risks from old and out-of-date information, Anglian Water is not only realising value for employees through finding the right information at the right time, but, crucially, is also preparing for generative AI opportunities as well,” said Matt Edwards, Head of Enterprise Data (Chief Data Officer) at Anglian Water.
A call for responsible innovation
The white paper also highlights the risks associated with widespread AI use—data security, algorithmic bias, misinformation, and resource intensity—but argues these are manageable through governance, education, and collaboration.
“It’s not just about the tech itself; it’s about how organisations are equipped to use AI,” Salvin added. “Education and organisational readiness will be crucial.”
Ultimately, AI Within Reach is a rallying cry for the sector to embrace innovation collaboratively and responsibly.
“We therefore propose bringing together a coalition of those committed to addressing and driving forward the practical steps outlined here... to collectively accelerate the use of AI in water,” the white paper concludes.
