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This award recognises outstanding projects that improve the health, resilience and management of rivers and their wider catchments. It celebrates projects that take a holistic approach to addressing challenges across a river system, delivering benefits for water, flood resilience, communities and the natural environment.

Entries may include river restoration and enhancement, floodplain reconnection, catchment management, water quality improvement, land and runoff management, habitat enhancement, natural flood management and projects that address multiple pressures across a river or catchment.

The category is open to water companies, local authorities, engineering consultants, contractors, environmental organisations, catchment partnerships, landowners and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been in delivery, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Improved river and catchment resilience, including benefits for flood risk, water quality, river health, habitats, biodiversity or climate resilience
• Technical excellence and effective delivery, demonstrating how interventions have been successfully designed and implemented to address the specific needs of the river or catchment
• Collaboration and stakeholder engagement, including effective working with communities, landowners, water companies, authorities, environmental organisations and other catchment stakeholders
• Measurable outcomes and long-term value, demonstrating improvements achieved across the river or catchment and how these benefits will be maintained or developed over time

This award recognises outstanding water, wastewater, flood resilience and coastal engineering projects with a total project value of £10m or more. It celebrates major projects that demonstrate exceptional engineering, effective delivery and measurable outcomes while successfully managing the challenges and complexity associated with large-scale infrastructure.

Entries may include projects across water supply, wastewater and sewerage, drainage, flood risk management, coastal resilience, rivers and catchments, asset renewal and wider water management. Judges will consider the scale and complexity of the project, the challenges overcome and the lasting value delivered through the investment.

The category is open to clients, water companies, local authorities, engineering consultants, contractors, developers and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027, and must have a total project value of £10m or more.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Engineering and technical excellence, demonstrating a high-quality solution to significant or complex water, wastewater, flood or coastal challenges
• Exceptional project delivery, including effective management of programme, budget, risk, interfaces and complex technical, operational or environmental challenges
• Collaboration and teamwork, demonstrating how the client, designers, contractors, supply chain and other stakeholders worked together to successfully deliver a major project
• Sustainability and long-term value, including consideration of whole-life performance, carbon, resources, resilience and environmental or social outcomes
• Measurable impact and project excellence, demonstrating significant benefits for the client, customers, communities, infrastructure or environment and what sets the project apart as an outstanding example of major infrastructure delivery

This award recognises outstanding projects that improve the management of stormwater and reduce the impact of rainfall on sewerage and drainage networks. It celebrates projects that demonstrate effective approaches to managing storm flows, increasing network resilience and reducing the risk of sewer flooding, pollution and storm overflow discharges.

Entries may include stormwater separation and removal, storage and attenuation, network capacity improvements, storm overflow reduction schemes, rainwater management, flow management and other interventions that reduce the volume or rate of surface water entering sewerage and drainage systems. Projects combining traditional engineering with sustainable, nature-based or smart network solutions are also eligible.

The category is open to water companies, engineering consultants, contractors, specialist contractors, local authorities, technology and equipment providers and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Effective stormwater management, demonstrating how the project has reduced, controlled, separated, stored or redirected stormwater to relieve pressure on sewerage or drainage networks
• Improved network performance and resilience, including reductions in sewer flooding, storm overflow operation, pollution risk or hydraulic pressure during rainfall events
• Technical excellence and effective delivery, demonstrating how the project has addressed complex network, engineering, operational or site challenges
• Measurable outcomes and long-term value, demonstrating improved performance, resilience and environmental outcomes alongside benefits for customers, communities or the wider water system

This award recognises outstanding projects that use sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to manage surface water effectively while delivering wider environmental, social and community benefits.

Entries may include new developments, regeneration schemes, retrofit projects and infrastructure programmes incorporating measures such as rain gardens, swales, attenuation features, permeable surfaces, green roofs, wetlands and other sustainable approaches to managing surface water.

The category is open to developers, local authorities, water companies, engineering consultants, contractors, landscape professionals and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Technical excellence and effective water management, demonstrating how the project manages surface water, reduces runoff or flood risk and improves drainage performance
• Sustainable and integrated design, showing how SuDS have been successfully incorporated into the wider development, infrastructure or public realm
• Environmental and place-making benefits, including improvements to water quality, biodiversity, amenity, green space or the local environment
• Effective delivery and collaboration, including how technical, planning, maintenance, adoption or stakeholder challenges have been addressed
• Measurable outcomes and long-term value, demonstrating the performance, resilience, maintainability and wider benefits of the completed or developing solution

This award recognises outstanding water, flood resilience and coastal projects that have placed communities at the heart of project planning, design or delivery. It celebrates projects that have gone beyond informing or consulting communities to create meaningful engagement that has helped shape decisions, solutions and outcomes.

Entries may include projects at planning, option development, design, construction or completed stages. They should demonstrate how local communities, residents, businesses or community groups have been actively involved in the project and how their needs, knowledge, concerns and aspirations have influenced its development or delivery.

The category is open to water companies, local authorities, engineering consultants, contractors, developers, environmental organisations, public bodies, community organisations and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have undertaken significant community engagement, been in planning or delivery, or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Meaningful and inclusive community engagement, demonstrating how the project reached, listened to and involved the communities affected by or benefiting from the project
• Community influence on the project, with clear evidence of how feedback, local knowledge or community priorities have informed planning, design, decision-making or delivery
• Quality and creativity of engagement, including approaches that made complex water, flood or engineering issues accessible and encouraged meaningful participation
• Building trust and relationships, demonstrating how the project team developed constructive, transparent and lasting relationships with communities, including how concerns or conflicting priorities were addressed
• Measurable impact and legacy, including improved project outcomes, community understanding, support, resilience or other lasting benefits resulting from the engagement

This award recognises outstanding projects that take an integrated approach to managing water, bringing together different parts of the water cycle to address multiple challenges and deliver wider benefits for communities, infrastructure and the environment.

Entries should demonstrate how traditionally separate areas of water management have been considered together. This may include projects integrating water supply, wastewater, drainage, flood risk, water quality, water resources, development or environmental management to deliver more resilient and sustainable outcomes.

The category is open to water companies, local authorities, developers, engineering consultants, contractors, environmental organisations, public bodies and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• A genuinely integrated approach, demonstrating how different water challenges, systems or objectives have been considered together rather than in isolation
• Effective collaboration and partnership working, bringing together organisations, disciplines and stakeholders to develop and deliver a shared solution
• Technical excellence and effective delivery, demonstrating how the project has successfully addressed complex or interconnected water management challenges
• Examples of scheme benefits, such as improved flood or drought resilience, water quality, water resources, drainage performance, environmental outcomes or support for sustainable development
• Measurable outcomes and long-term value, demonstrating how integration has delivered better, more resilient or more sustainable outcomes than addressing individual challenges separately

This award recognises outstanding projects that are improving the resilience of towns, cities and other built-up areas to flooding. It celebrates engineering and infrastructure solutions that reduce flood risk, protect communities and assets, and help urban areas better prepare for and respond to current and future flood events.

Entries may include projects addressing surface water, pluvial or other sources of urban flooding, including flood alleviation schemes, improvements to drainage infrastructure, flood storage and attenuation, property and community resilience measures, or integrated programmes combining multiple interventions.

The category is open to local authorities, water companies, developers, engineering consultants, contractors, specialist contractors and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Effective reduction of urban flood risk, demonstrating how the project protects communities, properties, infrastructure or other critical assets
• Technical excellence and resilience, including how the solution responds to the particular complexities of managing flood risk within an urban environment and considers future climate impacts
• Effective project delivery, including how physical, operational, environmental or other constraints associated with working in a built-up area have been overcome
• Collaboration and stakeholder engagement, demonstrating effective working between organisations, communities and other stakeholders in developing and delivering the project
• Measurable outcomes and wider benefits, including improved resilience alongside social, environmental, economic or place-making benefits

This award recognises outstanding projects and programmes that extend the life, improve the condition and enhance the performance of existing water and wastewater infrastructure through intelligent asset management, maintenance, rehabilitation and renewal.

Entries should demonstrate how an understanding of asset condition, performance, criticality and risk has informed decisions on when, where and how to intervene. Projects may include targeted renewal and rehabilitation programmes, condition-led maintenance, network renewal, asset health improvements and approaches that reduce failures or extend the operational life of existing infrastructure.

The category is open to water companies, engineering consultants, contractors, specialist contractors, technology and equipment providers and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects and programmes must have started, been in delivery, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Intelligent asset management, demonstrating how asset condition, performance, criticality, data or risk has informed investment and intervention decisions
• Improved asset health and performance, including how the project has extended asset life, increased reliability, reduced failures or improved operational performance
• Effective and efficient intervention, demonstrating how maintenance, rehabilitation or renewal has delivered the right solution while minimising disruption to customers and operations
• Whole-life value and sustainability, including how the approach has optimised investment, resources and carbon while avoiding unnecessary replacement of existing assets
• Measurable outcomes and wider application, demonstrating the benefits achieved and how the approach, learning or solution could improve management of other water or wastewater assets

This award recognises outstanding projects that use natural processes to address water management, flood resilience or coastal challenges while delivering wider benefits for the environment and communities.

Entries may include natural flood management, wetland creation or restoration, floodplain reconnection, woodland and land management, river restoration, runoff attenuation, coastal habitat restoration and other approaches that protect, restore or work with natural systems. Nature-based solutions may be delivered as standalone interventions or integrated with traditional engineered infrastructure.

The category is open to water companies, local authorities, engineering consultants, contractors, environmental organisations, catchment partnerships, landowners and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been in delivery, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Effective use of natural processes, demonstrating how nature-based approaches have addressed a clearly identified water, flood, coastal or resilience challenge
• Technical excellence and performance, including evidence that the solution has been appropriately designed, delivered and monitored to achieve its intended outcomes
• Environmental and wider benefits, including improvements to biodiversity, habitats, water quality, carbon, drought resilience or other ecosystem services
• Effective collaboration and delivery, including successful engagement with communities, landowners, regulators, environmental organisations and other relevant stakeholders
• Measurable outcomes and long-term value, demonstrating the effectiveness, resilience and maintainability of the solution and its potential to inform or be replicated in future projects

This award recognises outstanding water, wastewater, flood resilience and coastal engineering projects with a total project value of less than £10m. It celebrates projects that demonstrate exceptional engineering, effective delivery and measurable outcomes, regardless of their size or complexity.

Entries may include projects across water supply, wastewater and sewerage, drainage, flood risk management, coastal resilience, rivers and catchments, asset renewal and wider water management. Judges will consider what the project has achieved relative to its scale, investment and the challenges it was designed to address.

The category is open to clients, water companies, local authorities, engineering consultants, contractors, developers and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027, and must have a total project value of less than £10m.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Engineering and technical excellence, demonstrating a high-quality solution to the specific water, wastewater, flood or coastal challenge addressed by the project
• Exceptional project delivery, including effective management of programme, budget, risk and technical, operational or environmental challenges
• Collaboration and teamwork, demonstrating how the client, designers, contractors, supply chain and other stakeholders worked together to achieve successful outcomes
• Sustainability and long-term value, including consideration of whole-life performance, carbon, resources, resilience and environmental or social outcomes
• Measurable impact and project excellence, demonstrating the benefits delivered for the client, customers, communities, infrastructure or environment and what makes the project stand out within its scale and value

This award recognises outstanding engineering and construction projects that improve the sourcing, treatment, storage or distribution of water. It celebrates projects that demonstrate technical excellence while improving water quality, security of supply, resilience and the sustainable management of water resources.

Entries may include new water treatment infrastructure, desalination facilities, reservoirs and storage infrastructure, pipelines and distribution networks, pumping stations, strategic water transfer schemes, water quality improvement projects and infrastructure that develops, protects or improves sources of water supply.

The category is open to water companies, engineering consultants, contractors, specialist contractors, technology and equipment providers and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Technical and engineering excellence, demonstrating how the project has successfully addressed challenges associated with water sourcing, treatment, quality, storage or distribution
• Improved water quality, resilience or security of supply, including how the project responds to changing demand, drought, climate change, water quality challenges or other pressures on water resources
• Effective delivery, including successful management of engineering, construction, operational, environmental or site constraints
• Sustainability and resource efficiency, including responsible water resource management and reductions in energy, carbon, water losses or other environmental impacts, where applicable
• Measurable outcomes and long-term value, demonstrating improvements in water quality, capacity, reliability, efficiency or service to customers and communities

This award recognises outstanding engineering and construction projects that improve the collection, conveyance, treatment or management of wastewater and sewage. It celebrates projects that demonstrate technical excellence while improving capacity, performance, resilience and environmental outcomes.

Entries may include new wastewater treatment infrastructure, sewer networks, pumping stations, storage infrastructure, combined sewer overflow improvements, process improvements and other projects designed to improve wastewater and sewerage services and reduce their impact on the environment.

The category is open to water companies, engineering consultants, contractors, specialist contractors, technology and equipment providers and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction, trialled or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Technical and engineering excellence, demonstrating how the project has successfully addressed wastewater treatment, sewerage or network challenges
• Improved performance and resilience, including increased treatment capacity, network performance, reliability, operational efficiency or reduced risk of failure
• Effective project delivery, including successful management of engineering, construction, operational, environmental or site constraints
• Environmental and sustainability outcomes, including improvements to water quality, pollution reduction and reductions in carbon, energy or resource use, where applicable
• Measurable outcomes and long-term value, demonstrating benefits for customers, communities, the environment and the long-term performance of wastewater and sewerage services

This award recognises outstanding coastal engineering projects that protect and strengthen the resilience of coastal communities, infrastructure and assets against flooding, erosion and the impacts of a changing coastline.

Entries may include new or improved coastal defences, sea walls, barriers, embankments, beach and shoreline management schemes, erosion protection, managed realignment and other engineering interventions designed to manage coastal flood and erosion risk.

The category is open to clients, local authorities, engineering consultants, contractors, specialist contractors and project teams, including joint ventures and collaborative partnerships.

Eligible projects must have started, been under construction or been completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Technical excellence in the planning, design and delivery of solutions that address coastal flood, erosion or shoreline management challenges
• Resilience and long-term performance, including how the project responds to future coastal change, climate impacts and changing levels of risk
• Effective project delivery, including overcoming technical, environmental, logistical or construction challenges
• Collaboration and stakeholder engagement across the project team, regulators, communities and other relevant stakeholders
• Measurable outcomes and wider benefits, demonstrating how the project has improved protection and resilience for coastal communities, infrastructure, assets or the environment

This award recognises an outstanding individual who is early in their career in the water, wastewater, flood or drainage sector, with no more than 10 years’ experience and has already demonstrated exceptional promise, technical ability and professional impact.

Entries may reflect a standout technical achievement, a significant contribution to a major project or programme, a demonstration of personal initiative that has improved outcomes for a team or client, or a broader contribution to the profession through knowledge sharing, mentoring, industry engagement or advocacy.

Entries may be submitted by the individual themselves or nominated by a line manager, colleague, client or mentor who can speak directly to the individual's contribution and character.

Eligible achievements must have been demonstrated between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Technical ability and professional development, demonstrating the individual's depth of knowledge and skill relative to their stage of career
• Initiative and impact, providing evidence of how the individual has gone above and beyond
• Collaboration and professional relationships, showing how the individual has worked effectively with colleagues, clients, contractors and stakeholders
• Contribution to the profession, demonstrating how the individual has given back to the water and infrastructure sector beyond their role
• Resilience and adaptability, providing evidence of how the individual has responded to setbacks, navigated complexity and continued to develop and perform under pressure
• A written endorsement from a nominator who can speak to the individual's character, impact and potential with specific examples

This award recognises an outstanding project team that has demonstrated exceptional collaboration, technical excellence and shared commitment to delivering a water, wastewater, flood or drainage infrastructure project to the highest possible standard.

Entries may cover projects of any scale, from a complex single-asset scheme to a major multi-contract programme of works. What matters is not the size of the project but the quality of the teamwork, the extent to which the individuals and organisations involved have set aside organisational boundaries, shared risk and sustained a collaborative culture through the pressures and challenges of delivery.

The category is open to any project team working on water, wastewater, flood risk, drainage or coastal infrastructure in the UK. /

Eligible project teams must have started, be in the process of construction or completed between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Genuine collaboration and integrated working, demonstrating how collaborative culture was established, sustained and protected under the pressures of delivery
• Shared leadership and collective accountability, showing how decisions were made jointly, how risks and challenges were owned collectively rather than deflected, and how the team maintained alignment and momentum when things did not go to plan
• Technical and delivery excellence, providing evidence of the quality of the team's engineering and project management
• Communication and stakeholder engagement, demonstrating how proactive engagement with stakeholders contributed to better project outcomes
• Sustainability and social value, showing how the team collectively embedded carbon reduction, environmental stewardship, community benefit and social value into the project
• Evidence of how the team prioritised the safety, wellbeing, inclusion and development of its people

This award recognises an outstanding partnership that has demonstrated exceptional collaborative working in the planning, design, delivery or management of water, wastewater, flood or drainage infrastructure. It celebrates the relationships between organisations that have produced outcomes greater than the sum of their parts, and whose willingness to share knowledge, resource, risk and ambition has advanced the sector's ability to manage water and build flood resilience at scale.

The category is open to partnerships of any configuration, between water companies, local authorities, government agencies, contractors, consultants, technology providers, environmental organisations, community bodies, academic institutions or any other combination of organisations working together on water and flood challenges.

Entries may be submitted by any partner organisation on behalf of the whole partnership and should reflect the contribution and perspective of all key parties involved.

Eligible partnerships must have been active between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Depth of collaboration, demonstrating that the partnership represents a genuine and substantive working relationship rather than a contractual arrangement in name only
• Shared purpose, showing how the partner organisations have brought genuinely different and complementary capabilities, perspectives or resources to the relationship
• Measurable outcomes and impact, providing clear evidence of the results the partnership has delivered
• Innovation and knowledge exchange, demonstrating how the partnership has generated new thinking, developed new approaches or created knowledge and tools that have been shared with the wider sector
• Sector leadership, evidencing how the partnership model, the learning it has generated or the outcomes it has delivered could inform or inspire other organisations across the water and flood sector

This award recognises an outstanding consultancy that has demonstrated exceptional expertise, leadership and client impact in the planning, design, assurance or management of water, wastewater, flood or drainage infrastructure. It celebrates the consultancies, whether large multidisciplinary practices, specialist advisory firms or independent consultants, that have delivered genuinely excellent advice, set the highest professional standards and made a measurable difference to the outcomes of the projects and programmes they have supported.

Entries may reflect excellence across a single landmark project, a sustained body of advisory or design work across a programme or framework, or a demonstrated step change in how the organisation delivers consultancy services. Outstanding consultants are those that combine deep technical rigour with genuine commercial awareness, communicate complex challenges clearly and work in true partnership with their clients to deliver better outcomes.

The category is open to all consultancies providing professional services to the water, wastewater, flood risk, drainage or coastal infrastructure sector, including engineering consultants, environmental consultants, project and programme managers, cost consultants, legal and commercial advisors, planning consultants and specialist technical advisors.

Eligible work must relate to projects, programmes or organisational achievements demonstrated between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Technical excellence and thought leadership, demonstrating a high standard of professional expertise, analytical rigour and innovative thinking
• Client impact and value creation, providing evidence of how the consultancy has understood its clients' needs, responded to their challenges and delivered advice or solutions that have generated measurable success
• Collaboration and professional relationships, showing how the consultancy has worked in genuine partnership with its clients, contractors, supply chain and stakeholders
• Innovation and digital capability, demonstrating how the consultancy has introduced new tools, methods, technologies or approaches that have enhanced the quality, efficiency or impact of its services
• Sustainability and responsible practice, providing evidence of how the consultancy has embedded sustainability, carbon reduction and environmental stewardship into its professional advice and internal operations
• People, knowledge and sector development, demonstrating how the consultancy has invested in its people, developed specialist knowledge, supported early career professionals and contributed to the advancement of the water and infrastructure profession

This award recognises an outstanding client organisation that has demonstrated exceptional leadership, vision and commitment in the delivery of water, wastewater, flood or drainage infrastructure. It aims to celebrate the organisations that commission projects and can demonstrate their excellence as an exemplary client. Open to any type or size of organisations, providing that it is the overall client.

Entries may reflect excellence across a single landmark project or a sustained programme of investment and delivery. Outstanding clients are those that have created the conditions for their supply chains to perform at their best, through clear and ambitious briefs, collaborative contracting, early engagement, a genuine commitment to safety and sustainability, and a willingness to innovate and take considered risk in the pursuit of better outcomes.

Entries may be made by the client organisation itself or nominated by a delivery partner, consultant or contractor with direct experience of working with the client.

Eligible work must relate to projects, programmes or client initiatives demonstrated between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Leadership and vision, demonstrating how the client organisation has set a clear and ambitious direction for its investment programme, communicated this effectively to its supply chain and stakeholders, and maintained that vision through the challenges of delivery
• Collaborative and progressive procurement, showing how the client has approached contracting, early contractor involvement, supply chain engagement and risk allocation in ways that have genuinely enabled better project outcomes
• Commitment to people and culture, demonstrating how the client has prioritised safety, wellbeing, inclusion and skills development, both within its own organisation and across the supply chains it works with
• Sustainability and long-term thinking, providing evidence of how the client has embedded carbon reduction, environmental stewardship, social value and whole-life performance into its decisions
• Measurable outcomes and delivery performance, demonstrating the tangible results achieved through the client's leadership

This award recognises outstanding small or medium-sized enterprises (up to 250 employees and annual turnover not exceeding £44 million) that have demonstrated exceptional performance, innovation and impact in the water, wastewater, flood or drainage sector.

Entries may reflect excellence across a standout project, a sustained body of work that demonstrates consistent quality and client impact, or a step change in how the organisation has grown, innovated or developed its people and capability over the period.

Eligible work must relate to projects, programmes or organisational achievements demonstrated between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Impact relative to scale, demonstrating how the organisation has delivered outcomes, solved problems or created value that is exceptional
• Technical expertise and specialism, showing the depth and quality of the organisation's knowledge in its chosen field and how that expertise has been applied to deliver measurable client benefit
• Innovation and agility, demonstrating how the organisation has developed or applied new approaches, technologies, methods or products that have improved delivery outcomes
• Client relationships and reputation, providing evidence of the quality of the organisation's client relationships, the trust it has earned through consistent delivery and the reputation it has built within the water and infrastructure sector
• Business growth and resilience, showing how the organisation has developed its capability, grown its team, invested in its people and built a sustainable business over the period
• Contribution to the sector, demonstrating how the organisation has given back to the wider water and infrastructure community

This award recognises an outstanding contractor that has demonstrated exceptional performance, innovation and commitment in the delivery of water, wastewater, flood or drainage infrastructure. It celebrates the contractors, whether main contractors, specialist contractors or joint ventures, that have set the highest standards for how water infrastructure is built, and whose approach to safety, quality, programme, sustainability and collaboration has made a genuine difference to the projects and communities they serve.

Entries may reflect excellence across a single landmark project, a sustained body of work across a programme or framework, or a demonstrated step change in how the organisation delivers projects. Outstanding contractors are those that go beyond compliance and contractual obligation to add genuine value for their clients, their people, their supply chain and the communities they work within.

The category is open to all contractors working on water, wastewater, flood risk, drainage or coastal infrastructure in the UK.

Eligible work must relate to projects, programmes or organisational achievements demonstrated between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Safety leadership and culture, demonstrating a genuine and measurable commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of the workforce
• Delivery excellence, showing how the contractor has consistently met or exceeded the expectations of its clients on programme, budget, quality and technical performance, including how challenges and risks were identified, managed and resolved
• Innovation and technical capability, demonstrating how the contractor has introduced new methods, technologies, materials or approaches that have improved delivery outcomes
• Collaboration and client relationships, providing evidence of how the contractor has worked in genuine partnership with its clients, designers, supply chain and stakeholders
• Sustainability and social value, demonstrating the contractor's contribution to carbon reduction, resource efficiency, biodiversity, and community benefit
• People, skills and supply chain, showing how the contractor has invested in its own people and in the wider supply chain

This award recognises an outstanding innovation in the application of digital technology, data or artificial intelligence to the planning, design, delivery, operation or management of water, wastewater, flood or drainage infrastructure. It celebrates the individuals, teams and organisations that are harnessing the power of digital tools to improve performance, efficiency, resilience and outcomes across the water sector.

Entries may include but are not limited to innovations across hydraulic modelling and simulation, digital twins, AI and machine learning, real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, data management, remote inspection, operational analytics, and any other application of digital technology that is driving meaningful improvement in how water infrastructure is managed, maintained or delivered.

The category is open to water companies, regulators, local authorities, engineering consultants, technology providers, software developers, contractors, research institutions and collaborative partnerships. Entries may be made by any organisation or individual involved in developing, deploying or scaling the innovation, and joint entries from technology providers and their clients or delivery partners are strongly encouraged.

Eligible innovations must have been developed, deployed, piloted or brought to operational scale between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Innovation and ambition, demonstrating that the digital solution represents a genuine advance in capability or approach for the water sector
• Technical excellence and robustness, showing that the solution is built on sound engineering, data science or analytical principles, has been appropriately validated and performs reliably in an operational environment
• Measurable impact and operational value, demonstrating the tangible improvements delivered, whether in cost, safety, efficiency, resilience, environmental performance or customer outcomes
• Integration and interoperability, explaining how the solution connects with existing systems, workflows and data environments, and how it supports rather than replaces the professional judgement of engineers and operators
• Scalability and sector benefit, demonstrating the potential for the innovation to be adopted more broadly across the water sector

This award recognises an outstanding innovation that places sustainability at the heart of water, wastewater, flood or drainage infrastructure. It celebrates the individuals, teams and organisations that have developed and applied genuinely new approaches to reducing carbon, improving resource efficiency, enhancing biodiversity and delivering long-term environmental and social value across the water sector.

Entries may include but are not limited to innovations across whole-life carbon assessment and reduction, circular economy and resource recovery, nature-based solutions and green infrastructure, low-carbon materials and construction methods, efficiency, water reuse, biodiversity net gain, sustainable procurement, and any other innovation that demonstrates a measurable improvement in the environmental or sustainability of water infrastructure planning, design, delivery or operation.

The category is open to all types of company working in flood or water infrastructure. Entries may be made by any organisation or individual involved in developing, applying or scaling the innovation, and joint entries from across the supply chain are strongly encouraged where the innovation has been delivered through collaborative working.

Eligible innovations must have been developed, piloted, applied or brought to scale between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Ambition and originality, demonstrating that the innovation goes beyond regulatory compliance or standard practice to deliver a genuinely new or significantly improved approach to sustainability
• Measurable environmental impact, providing clear and verifiable evidence of the sustainability outcomes achieved, whether in carbon saved, resources recovered, biodiversity enhanced, water quality improved or waste avoided
• Whole-life thinking, demonstrating that sustainability has been considered across the full lifecycle of the asset or intervention, including embodied carbon, operational performance, end-of-life considerations and long-term environmental resilience
• Social value and community benefit, showing how the innovation has delivered wider benefits for communities, customers or the environment beyond its primary technical function, and how those benefits have been identified, measured and reported
• Replicability and sector leadership, demonstrating the potential for the innovation to be adopted more widely across the water sector

This award recognises an outstanding innovation in the management, mitigation or prevention of flood risk. It celebrates the individuals, teams and organisations that have developed and applied genuinely new thinking, whether in engineering design, technology, data, materials or process to improve flood resilience outcomes in the UK.

Entries may include innovations across surface water and river flood management, coastal and tidal flood defence, sustainable drainage, catchment management, early warning systems, digital tools and monitoring, nature-based solutions, flood forecasting, asset inspection and maintenance, emergency response and community resilience. The innovation must demonstrate a clear and measurable improvement on the approaches it replaces or enhances.

The category is open to water companies, local authorities, lead local flood authorities, the Environment Agencies and equivalent bodies, engineering consultants, contractors, technology providers, research institutions, universities and collaborative partnerships. Entries may be made by any organisation or individual involved in developing or applying the innovation.

Eligible innovations must have been developed, piloted, applied or brought to sites between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Originality and ambition, demonstrating that the innovation represents a genuine step forward rather than an incremental improvement
• Technical rigour and credibility, showing that the innovation is grounded in sound engineering, scientific or analytical principles and has been appropriately tested and validated
• Practical application and impact, demonstrating that the innovation has been successfully applied in a real-world context and has delivered measurable improvements in flood risk outcomes
• Scalability and transferability, explaining the potential for the innovation to be adopted more widely across the sector, including any barriers to adoption and how these are being or could be addressed
• Collaboration and knowledge sharing, demonstrating how the innovation has been developed and refined through partnership, and how learning has been or will be shared with the wider flood risk community

This award recognises outstanding technical achievement in the water, wastewater, flood or drainage sector. It celebrates the individuals, teams and organisations that have applied exceptional engineering skill, expertise or technical ingenuity to solve complex challenges, advance the boundaries of what is possible and deliver measurable improvements in the planning, design, construction or operation of water infrastructure.

The category is intended as a broad recognition of technical excellence across all disciplines and scales. Entries may include innovative engineering solutions, advances in construction, novel approaches to investigation, breakthroughs in materials or products, step changes in asset performance or operational efficiency, and any other demonstration of technical achievement that has delivered significant value for the water sector. Entries do not need to represent a wholly new invention, exceptional application of existing techniques in a challenging or novel context is equally encouraged.

The category is open to all types of company involved in water and flood infrastructure. Entries may be made by any organisation or individual responsible for or contributing to the technical achievement, and joint entries from client, design and delivery teams are strongly encouraged.

Eligible work must have been undertaken, completed or brought into operation between February 2024 and February 2027.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

• Technical ingenuity and problem solving, demonstrating that a significant engineering or technical challenge was identified and overcome through skilled, creative and rigorous application of technical expertise
• Quality and rigour, showing that the technical solution was developed and delivered to a high standard, with appropriate attention to safety, compliance, validation and quality assurance
• Complexity and scale of challenge, providing context for the difficulty of the technical problem addressed, such as site constraints, ground conditions, operational requirements, regulatory complexity or environmental sensitivity
• Measurable outcomes and performance, demonstrating the tangible improvements in performance, safety, efficiency, resilience or environmental outcomes that the technical achievement has delivered
• Knowledge advancement and sector benefit, explaining how the technical achievement has generated learning, methodology or capability that can benefit the wider water and infrastructure sector