In Denmark, great emphasis is placed on research and innovation programmes to ensure continuous improvements in NRW projects.

Companies working in the water sector, water utilities and research institutes are encouraged to work together on developing new and innovative technologies andsolutions for both the Danish and the international market.

Experience shows that innovation is best achieved when the competencies of different stakeholders are exploited in a close interplay between companies with complementary products or services, as well as researchers and water utilities.

Bringing different stakeholders together in binding strategic partnerships has therefore boosted the innovation within the Danish water sector.

Strong tradition for collaboration across the water sector

Danish water utilities actively participate in innovation projects to improve their performance and become more efficient in delivering fresh drinking water to their customer.

As a result, they are generally very open to cooperating with other stakeholders in the water sector on developing new and improving existing practices and technologies. This could, for instance, include advanced use of software, data collection and communication technology combined with smart meters to collect important information about consumption to optimise their water supply to the network and save energy.

One example of this type of technological development is the case of Danish water utilities that are implementing smart water meters and noise logging tools to collect more reliable data from the distribution system and thereby manage their NRW even better.

The data from the smart meters, which is collected both at the customer end and at strategic locations in the distribution system, provide water utilities with more accurate daily NRW levels in each DMA, enabling them to optimise their NRW activities on a daily basis.

The use of AI, machine learning and Big Data technology has started a revolution in data collection and analysis that may assist in predicting pipe leaks or bursts and help localise them, allowing for leaks to be repaired within a shorter time frame.

Financing NRW projects through public-private partnerships

One of the most important barriers to starting up a new NRW programme is often securing funding for the programme in its initial phase until the expected ROI is realised.

Many water utilities around the world are not able to overcome the initial investment, even though the business case shows a payback time of just two to three years for some of the investments.

A proven solution can be to arrange a public-private partnership (PPP) between the utility and private sector companies. The PPP can be set up in different ways, e.g. between the water utility and the contractor on behalf of a group of suppliers to the programme, or by using a performance-based contract (PBC or ESCO) where the contractor is paid based on the savings and increased income the project has generated for the water utility.

Danish companies are often open to such arrangements.