Day 1
12.30pm Registration & Networking Lunch | Networking Lunch sponsored by SMS
2.00pm
Conference welcome
Bob Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Portsmouth Water
POLICY LANDSCAPE AND INDUSTRY INITIATIVES
2.15pm
Reforming the water industry:
The developing policy and political landscape
Jon Chappell, Deputy Director – Water and PR24 Delivery, Water UK
2.35pm
The Environment Agency: The next chapter of leakage performance and preparedness for a resilient future
Aiken Besley, Senior Advisor – Water Resources, Security of Supply, Environment & Business – Water, Environment Agency
2.55pm
An update from Ofwat:
Where are we going with leakage?
Ian Pemberton, Principal Engineer – Engineering and Asset Management, Ofwat
3.30pm
Leakage Routemap update
Glen Mountfort, Integrated Systems and Environment Director, WRc
4.00pm
Panel discussion led by Karma Loveday, Editor, The Water Report
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Aiken Besley, Senior Advisor – Water Resources, Security of Supply, Environment & Business – Water, Environment Agency
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Jon Chappell, Deputy Director – Water and PR24 Delivery, Water UK
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Geoff Darch, Head of Strategic Asset Planning, Anglian Water and Non-Executive Director, Water Resources East
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Glen Mountfort, Integrated Systems and Environment Director, WRc
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Ian Pemberton, Principal Engineer – Engineering and Asset Management, Ofwat
OFWAT INNOVATION FUND: MANAGING BACKGROUND LEAKAGE – PROJECT FINDINGS
5.05pm
Background Leakage: Barrier or opportunity?
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Richard Collins, Senior Lecturer, Water Engineering, University of Sheffield
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Stuart Trow, Director, Trow Consulting
SOAPBOX CHALLENGE
Chaired by Jeremy Heath,
Innovation Manager, SES Water
6.00pm
PRVentor (Ofwat Innovation Fund Water Discovery Challenge project)
Matthew Harrison, Head of Operations, PRVentor
LeakSolve AI
Harry Smith, CEO, LeakSolve AI
6.30pm
Close
6.35pm Networking in the Leakage Lounge
7.15pm Pre-Conference Dinner Drinks, sponsored by Tetra Tech
7.45pm Conference Dinner with ALC Awards 2026 presentation, followed by networking
12.00am
Close
4.35pm Networking & Refreshments | Networking Break sponsored by SMS
Day 2 Operational and technology developments
MORNING
8.15am Registration & Networking | Networking Break sponsored by SMS
9.00am
Introduction
Geoff Darch, Head of Strategic Asset Planning, Anglian Water and Non-Executive Director, Water Resources East
INNOVATION AND RESEARCH UPDATES
9.10am
UKWIR update: Innovation heatmap and other developments
Jeremy Heath, Innovation Manager, SES Water
9.40am
Spring on leakage: Where we are and how you can contribute
Natalie Lamb, Senior Manager, Sector Intelligence, Spring
PREVENT (PALM)
CALM NETWORKS, PREPARING FOR AMP9 AND PR29
10.00am
Calm networks pressure transient management process: Moving to proactive management of transients
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Matt Burrows, Leakage Smart Networks Manager, Portsmouth Water
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Reagan Hawkins, Head of Calm & Smart Networks, WRc
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Joshua Ketley, Leakage Consultant, WRc
10.30am
Developing unconstrained thinking to drive longer term demand-side options
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Matthew Hughes, Smart Systems Strategy Manager, Anglian Water
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Tom Woolley, Chief Revenue Officer, Optimatics
11.00am Networking & Refreshments | Networking Break sponsored by SMS
AWARENESS & LOCATE (PALM)
NON-HOUSEHOLD CUSTOMER-SIDE LEAKAGE
11.30am
Shadow flow: Hidden water loss and business demand across brownfield development sites
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Ken Cartwright, Senior Associate Engineer, AtkinsRéalis
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Anastasia Cottrell, Mechanical Engineer, AtkinsRéalis
12.00pm
Non-household leakage: Challenges and opportunities
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Elliot Howell, Customer Leakage Manager, Southern Water
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Phill Mills, Independent Chair, UK Water Retailer Council (UKWRC)
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Rosie Rand, NHH Smart Metering & Demand Reduction Programme Manager, Thames Water
Presentations followed by discussion session
AFTERNOON
1.00pm Networking Lunch | Networking Lunch sponsored by SMS
2.10pm
Welcome back
Geoff Darch, Head of Strategic Asset Planning, Anglian Water and Non-Executive Director, Water Resources East
AWARENESS & LOCATE (PALM)(Continued)
THE DEVELOPING LEAK DETECTION TOOLBOX
2.15pm
Fibre detection – learnings from rollouts: Challenges and opportunities for the detection toolbox
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Thomas Coleman, CRO and Co-founder, Lightsonic
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Alex Hayton, Head of Leakage, Customer Delivery, Affinity Water
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James Ramsay, CTO and Co-founder, Lightsonic
2.45pm
Satellite as BAU
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Shane Gloster, Head of Leakage, Thames Water
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John Marsden, CEO, Origin Tech
OFWAT INNOVATION FUND – PREVENT AND MEND
3.15pm
What’s ‘designer’ about this liner? (Ofwat Innovation Fund project – PALM)
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Dr Prabhakar Muchukota Narendra, Research Associate in Polymer Engineering, University of Bristol
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Dr Joe Sanders, Senior Technical Director,
Tetra Tech
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Dr Xiaohan Wang, Advanced Research Engineer, NCC
3.40pm
Rethinking interruptions: Unlocking innovation, minimising impact (Ofwat Innovation Fund project – PALM)
Rachel Cunningham, Networks R&D Manager, Thames Water
4.00pm
Conference close
Geoff Darch, Head of Strategic Asset Planning, Anglian Water and Non-Executive Director, Water Resources East