Decisio featured in The Engineer: Smart Water Solutions
Decisio’s work on recovering heat from wastewater features in The Engineer’s November 2026 Expert Q&A, “Smart Water Solutions”, alongside three other projects funded through Ofwat’s Water Innovation Fund.
In the feature, Jon Excell asked four teams how their technologies might reshape the UK water sector in the years ahead. Our Head of Wastewater and Resource Recovery, Dr Stefano Giacalone, explained how TORCH, built on the Decisio Intelligent Infrastructure platform, helps local authorities and water companies decide where heat from wastewater can be recovered economically and put to use in low-carbon heat networks.
“Facing leaks, spills and shortages, the UK’s water sector has rarely looked more beleaguered, but a host of innovative technologies, from pipe-repairing robots to aerial drone monitoring systems, could soon come to the rescue.”
– The Engineer, November 2026
Read the full article in The Engineer.
What challenge are you addressing?
Dr Stefano Giacalone, Head of Wastewater and Resource Recovery at Decisio, explains:
“Every day, significant quantities of potentially recoverable heat pass through the UK’s wastewater infrastructure. Yet this resource is largely overlooked when planning low-carbon heat networks. The challenge is not about identifying where heat exists, but establishing where it can be recovered economically, how it can be transferred to buildings that need it, and how this can be achieved without compromising wastewater infrastructure.”
“TORCH addresses this gap by making wastewater heat recovery easier to evaluate alongside alternative energy sources, helping local authorities and water companies make better-informed investment decisions.”
“The challenge is not about identifying where heat exists, but establishing where it can be recovered.”Dr Stefano Giacalone, Decisio
How does your technology work?
“Built on the Decisio Intelligent Infrastructure platform, TORCH brings together water company data, heat transfer modelling, automated network routing and techno-economic assessment in a single planning environment. It enables users to identify potential wastewater heat sources, assess how heat could be recovered and transferred to areas of demand, and compare alternative solutions in terms of cost and technical feasibility.”
“Rather than relying solely on individual consultant-led studies, local authorities can explore different scenarios, understand trade-offs and develop a more consistent, evidence-based approach to heat network planning. Initial application in the Peterborough pilot has identified potentially viable wastewater heat recovery opportunities, with further validation of temperature data currently underway.”
What is the current status?
“The innovation phase is complete and the digital tool has been developed. A number of potentially viable options have been recommended for the pilot area of Peterborough council, pending validation of temperature profiles, which is currently ongoing through temperature measurements carried out by Anglian Water.”
“A proposal is currently being submitted to the Ofwat Implementation Fund to deploy the tool and carry out the analysis for other regions, starting from the cities identified by DESNZ as most promising and included in their Advanced Zoning Programme. One of the key challenges is aligning the requirements and drivers of the different stakeholders that need to be involved in developing and deploying heat network options.”
What impact could your technology have?
“At scale, wastewater heat could become a routine option in heat network planning. Councils could run faster, cheaper and repeatable feasibility studies, helping target the expected £60bn–£80bn of heat network investment towards lower-cost solutions and supporting the 20% connection ambition for 2050.”
“Making use of waste heat sources makes heat networks more resilient to global energy price fluctuations, reduces strain on the electricity grid and lowers overall emissions for one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise.”
“At scale, wastewater heat could become a routine option in heat network planning.”Dr Stefano Giacalone, Decisio
What’s your vision for the future?
“Within five to ten years, decision-support tools such as TORCH, built on the Decisio platform, could move asset planning from periodic, report-based studies to continuous, data-driven analysis. This will lead to better and more auditable decision-making, and will help identify and facilitate cross-sector opportunities, supporting more circular economy solutions and leading to more affordable, sustainable and resilient services for end-users.”
Quotes from “Smart Water Solutions”, Expert Q&A: Water Infrastructure, by Jon Excell, The Engineer, November 2026, pages 38–41.
Watch: Project TORCH explained
A short three-part video series featuring Dr Stefano Giacalone and the TORCH project partners: why wastewater is the UK’s hidden heat source, how that heat can be recovered, and how councils can weigh cost, carbon and community when planning heat networks.
Find out more about TORCH on the Innovation Hub AW project page.