UK ranked highly for water technology innovation – EPO report

More broadly, Europe is leading globally in the development of new technologies in the water sector, the report has found.

The report looks at international patent families (IPFs) and found that companies, researchers and inventors from the EPO’s 39 member states, including the UK, accounted for 40 per cent of all IPFs in water-related technologies in 1992-2021. 

European inventors are said to lead in all major areas of water technology, from potable water harvesting and efficient water use to wastewater treatment and flood protection. 

According to the United Nations, 2.2 billion people lacked access to safely managed drinking water in 2022, and 3.5 billion lacked safe sanitation services. In addition, droughts and floods cause large numbers of deaths and billions in economic losses every year. In Europe, 12 per cent of the population lives in areas at risk of flooding and around 30 per cent of people in southern Europe face permanent water stress, according to a recent report from the European Environment Agency.