The Watersmart Innovation Hub: Solving Tomorrow’s Water Challenges Today

Water challenges are no longer theoretical. Flooding, water scarcity, ageing infrastructure, and rising expectations around resilience and sustainability are already shaping how we design, build, and manage our cities. 

Since November, the Watersmart Innovation Hub has been quietly operating as a space dedicated to tackling these challenges head-on. This year, we are opening it up to the wider industry as a place to learn, collaborate, and think more critically about how we manage water now and into the future. 

The Hub is grounded in our belief of solving tomorrow’s water challenges today. It brings together water sustainability, treatment, reuse, measurement, and flood protection solutions in one integrated environment, allowing people to see how systems work together rather than in isolation. 

More than a physical space, the Innovation Hub is intended to be used. It is a place for engineers, planners, asset managers, developers, and decision-makers to step back from day-to-day delivery and engage in meaningful conversations about water resilience and asset protection. 

We want the Hub to support: 

• Learning about new and emerging water solutions 

• Practical discussions around flood resilience and risk reduction 

• Better understanding of how data and measurement inform decision-making 

• Project-specific brainstorming and problem solving 

• Informed dialogue about climate change and resilient cities 

This week, we are proud to host our first industry session with Engineering New Zealand, marking the beginning of an ongoing programme of knowledge-sharing and collaboration. These sessions are not about selling products. They are about creating space for informed discussion and better outcomes. 

As we look ahead, our focus is on education, awareness, and leadership. Watersmart’s role goes beyond supplying systems. We aim to be a trusted partner the industry can lean on as water challenges continue to evolve and intensify. 

The Innovation Hub is one way we are investing in that commitment. We will continue to innovate, share what we learn, and work alongside our partners to help shape a more resilient water future. 

We invite you to engage with the Watersmart Innovation Hub this year. Book a session with us, join a future industry event, or follow along on our socials to stay connected as the programme grows.