The Flush Forward Challenge United Kingdom, launching on Monday 5th October 2026, is tackling critical environmental issues like sewage and nutrient pollution, as well as water scarcity, by exploring how Reinvented Toilet technologies can benefit the UK.
- Around 1 million homes are not connected to mains sewers in the UK, instead relying on septic tanks that discharge ecologically harmful nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.
- Pollution from overflowing sewers and septic tanks are causing environmental issues in our waterways.
- Water and wastewater capacity and nutrient neutrality rules are limiting much needed housebuilding.
The Flush Forward Challenge United Kingdom will fund and support ‘problem owners’ – organisations that contend with sewage pollution and off-grid sanitation – to better understand and test how Reinvented Toilet technology could be implemented in the UK. By identifying non-sewered sanitation issues and developing mitigation plans incorporating new technologies, we will build the case for Reinvented Toilet adoption in the UK as a launchpad to scale these life-changing technologies globally.
The Challenge builds on the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge started by the Gates Foundation in 2011 to spur the creation of new technologies that safely and effectively manage human waste. More than 15 years later, these technologies hold life-changing potential for the 3.4 billion people who lack access to safe sanitation.
The Flush Forward Challenge is delivered by Challenge Works, in partnership with Bluechain Consulting and Cranfield University and is funded by the Gates Foundation.