- Rheya combines emergency battery power with software designed to predict wastewater discharges
- Power outages at pumping stations can turn routine blackouts into environmental pollution
- Rheya battery will predict underlying causes of spills before they occur
British startup Rheya Labs has developed backup batteries specifically designed to keep wastewater pumping stations running during power outages across Britain.
The company was named one of 20 finalists in Ofwat’s £7.5 million Water Discovery Challenge, run by the Water Innovation Fund.
Each finalist receives up to £100,000 in seed funding, forming part of a wider fund of £7.5 million spread over 20 months.
A different approach to an old problem
Sewage spills are a common and long-standing problem, often attributed to overloaded systems or heavy rains.
England recorded around 290,000 wastewater discharges from storm overflows during 2025, lasting approximately 1.9 million hours combined across the network.
Power outages at pumping stations are widely recognized as a trigger for these spills, along with heavy rains and aging infrastructure.
Rheya Labs is now working on a system that combines an instant battery backup with software designed to detect faults before they cause spills.
When power outages occur, Rheya batteries instantly take over the pumps, preventing wastewater from spilling into rivers and streets.
The system also applies machine learning to pump data, with the goal of predicting the underlying causes of spills before they occur.
Co-founder Ben Taylor said wastewater pollution remains a growing crisis across the UK and called energy resilience at pumping stations a hidden but important cause.
Predictive analytics can give Rheya the edge
Elsewhere, Sydney Water has trialled sodium-ion battery packs at its Bondi pumping station, offering a cheaper alternative to lithium-ion systems.
That Australian project, backed by a $10.6 million grant, combines a 30 kWh sodium-ion pack with rooftop solar generation as backup power.
In New York, Viridi’s 150 kWh lithium-ion battery system replaced diesel generators and provided backup power for 32 to 90 hours.
Unlike those systems, Rheya’s technology supposedly combines instantaneous power backup with predictive analytics, potentially detecting failures before they actually occur.
“With our rapidly changing climate, it is more vital than ever that we redouble our efforts to create a water system capable of supporting lives and livelihoods,” said Jo Jolly, Chief Innovation Officer at Ofwat.
“The variety of new ideas coming from new actors is astonishing. The challenge is to ensure that these ideas generate impact on the ground, with the sense of urgency that these times need.”
Whether Rheya’s approach truly outperforms established sodium-ion and lithium-ion systems has yet to be demonstrated outside of controlled trials and early pilot deployments so far.
Independent verification of Rheya’s claims about predicting the spill has yet to appear in public trials, leaving early results largely anecdotal for now.
Up to ten finalists, potentially including Rheya, will share £550,000 each next April, funding further trials ahead of a wider rollout across the water network.
The success of this project will ultimately depend on whether the predictive software matches the reliability already demonstrated by simpler sodium and lithium alternatives.
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