About us
We are a family of UK water professionals
Our members
Our members come from across the UK water sector with diverse and wide-ranging skills and disciplinary backgrounds; technicians, scientists, engineers, environmentalists, people and culture specialists, researchers and academics, contractors, manufacturers, asset managers, catchment managers, field operatives, senior leaders, regulators and policymakers and more.
Our Mission and Values
Water is the stuff of life. The lives of everyone, everywhere are touched by water. As the only professional body focusing entirely on the UK water sector, we create a family to which anyone working or studying or training to work in the UK water sector can belong.
Our members are water professionals who know that they deliver better outcomes for customers, stakeholders and the environment when they come together to share knowledge, create solutions and inspire positive change. The Institute of Water provides the knowledge, skills and networks our members need to deliver those outcomes.
Our values ensure that ‘how’ we work is as important as ‘what’ we do.
How we are run
Our Board is ultimately responsible for the running of IWater and is made up of our Chief Executive and 14 Non-Executive Directors – all Members of IWater.
The Board gives support and guidance to our Chief Executive and her small, dedicated team of staff based in our Gateshead office.
Our work is underpinned by our dedicated volunteers who bring their day-to-day experience in the sector to run and provide our core offerings. They are organised into eight regional areas and arrange a varied programme of events and activities throughout the year.
Our Programmes & Services
We offer a range of programmes and services including: Events (learning and social, in-person and remote), Professional Registrations, Publications, Mentoring, and Awards
Our commitment to DEI
We are committed to a policy of inclusion and equality for all staff, members and stakeholders. We recognise the value that a diverse water industry brings to society, and we are committed to promoting these benefits. We aim to be representative of the industry we serve and to ensure that there are no barriers to membership.
Environmental Sustainability
We know that water is precious and much of what we do at IWater is about reinforcing how we can reduce harmful human impacts on the water environment. But we also need to be aware of our own environmental impact as an organisation so we have developed an Environmental Sustainability Policy which identifies our significant environmental impacts, such as energy and water use, travel and production of waste, and helps us to monitor, control and reduce them.
Our History
In November 1938 Allen Bolton joined Sutton and District Water Company as a plumber. He became Chief Inspector in 1945 and, with a background in the industry, he looked for somewhere to turn for information and insight into the day to day operations of a water undertaking. None of the professional bodies at that time catered to his needs so he set about creating his own.