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3D printing cuts carbon and time for water infrastructure

By Richard High, 22 October, 2025
ChangeMaker3D’s robotic printing hub at Wigan Wastewater Treatment Works, where 3D-printed concrete components are produced for United Utilities and Scottish Water. (Image: ChangeMaker3D) ChangeMaker3D’s robotic printing hub at Wigan Wastewater Treatment Works, where 3D-printed concrete components are produced for United Utilities and Scottish Water. (Image: ChangeMaker3D)

ChangeMaker3D has launched a full-scale 3D concrete printing hub at Wigan Wastewater Treatment Works, marking a major step forward in digital manufacturing for the UK water industry.

Working with United Utilities, Scottish Water, and Manchester Metropolitan University, the company’s “Printfrastructure” programme demonstrates how additive manufacturing can deliver faster, safer, and more sustainable infrastructure components.

The project, backed by the Ofwat Innovation Fund, enables the production of complex concrete assets such as combined sewer overflow (CSO) chambers in just over an hour — compared with up to two days using traditional construction methods. Smaller components can be printed in as little as 45 minutes.

The printed units are produced using CyBe Robotics technology and left to cure for a minimum of three hours before handling. Tests show the process can cut embodied carbon by around 50%, while improving on-site safety by reducing the need for work at height or in confined spaces.

A close-up of a 3D concrete printer nozzle in action Close-up of the 3D printer nozzle extruding low-carbon concrete to form a combined sewer overflow chamber at the Wigan print hub. (Image: ChangeMaker3D)

United Utilities head of innovation Kieran Brocklebank said: “We’ve been working closely with ChangeMaker3D for three years, during which time the processes have been honed. To finally see a production line of assets being printed is a huge step forward. Digital technologies such as 3D construction printing will play an important role in driving efficient construction and helping us meet our Net Zero goals for carbon.”

The Wigan hub has been developed following three years of testing since ChangeMaker3D was first selected for United Utilities’ Innovation Lab in 2021. The company has already produced a wastewater chamber for trial at a Cheshire test site and continues to validate printed assets for long-term durability.

The initiative is now being showcased to other UK water companies, construction partners and infrastructure clients, highlighting the potential of 3D-printed concrete to transform asset delivery across utilities and beyond.

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