Affinity’s CEO calls for water scarcity to be on national agenda

Water scarcity must be pushed up the political agenda and into the national consciousness, Affinity Water’s CEO has said.

Resurrecting the National Council for Water, creating a dedicated water minister role, as well as grey water reuse and greater ambition to curb consumption were among the recommendations in a report from Affinity and thinktank Demos.

Compulsory metering is a key aspect of the Flowing Forward report. Affinity’s chief executive Keith Haslett told Utility Week that smart metering needs to a reach a point of being on-par with the energy sector to influence consumer behaviour and protect the environment.

“If we address some of that, then we’re able to dial down some of the really big engineering projects that would otherwise be needed to fix the deficit long term,” he said. “No one wants desalination or high energy technology, because it goes against the grain of what we’re trying to achieve with net zero. Compulsory metering and producing less water has to be at the forefront of our thought process.”

Haslett said getting water scarcity “front and centre” of government policy is essential to protect the fresh water environment.

“A dedicated minister for water could pull together the different government bodies alongside the water companies,” Haslett said. “Putting back in place a national water council to have that formal environment would be really important going forward.”

At present, the parliamentary undersecretary of state for environment’s brief covers water and rural growth, which Demos suggests restructuring with a dedicated role for water.

Half of Brits (48%) feel the government is failing to meet its responsibilities to maintain water access, the report shows, and only 15% think government is doing enough to tackle the issue.

Until 1983, a national council for water existed, which Demos recommended should be resurrected to bring together experts from stakeholders, water companies, regulators to collaborate on water resilience.

The report says the council should develop a shared and coherent framework with clear responsibilities for each stakeholder in reducing water demand. Demos said raising public awareness around saving water could be the remit of the council.

Haslett explained Affinity became involved with the Flowing forward report to use its position as the largest water-only company to progress work on demand management in a sustained way.

“We’re in a good position as a large water-only company to help drive this forwards on behalf of the sector. We can do a huge amount in this space as a water company, but we do need help.”

He pointed to policy changes to promote the use of grey water reuse and efficiency measures in homebuilding in a sustainable, long term way.

The Demos report also calls for: alternative charging structures to be explored that incentivise water conservation; a 100l per capita consumption (PCC) target to new build homes in water-stressed areas; ensure plumbers and installers of water-using devices are properly trained to achieve maximum water efficiency.