CCC pushes for water metering and labelling

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has called on Defra to increase water metering and introduce mandatory water efficiency labelling, whilst recognising the need for greater water efficiency to lower energy usage.

The annual progress report from the CCC suggested the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) implement compulsory metering and roll out smart meters, set more ambitious targets for leakage and lowering consumption and introduce mandatory water labels to accelerate this work.

“This is a great report that recognises the link between water and energy efficiency and preparing for the resilience deficit,” Matt Pluke, climate change and carbon manager at Anglian Water, told Utility Week. “It also notes that as good as the water industry is on adaptation, more needs to be done and we are all trying to do more.”

Pluke said he was heartened by the recommendations made by the CCC, especially their recognition of the water sector’s role: “If you want to tackle energy efficiency you need to tackle water efficiency.” He said the depth of understanding showed by the organisation “fills him with great confidence” that it is advising the government.

The report acknowledged the leadership the water sector has shown on reducing carbon emissions with its sector-wide commitment. All companies have pledged to reach net-zero carbon by 2030 and are due to publish a road map for achieving the target through Water UK in the autumn.

He noted, however, that their own direct emissions are a small proportion of the overall amount relating to water.

“The report recognises that buildings and heating continue to lag behind what is needed,” said Pluke. “It says the greatest challenge remains decarbonising heating and hot water,

“It makes recommendations to Defra on compulsory metering, encourages the rollout of smart meters, sets targets to reduce water demand and leakage, to introduce water efficiency labelling. Those are things the industry has been advocating for so it’s great to see them in the report.”

“Our commitment to net-zero by 2030 will tackle our part of those emissions, but we have to deal with those associated with customers using and heating water in the home. I’m delighted this is picked up in the report and they suggest ways forward.”

He said the vast majority of carbon emissions from the man-made water cycle are generated by homes and not during abstraction, treatment and recycling: “We need to do more about tackling water and energy efficiency together because 17 per cent of household energy use arises from heating water for taps, showers, dishwashers and washing machines.”

Pluke said although current targets for lowering per capita consumption (PCC) and leakage set out by Ofwat in the final determinations are heading in the right direction, Anglian and Waterwise are advocating for the regulator to go further: “We would like to see these combined into a target based on a percentage reduction in the distribution input by 2050.

“This could come from a mixture of domestic and non-domestic usage and leakage on the network and customer side – wherever it comes from. It is good to focus on PCC but there needs to be a broader target based on distribution input as a whole.”

The CCC’s report said water and transport are making progress to improve their resilience but no sector is yet doing enough to prepare for the impacts of climate change. It stated that all government departments should plan for global temperature rises of up to four degrees Celsius.

“It recognises that we’re not on course for two and regrettably are on course for closer to four degrees,” said Pluke. “It recognises that level of planning needed for the resilience deficit.”

He continued: “We’ve got to all commit to delivering net-zero so that we can get to a one and half or two-degree world. We must commit to net-zero but we also need to be prepared for something worse.”

The report was the first in which the CCC made department-specific recommendations for combating climate change. It also urged the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to publish a manufacturing and construction decarbonisation strategy, which Pluke said he was delighted to read.

“Anglian has been working with BEIS for a review on delivering infrastructure in a low-cost carbon way,” he recalled. “This work showed how reducing carbon also reduced delivery costs because less energy was used.

“Since setting ambitious targets to reduce capital carbon against a 2010 baseline we have seen costs fall out of infrastructure targets. I’m pleased to see this in the CCC report because taking the carbon out lowers the cost for whoever is paying and that’s ultimately the customers.”