Chief executive’s view: where next for water efficiency?

"Chief executives know that ambitious and innovative water efficiency can drive greater customer engagement, as well as resilience"

Where next for water efficiency? Well, the sky’s the limit. Looking at England and Wales, it really feels as if now’s the time for higher ambition.

Take government in England. The 25 Year Environment Plan the prime minister published on 11 January commits to an ambitious personal consumption target, and to taking forward cost-effective and practical measures that will make significant savings. Crucially, there’s also a pledge to work with the industry and Waterwise to do this. That’s the exciting bit – government action as well as driving the industry to aim higher. Hooks include commitments to environmental net gain, clean and plentiful water, resilience to natural hazards including drought, and behaviour change targets.

The door seems to be open at last for action on building regulations, planning controls, fixtures and fittings, and retrofitting of existing homes. These have all long been Waterwise asks and feature in our water efficiency strategy for the UK.

We know the Secretary of State wants to do better than Germany – currently at 120 litres per person per day vs England’s 140. I’ve been involved in water efficiency for 13 years and that’s the most ambition I’ve seen from a government anywhere in the UK.

At a recent Waterwise industry workshop, Defra were left in no doubt about the strength of feeling for a mandatory water efficiency label. It’s worked in other sectors and other countries, and research is underway to evidence the impacts.

Next, take Ofwat’s price review for 2020-25 for England and Wales. This requires ambitious water efficiency, including through a compulsory performance commitment on per capita consumption – with financial rewards and penalties attached – and a resilience commitment to mitigate drought risk, including across company boundaries. Chief executives know that ambitious and innovative water efficiency can drive greater customer engagement, as well as resilience – helping form an ‘exceptional’ plan.

And then there’s the new retail market in England. Lots of England has suffered a dry winter, reminding us yet again of the significant water savings required to ensure water comes out of taps in years to come. But recent analysis by Waterwise shows fewer than 40 per cent of water retailers offering leakage detection – absolutely key to water efficiency for business and public-sector customers. And fewer than 25 per cent offer greywater re-use and the development of a water use strategy.

Water efficiency was the big promise of the new retail market, but in some areas, it’s actually reduced since 1 April 2017 as wholesalers have had to drop their audit programmes and retailers haven’t picked them up. Some retailers are doing great work on water efficiency. But to concentrate minds, Waterwise is working with Southern Water and the Consumer Council for Water to develop a league table on water savings delivered by retailers. Waterwise is also developing a retailer forum to drive water efficiency ambition – which should be at the heart of their offer to customers, as it reduces water and energy bills and carbon. We’re asking Ofwat to require retailers to report on water savings. Resilience of supply requires retailers to play their part – it’s a key business risk to their customers. And Ofwat’s resilience duty means we need them to shine a brighter light.  Retailers, if you’d like to get involved, contact me on nicci.russell@waterwise.org.uk.

In this column I’ve concentrated on England and Wales, to highlight recent exciting developments there. But Waterwise is a UK NGO, and we want everyone to aim higher. Our 12th annual Waterwise conference will focus on more ambitious delivery across the UK, drawing on our water efficiency strategy.