Covid will make PCC targets ‘exceptionally hard’

Lockdown has added a challenge to water companies attempting to lower per capita consumption (PCC) as water usage has risen over the past two months, according to data from SES Water.

Changes to daily demand patterns have shown the traditional spike of usage in the morning and evening replaced with consistent usage through the day as routines have shifted for many people.

Surrey-based SES Water produced data from the past 10 weeks showing a 16 per cent increase in household water use but a drop of 56 per cent for non-domestic users.

Alison Murphy, water strategy manager at SES, told Utility Week the lifestyle changes combined with the warm dry weather would make PCC targets “exceptionally hard” to reach this year.

These targets are measured on a three-year basis with a rolling average to take account of changes in weather and other factors, but Murphy said people working from home will certainly impact this year.

“The added effects of Covid-19 will influence usage. We have not been able to get out to people’s homes to implement water efficiency measures or install devices as we would have done but we have looked at other ways to be creative,” Murphy said.

This includes launching an online resource called Flow Zone as a home learning tool for families to learn about water efficiency.

Murphy explained the company has not planned when home visits to repair in-home leaks are likely to resume but anticipates external work such as meter fitting will begin in the coming weeks.

The data also showed changes to usage habits have shown differences in patterns of demand during the day. Murphy said ordinarily there would be a high peak in the mornings between 7am and 9am followed by a second peak in the evening at dinnertime and bath-time.

However, she said in some districts there has been a far flatter profile over the day as people are getting up later and demand has stayed relatively the same throughout the day, which has affected supply issues and pumping.

“Normally we would pump between five and seven in the evening or early in the morning to provide additional pressure when demand is highest, but that doesn’t apply now because demand is high through the whole day. The difference between weekdays and weekends are blurred as you’d expect.”

She said this has been more noticeable in some districts than others – those with higher socio-economic groups typically have maintained the previous usage patterns.

With consumers divided into six socio-economic groups the company saw that weekday morning use was spread across all groups aside from category A, the most affluent group. The peak was delayed by 30 minutes to four hours among the other groups showing changes to routine.

“People seem to be getting up at the same time and sticking to the patterns of usage more, whereas people in lower economic groups are showing more flatter usage profile through the day,” Murphy said. “In the first group there has been a flatter profile, but the same peaks are noticeable whereas the second group the morning and evening not clearly defined.”

Murphy said as the restrictions are lifted gradually and schools open and people come off furlough then SES would expect to see a return to the established patterns, which also may be more pronounced in some groups than in others.

For SES, which has an 80/20 split between household and non-household customers, the domestic increase has balanced out the reduction from business customers however Murphy said SES is not representative and other areas with more industrial customers would not have seen the same.

Despite a strong focus on handwashing to prevent the spread of germs since the outbreak of coronavirus, Murphy said the data did not suggest the uptick was related to it and also that handwashing used relatively little water compared to showers, baths and hosepipes.