Foundations laid for water sector commitments

Water UK has updated on progress on the five Public Interest Commitments (PICs) it set six months ago.

While each of the water companies has agreed to work towards all five PICs, chief executives have also been assigned sponsor roles for particular areas.

Pauline Walsh at Affinity, Bob Taylor at Portsmouth and Peter Simpson at Anglian oversee the commitment to tripling the rate of sector-wide leakage reduction.

Initial work has involved coordinating with Water Resource Management Plans and PR19 submissions to establish the baseline for delivering on the pledge.

Efforts by the steering group so far has included a leakage focus at Innovate East, which Anglian co-hosted in September; and an address by the three chairs at Water UK’s Leakage Conference this month. The goal is part of a wider strategy to reduce per capita consumption, and invest in the transfer and storage of water to meet shortage needs.

Affordability of water bills, headed up by Heidi Mottram of Northumbrian and United Utilities’ Steve Mogford, has focused on defining a common understanding of what water poverty really means.

UK Water Industry Research will report in February on its own work on understanding water poverty that will inform the PIC group.

Defining water poverty and the different approaches to tackling it will allow the group to identify where there are gaps to be addressed.

Mottram, with Peter Simpson of Anglian, also leads the group to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Supported by Water UK’s Net Zero Carbon Network a baseline position has been set and existing projects and schemes are being assessed. Companies were encouraged to share best practice and insights from different sectors are being sought to help the group decide how to deliver the pledge.

Mel Karam of Bristol and Colin Skellett from Wessex lead the group to reduce single-use plastic consumption by the public and in company operations. Its efforts have focused so far focused on making it easier for people to refill water bottles and celebrating National Refill Day in June with more than 20,000 drinking fountains on high streets around the country.

The pledge to achieve 100 per cent social mobility has been signed up to by all WASCs and WOCs committed them to partner with colleges and schools to offer coaching, work experience and apprenticeship opportunities. Liv Garfield, Severn Trent, leads the pledge group, which intends to extend the goal beyond companies to their supply chains.

Lastly Michael Roberts, chief executive of Water UK, is heading up the group to enshrine public interest in water companies’ business purpose. Its first achievement was Anglian changing its company Articles of Association to make public interest central to the constitution of its business.