New campaign to create united voice on water efficiency

A new group has been formed to launch collaborative national water efficiency campaigns to ensure a consistent message during lockdown.

As the nation’s habits have drastically changed during lockdown – including how water is consumed – a group of water efficiency experts across the sector has begun work on a new approach to convincing people to be mindful of water use.

The recent surge in consumer demand has caused companies and Water UK to ask people to use water wisely and highlighted the need for a joined-up message from the sector.

Tom Andrewartha, water efficiency manager at Northumbrian Water who is coordinating the new group alongside Waterwise, said companies were experiencing similar issues during lockdown.

“Many of our water efficiency programmes are paused as we are unable to enter homes and schools have been closed, so we wanted to find a different way to promote the message over the summer.

“We have talked for many years about a national campaign around water efficiency and creating a groundswell of people’s awareness so we thought why not do it now when there is an opportunity while people are living lives in a different way.”

The group wants to tackle three key challenges around efficiency: increased demand, consistent messaging across the country, and how to engage customers around water efficiency when dedicated programmes have been paused because of lockdown.

Andrewartha said it was important to be aligned with public health messages around hand-washing and hygiene, which was acknowledged in Waterwise’s Water Saving Week at the start of May and widely supported by the industry.

The campaign will look at how people can be more conscious of their water use when in the home and garden – when doing DIY and chores, watering plants and lawns, washing cars or filling up pools.

Andrewartha said there will be another element to capture people’s imaginations, but it is a blank page at the moment. “We tend to fall back on the same water saving tips so want something different, perhaps a challenge or way for people to get involved.”

“We purposefully didn’t want to present too much of a concept early on because it could have become too similar to what has been done before, so we left it open as an open book to start from scratch,” he said.

He said a cross sector approach is needed and there is an opportunity to push the message further: if government, regulators, trusted third parties, NGOs promoted water efficiency it would resonate in a way that water companies alone cannot achieve and the public could find it far more engaging.

“To deliver on the stretching (PCC) targets and go beyond those is going to require supportive policy change from government but also the water efficiency message coming from others as well as water companies,” Andrewartha explained. “That’s the only way we will see the step change in awareness and the value of water.

“We need to tell the bigger story and narrative around water – it’s a precious resource but a lot of people haven’t created the link that when they turn on the tap the water is coming from the local environment. It is really important to get that message across in a really effective way.

“There’s an opportunity around linking water and the climate emergency. I read some great insight that said water will be the medium through which we see and feel the effects of the climate emergency. If that doesn’t make you value water nothing will.”

Utility Week’s own series on water efficiency, Mind the Tap, examines how we can overturn public apathy about the need to reduce water consumption. Mind the Tap aims to unite the water sector in a common cause, unlock the right messages to connect with consumers and set out clear demands for government.