Three quarters of people ‘not concerned’ about water shortages

Research has found 77 per cent of people are “not concerned” about by water shortages, according to a new report by Baringa Partners.

The survey of 2,000 adults also found that a majority (55 per cent) think the customer has the responsibility to save water and not the supplier.

Baringa says the research reinforces the challenges companies face in engaging and influencing customers.

Almost half of respondents (48 per cent) believe a lack of investment by water companies and a slow response to identifying and resolving leaks (43 per cent) are major contributors to the leakage and water scarcity issues the UK is  experiencing.

Furthermore, the vast majority (85 per cent) of people said they know how to save water while 74 per cent would choose to buy appliances that use less water if they were available.

Interestingly, scarcity does not seem to drive frugality and there is no correlation between UK areas that are most  water-stressed, those that use the least water and customer perceptions that reducing consumption is important.

James Piggott, director of energy and resources at Baringa and co-author of the study, said: “Despite the fact that 77 per cent of UK consumers say they are not concerned about water shortages, over half say that they, the consumers, are responsible to save water.

“Seventy-four per cent are keen to know how much water their appliances use and would buy an appliance that uses less water if one was available.

“These are just a couple of numbers from our survey that show a clear opportunity for water companies: to address water scarcity, they must understand the nuances of customer opinion relating to leakage, metering and personal consumption.

“Joined-up, data-led segmentation across all areas of the business, for example, will allow them to tailor engagement campaigns, help win minds and hearts of customers, and bridge customer expectations before asking people to use less.”

Reducing leakage is a key priority for the water sector, with firms coming under increasing pressure to improve performance as the threat of nationalisation looms over the industry.

In April, Water UK published its new public interest commitment which includes a pledge to triple leakage reduction rates across the industry by 2030, as part of a long-term strategy to reduce consumption and invest more in water transfer and storage.