Thames unveils ‘online calculator’ for water efficiency

Thames Water has launched an online calculator for households, to give customers a better understanding of the water they use and to help them save water, energy and money.

Andrew Tucker, water efficiency manager at Thames Water unveiled the tool at the annual Waterwise conference in London today (19 March).

Speaking ahead of him this morning Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency said England could face a water shortage in 20-25 years, which he described at the “jaws of death”.

In the summer heatwave of 2018 Thames Water saw its “highest water demand ever” as demand increased by 17 per cent.

The new household calculator makes predictions based on responses to questions about how much water people use in the home and garden.

The answers then help to calculate energy use from heating water for showers and baths and shows how “simple changes” can help reduce money spent on energy and water bills.

Tucker said the water company also plans to launch a more complex calculator for businesses shortly.

It is estimated that an extra 2.1 million people are due to move into the Thames Water region over the next 25 years.

This, combined with climate change, means the company has predicted there will be a shortfall of 350 million litres of water a day between the amount available and the amount needed by 2045. By 2100, this is predicted to increase to 650 million litres a day.

Tucker said: “The number of people living in our region is continuously growing but the amount of water available isn’t. We’re encouraging our customers to save water at home and at work by making very small changes, like fixing leaky-loos and taps, which can make a big difference.”

Thames Water has previously had online calculators but this new one has been designed to reflect “typical lifestyles and modern living” based on customer feedback, Tucker explained.

He said: “It’s also the first calculator of its kind to identify how much water a customer typically uses outside of their home, such as when showering at the gym. This gives everyone a better understanding of their real life daily water use.”

Nicci Russell, managing director of Waterwise, added: “We really welcome Thames Water’s innovative and responsive approach to water efficiency. Its great new calculator, campaigning work, free fixes on leaky loos, and new ways of engaging with other players such as housing developers and water retailers, are really exciting. Thames Water works hard to support its customers and others to be more water efficient.”

The water company said it will offer free smarter home and business visits to more than 400,000 customers and install 700,000 domestic smart meters to put “people in control” of their water use.

Its draft business plan for 2020-25 proposes to invest £11.7 billion to improve resilience, service and efficiency, as well as provide more support for customers in vulnerable circumstances.

The company signed contracts worth a combined £200 million with suppliers to find and fix “more leaks than ever before” across London and the Thames Valley at its head office yesterday.

Thames Water is required to resubmit its business plan to Ofwat by 1 April after the regulator placed Thames in the significant scrutiny category when it published its initial assessment of the business plans for PR19.

Also speaking as part of the digital innovation session at the Waterwise conference, John Devall, head of asset planning and strategic investment at Severn Trent said that leakage is much lower than the mid-1990s but is still “far too high”.

He added: “Per capita consumption has moved a bit – something has to change.”

Referencing Sir Bevan’s speech, Devall said there needs to be a “Blue Planet moment for the water sector to move the dial”.

Talking about the “Waterwise vision”, Russell said there is more ambition from water companies on efficiency but the not-for-profit organisation wants to “see more”.