Water companies urge public to limit usage

The water sector has urged householders to be mindful of their usage at peak times as demand reached its highest ever point amid the continued lockdown and sunny weather.

According to data from Water UK, people are currently using an average of 20 per cent more water, with some areas seeing up to a 40 per cent increase in May.

The figures suggest that water previously used outside the home – at workplaces or gyms, for example – is now all taking place at home. This combined with the extra warm weather has meant an additional 2.25 billion litres of water being used each day – equivalent to 900 Olympic size swimming pools.

As previously reported by Utility Week, water companies are reporting sufficient levels of water are available after the wet winter, however the elongated peak in demand means many networks are struggling to pump water as quickly as it is being used.

“Drinking water treatment systems are pretty much working flat out at maximum capacity to produce enough water to meet the unusually high demand. However, it’s a finite system. The distribution network is fixed and unlike other services cannot easily expand to meet short term demand spikes. It’s simply not possible to get more water to where it needs to be at the time it needs to be there.  Some customers may already be seeing drops in pressure that are the first indication of an impact in some homes,” said Jim Marshall, senior policy adviser at Water UK.

The trade body’s chief executive Christine McGourty issued a plea to the public to reduce strain on the water network, saying “the less water we use at peak times, the less likely it is that water will be ‘under pressure’”.

Householders are being asked to limit their use of garden watering systems such as sprinklers and to pour water from paddling pools onto gardens to reuse it.

Waterwise and the wider water sector are targeting gardeners specifically to be mindful about how often they water lawns and gardens, with many promoting the message to ignore brown lawns until it next rains.

The situation in Northern Ireland has caused NI Water to plead for householders to immediately stop using watering systems on gardens or filling pools up. The company said it pumped 120 million litres more than usual into its system this weekend and warned of network failures if the level of demand remains as high.

Population growth and environmental concerns over abstraction meant that lowering consumption has been a major concern for the sector with stretching PCC reduction targets featuring in all AMP7 business plans.

Utility Week’s campaign, 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.