Water UK calls for greater ambition in Environment Bill

Empowering the public to use water efficiently and the introduction of water labels must be explicit in the upcoming Environment Bill, Water UK has said, as it noted four areas the legislation lacks ambition.

Improving water efficiency, making wet wipe manufacturers pay to clear blockages and clarifying the powers of the Office for Environmental Protection were areas the trade body highlighted.

Although supportive of its potential to hold industries to account for their environmental impact, Water UK said there are serious omissions from the bill, which is currently at report stage in the House of Commons.

The trade body asked government to confirm whether minimum national water efficiency standards for water-using appliances will be introduced along with a mandatory national efficiency labelling scheme for white goods.

Labels would empower consumers to make informed decisions when shopping and cut water waste in homes, Water UK said of the zero-cost option for government.

It also called for clarity of building regulations to stop water-inefficient homes by requiring all fixtures and fittings to meet minimum efficiency standards.

Both building regulations and water labels would reduce the carbon cost of treating water, it stressed.

The bill, first introduced in 2019 and amended last year, included a clause that could be used for water labelling without making it explicit. Shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard called it a wasted opportunity for water and the environment to retain ambiguity around water efficiency.

As well as efficiency targets, Water UK called for tougher action against plastic pollutants – including wet wipes, which account for more than 90 per cent of fatbergs.

It called for alignment with the EU single use plastics directive, which puts the onus of costs related to labelling, the need to raise awareness and cleaning blockages on the manufacturers of wet wipes.

The role of the Office for Environmental Protection will add to the regulation the sector faces, which Water UK said will create “difficult interplays between statutory regulators”. It asked to avoid such overlap with a specific exclusion of direct regulation of private companies.

Lastly, the trade body called for full cooperation between all flood risk management authorities for the production of drainage and wastewater management plans and to clarify the distinction within the bill between sewerage and wastewater.