Wessex Water efficiency scheme ‘saves 1m litres’

Wessex Water claims its scheme to make homes more efficient has helped its customers to save one million litres of water.

Home Check was launched in September 2016 and has seen customers throughout the Wessex region receive free water saving devices and advice.

The project began as a pilot of 5,000 homes and was extended in 2017 with the ambition to complete another 15,000 visits by 2020 – a target which has already been surpassed.

During nearly 22,000 visits technicians fitted the “latest gadgets” as well as fixing dripping taps, leaking toilets and other problems for free.

Wessex says a total of 47,428 water saving devices were installed, saving an average of 43.89 litres per day per household and one million litres in total across its region.

Areas visited so far are Taunton, Bridgwater, Yeovil, Mere, Sturminster Newton, Gillingham, Bridport and Chippenham.

Water saving devices for the home include efficient shower heads, tap aerators and strips that can detect leaks from toilets that are often invisible.

Aimee Shaw, Wessex Water’s head of water resources and behaviour engagement, said: “Home checks give us an excellent opportunity to speak to people about how they use water at home, and often there are very simple solutions to household leaks or faults.

“Saving water is in everyone’s interests as it benefits the environment and keeps customers’ bills down if they are on a meter.

“One million litres saved is quite an achievement but we’re not stopping there. We’ll be re-starting the Home Check programme in 2020 as we continue to support our customers in their water-saving efforts.”

At the annual Waterwise conference in March Thames Water 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.

The 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.

Thames Water recently marked the milestone of helping 250,000 homes save a total of 20 million litres of water every day as part of the company’s smarter home visit project.

Also speaking at the Waterwise conference was the chief executive of the Environment Agency who warned that England could be just 25 years away from not having enough water to meet demand and is facing the “jaws of death”.

James Bevan said water companies all identified climate change as “the biggest operating risk” in their business plans for PR19.

He outlined that water companies also included charts in their plans predicting water demand and anticipated supply over the next few decades.

As demand rises and supply falls as the “effects of climate change kicks in” he suggests the country will be in the “jaws of death” when the lines of the x and y axis meet in around 20-25 years.