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What we can learn from championing water-efficient communities in the UK

About the blog

Jeannette Henderson
Principal, Ofwat Innovation Fund.

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  • What we can learn from championing water-efficient communities in the UK

The water sector is crucial to our everyday lives, yet it is under increasing pressure from the triple challenge of population growth, finite drinking water supplies, and negative impacts of climate change.

The Government has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029, increasing demand on the water network, particularly as the UK population is predicted to reach 74 million in 2036, up from 68 million today. If nothing changes over the next ten years, the UK is at risk of a drinking water shortage.  

Leaks are an obvious drain on efficiency, with 20% of water that enters the mains system lost. And while much more can still be done to reduce leaks in the water system, there are also opportunities to help customers use water in a smarter way.

Encouraging and actively facilitating customers to use water in a more efficient way is imperative to ensuring sustainable water supplies for customers. Water companies can make this a reality by ensuring customers, both businesses and individuals, remain engaged with their water consumption.

To prepare the sector for upcoming challenges, we also need new thinking and scalable, innovative solutions, as well as learn lessons from previous initiatives that have attempted to enact change. Since 2020, the Ofwat Innovation Fund has supported multiple water efficiency initiatives.

An object of the fund is to share lessons with the whole sector. This ensures that all breakthroughs can be adopted where appropriate, and that discoveries in one part of the country can benefit us all. As part of this, the fund has begun publishing a series of learning reports to collate learnings. 

In the “Supporting Water-Efficient Communities” learning report, eight projects that were awarded over £15 million by the fund have been put under the knowledge-sharing spotlight.

Managing water demand and wastewater from new housing requires innovative solutions. £2.9m was awarded to Project Zero to explore how water-efficiency can be integrated into new-build developments, so that they add no additional burden on the local water network. The project installed water-saving technologies such as shower heads and tap inserts in homes and grey water recycling and ultra-low flush toilets into nearby existing commercial buildings such as schools and leisure centres. Decreased water use in homes and commercial buildings means that overall water use by the new housing development is effectively offset, making it "water neutral".

Encouraging and actively facilitating customers to use water in a more efficient way is imperative to ensuring sustainable water supplies for customers

One of the discoveries of the project is that many residents do not believe they waste water. The project, a collaboration between Affinity Water and non-water sector organisations, has trialled several ways to tackle these misconceptions. Helping residents understand their actual water usage and potential for significant savings has proved to be crucial. In-person events were an effective way to engage customers to save water by capturing community interest and informing campaign messaging.

Fair Water - a collaboration including Northumbrian Water, Newcastle University, Procter & Gamble, and National Energy Action - aims to help low-income households reduce their emissions through a combination of behavioural change and new water-efficient products.

Washing dishes, doing the laundry, and bathing consumes significant amounts of water and electricity. With more than a quarter of the UK’s CO2 emissions generated by households, and the water sector consuming 3% of the country’s electricity, enhancing energy and water efficiency in homes is essential.

The project – which was awarded £3.8 million - helps deepen the sector’s understanding of how to communicate with customers who aren’t necessarily interested in reducing water consumption and may not be aware of their current water use. More relatable messaging could include focussing on carbon or energy-related benefits of reducing water use.

These examples highlight that water efficiency can be improved by innovative approaches to engaging customers. By implementing small changes to water systems, people and businesses can save water. However, water efficiency will continue to be a major challenge for the sector.

Following the success of its first five years, the Ofwat Innovation Fund has been increased to £400 million and extended by five years to 2030. At the same time, Ofwat is finalising its plans for a £100 million Water Efficiency Fund – which it proposed would include £25 million for water efficiency innovations and be complementary to the Ofwat Innovation Fund.

At the heart of this will be a continued drive to share lessons across the water sector. The challenges that each of these projects are solving are ones experienced across the sector - it’s vital that future innovation builds on what has gone before, rather than starting afresh each time. The learning reports are an important tool to make this a reality.

To read the Ofwat Innovation Fund’s water efficiency learning report, visit: https://waterinnovation.challenges.org/news-updates/supporting-water-efficient-communities-report/  

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