Speakers at the event, due to take place in London, will include Rachel Fletcher (Ofwat), Sebastian Catovsky (Defra), Stephen Bird (South West Water), Eifiona Williams (Welsh Government), Andy Hughes (Water Plus) and Nicci Russell (Waterwise). Jean Spencer will also be receiving the 2018 ICE Chris Binnie Sustainable Water Management Award on behalf of the Strategy Steering Group.
The event, sponsored by South West Water, will mark a year of ambition and progress on water efficiency, since Waterwise launched the Waterwise Water Efficiency Strategy for the UK – a blueprint to deliver a vision of a UK in which all people, homes and businesses are water-efficient, and where water is used wisely, every day, everywhere. Attendees are expected from across and beyond the water sector, joining together to celebrate the achievements from the past year and looking ahead to the next steps.
This major policy project has not only influenced governments and water companies to high ambition on water efficiency in the UK, to deliver resilient and sustainable water supply system but has also led to a major policy shift, supporting greater demand management, including support for personal water consumption targets for England. The new report will set out achievements against the Strategy in Year 1 – and priorities for Year 2.
Nicci Russell said: “Water companies, government, regulators and other stakeholders have worked closely with us in delivering against the Strategy, and it’s great to see the level of ambition currently in the sector. But as ever, we’d like to see even more – believing that water efficiency can help deliver across water companies’ strategic promises to customers, not just resilience of services and environmental improvement. We’re also thrilled that the Strategy and its Steering Group have recently won two prestigious awards – the 2018 Institute for Civil Engineers Chris Binnie Award in Sustainable Water Management and the International Water Association’s Project Innovation Award (taking bronze out of 160 entries from 45 countries).”