Reducing Water Wastage in the UK

Waterwise warmly welcomes plans set out by the Environment Agency this week to tackle future water shortages in England and Wales. The plan indicates measures that should be implemented to help protect water resources to 2050 and beyond, including domestic metering and actions to reduce water consumption to help reduce carbon emissions.

Each person in the UK currently uses about 150 litres of water per day, more than most of our northern European neighbours, and Waterwise believes each person in the UK could reduce their water wastage by 1/3 by making simple behaviour changes. Simple measures such as turning the tap off when you brush your teeth can save 6 litres of water a minute and if everyone in the UK who currently leaves their tap running stopped, we would save enough water to supply 2.97 million people with enough water for one day. That’s the equivalent of the population of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Sheffield.

Waterwise Managing Director Jacob Tompkins says “Climate change is already leading to water supply challenges in homes and businesses – we have seen this from both floods and droughts in England in the last few years. And in the meantime we are all using more and more water, and the much-needed homes that are being built are often being built in the most water-stressed areas.

“We agree with the Environment Agency that we urgently need to make homes, business and buildings waste less water – through incentives, tighter standards, retrofitting homes, and reflecting the real value of water in pricing. We would like to see all homes in England and Wales metered by 2020, and for smart meters linking water and energy use to be considered. We would also like the government’s innovative plans to retrofit all homes for energy efficiency in the next 20 years to include water efficiency measures – saving water, energy and money.

“The Environment Agency’s report is timely, and sets out some welcome steps which need to be taken: both to help tackle climate change through wasting less water (cutting emissions), and to help us all cope as climate change reduces the amount of water available.”
“In addition, as part of the Blueprint for Water coalition of leading NGOs which set out ten steps for sustainable water by 2015, we welcome the reflection of these in the Agency’s strategy.”
For more information about Waterwise and water saving tips please visit www.waterwise.org.uk

Notes to Editors
Waterwise is an independent, not for profit, non-governmental organisation focused on decreasing water consumption in the UK by 2010 and building the evidence base for large scale water efficiency. We are the leading authority on water efficiency in the UK. Our aim is to reverse the upward trend in how much water we all use at home and at work by 2010. For more information please visit www.waterwise.org.uk

Contacts:
Chris Philpot
Communications Manager, Waterwise
020 7957 4615
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1 Queen Anne’s Gate, London, SW1H 9BT

Jacob Tompkins
Managing Director, Waterwise
020 7344 1841
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1 Queen Anne’s Gate, London, SW1H 9BT