Thames Water says families could save £180 on bills ahead of the launch of its free Smarter Home Visits initiative in Newbury, with customers set to receive a letter about the offer over the next few weeks.
The offer follows a trial in Oxford over the summer, which saved the city around 18 million litres of water over a year.
Smarter Home Visits last around half an hour and involve a water efficiency expert fitting free devices to taps, toilets and showers to help residents save money and checking for leaks. The water company says leaking toilets can waste five bathtubs of water per day and add £300 to annual metered water bills – under the offer Thames will fix them for free.
Around one in 20 homes are estimated to have a leaky loo, which appears as a constant trickle of water down the back of the pan.
Andrew Tucker, water efficiency manager at Thames Water, said:
“Newbury and the south-east is classed as “seriously water-stressed” by the Environment Agency, meaning all available sources of drinking water are in use.”
“We need our customers’ help to reduce the demand for water in this area. Smarter Home Visits are a really easy way of doing just that and can save customers a lot of money on water and energy bills, too.”
“Our freebies can reduce the amount of water and energy your taps, toilets and showers use but don’t affect their performance. This means you can have them fitted, forget about them and save on metered water and energy bills.”
“Newbury customers can also get leaky loos fixed for free, saving them hundreds in wasted water charges and plumber call-outs, while cutting their annual metered water and energy bills at the same time.”
Thames Water has teamed up with environmental charity Groundwork to offer the service, as using less water potentially means there is more in the local rivers to support the environment and river wildlife. The Smarter Home Visits scheme is also being supported by the Action for the River Kennet environmental group.
Charlotte Hitchmough, director of Action for the River Kennet, said:
“We are delighted that Newbury residents have the chance to take part in this water-saving initiative. Every drop of water saved at home is potentially a drop more left in the river to support the amazing range of wildlife we enjoy every day.”
“The Kennet Valley is drier than many people think and we have one of the highest rates of water use in the country. If everyone uses a bit less water, we can all enjoy healthier rivers.”
For more information visit www.thameswater.co.uk/savenewbury
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