The Government has today announced new water saving measures to safeguard supplies, encourage water efficient products and introduce a more consistent approach to leakage; seven new areas in the South, East and the Midlands have also been designated as in serious water stress.

The plans to help households across England use water more efficiently, part of an ambitious agenda to build back greener from the pandemic, have been announced by the Environment Secretary George Eustace in a statement to the House of Commons.

Announced in response to a public consultation on personal water usage, the proposals will balance the growing demand on national supplies with the ambitions in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan to achieve clean and plentiful water. They are also key to the Government’s 2050 net zero target by reducing energy consumption in homes as heating water accounts for approximately 17% of an average household’s energy use.

As water supplies come under increasing pressure from climate change and population growth, the new commitments will also protect supplies for the future.

The proposals include:

• Encouraging local authorities to adopt the optional minimum building standard of 110 litres per person per day, compared with the current standard of 125 litres, requiring developers to install more efficient fixtures and fittings in all new builds where there is a clear local need, such as in water stressed areas;
• In 2022 develop a roadmap towards greater water efficiency in new developments and retrofits, including the exploration of revised building regulations and how the development of new technologies can contribute to meeting these standards. Ensure that the underlying legislation can, where appropriate, accommodate any potential future expansion of rainwater harvesting, water re-use and storage options.
• Introducing mandatory water efficiency labels for products such as dishwashers and showers will help people to make informed choices about how they can save water and encourage the purchase of more water efficient products for both domestic and business use. The Government will also consider the potential to achieve energy savings, as well as further water savings, and explore how these can be achieved in a way that minimises the impact on consumers;
• Asking water companies to develop a consistent approach on fixing customer supply pipe leakage. Over the last 10 years around 25% of total leakage has been from customer supply pipes.

The measures, along with the work from water companies to reduce leakage by 50%, are intended to help meet the ambitions set out in the National Framework for Water Resources to reduce average personal water consumption to 110 litres per person per day by 2050.

"Water companies must up their game and take urgent action in reducing leakage"

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said:

"We often take our supply of clean and plentiful water for granted. We must all work harder to tackle the pressures on our water resources by understanding and challenging ourselves on how much water we need to use in our daily lives."

"While I have been clear that water companies must up their game and take urgent action in reducing leakage, this new package of measures will help us all to use less water.”

Seven additional water company areas designated as being in serious water stress

Following advice from the Environment Agency, the Secretary of State has also agreed to designate seven additional water company areas as being in serious water stress.

Severn Trent Water, South Staffordshire Water, Wessex Water, Portsmouth Water, Cambridge Water, the Bournemouth area of South West Water, and the Isles of Scilly must now publish a water resources management plan (WRMP) that considers all options to manage demand more effectively – including metering and greater leakage reduction.

However, the Government will make no changes to existing rules around when people can be charged for their water use through water meters. Water companies in these areas may only implement wider water metering programmes where there is customer support and it is cost effective to do so.

The programmes must be justified by water companies and achieve customer support, striking the right balance between the need to protect water supplies and importance of water companies reducing leakage before expanding the use of water meters. This protects unmetered family homes from unexpected large increases in bills.

Each company’s water resources management plan will be subject to public consultation in 2022 before the Environment Secretary decides whether a company should be allowed to publish and implement its final plan.

Environment Agency Chair Emma Howard Boyd commented:

“Fresh water is the world’s most precious commodity and everyone needs to wake up to the fact that there is less of it to go around. If we continue to operate as usual, by 2050 the amount of water available in England could be reduced by 10 to 15 percent, some rivers could have between 50 and 80 percent less water during the summer and we will not be able to meet the demands of people, industry and agriculture.

"Parts of England are over-abstracted and we are already making hard choices. The designation of seven additional water company areas as being in serious water stress alongside the other proposals announced today are important steps to securing long-term resilient water supplies.

This work will support the measures set out in the Environment Bill to further help us secure long-term, resilient water and wastewater services, making sure that we have a cleaner, greener and more resilient country for the next generation.”

Water UK warns "by introducing labels in isolation Government have missed an important opportunity"

Responding to the Written Ministerial Statement on reducing demand for water, Water UK Director of Policy Stuart Colville said:

“By 2050, we expect an extra 7 million people to be using water just as climate change reduces our supplies by 15%. We can reduce leaks, move water around the country, and develop new sources of supply – but only fully meet the extra needs of future decades by also reducing water use in homes. That’s why we are pleased to see the Government take on board our recommendation to introduce water use labels for white goods like washing machines and dishwashers.

“However, by introducing labels in isolation the Government have missed an important opportunity. Labels need to be coupled with tighter building regulations to ensure new homes are water efficient, as well as basic minimum standards for appliances to stop them flushing precious supplies down the drain. Those additional changes are the minimum needed to have the impact we need on unnecessary water use; otherwise, we will see continued risks for customers and hard-pressed rivers.”

Water UK’s detailed research study in 2019 on the benefits and costs of different water efficiency approaches suggested that:

• Without accompanying a label with changed building regulations and minimum appliance standards, it is not possible to get household consumption down to the levels we need (e.g. 100l/h/d and below)
• Introducing a labelling scheme alone saves 13litres per person per day. But accompanying this with minimum standards increases the saving to 27 litres per person per day. The difference between these numbers equates to about 1,000Ml/d by the second half of the century – equivalent to a third of current leakage losses.
• On their own (without any labelling initiative), changes to building regulations reduce consumption by a further 14 l/h/d by 2065, equivalent to another third of current leakage losses.

National Infrastructure Commission - "compulsory water metering vital to controlling water usage to the degree needed in longer term"

The National Infrastructure Commission has also raised concerns.

A spokesperson for the National Infrastructure Commission said:

“Any step to help reduce personal water consumption and cut leakage will contribute to reducing the risk of severe drought in future. That’s why the water sector’s pledge to half leakages by 2050 remains crucial.

“But on the demand side, highlighting the water usage of new products will only work with a corresponding public engagement campaign, which would also build support for compulsory water metering which the Commission believes is vital to controlling water usage to the degree needed for the longer term.”

The NIC published a landmark report in April 2018, Preparing for a drier future, which called for a twin-track approach combining demand management (including leakage reduction and compulsory water metering) with long-term investment in supply infrastructure.