Prime the Pump for Water Efficiency
Entec's Claire Penny discusses the issue of water efficiency and the need to ensure that every drop really counts
Water efficiency has recently risen up environmental and political agendas, driven in part by last year’s widely publicised drought. Much of the media attention focused on the stiff upper lips that were demonstrated in the face of potentially the worst drought in 30 years. The public is certainly aware that water is a limited resource and that every drop should count.
But people remain suspicious of the motives of the water companies when they encourage customers to use less water, particularly when the companies fail to meet their service and leakage targets as profits continue to rise. Failures to meet targets are usually reported without any explanation of economic levels of leakage or the range of performance that different water companies have achieved.
Although water companies have targets for reducing leakage must ensure security of supply, they do not have targets for improving efficiency of water use.
The government’s draft Code for Sustainable Homes will set per-capita consumption (PCC) targets for all new homes, although there is some debate about whether enshrining specific appliance standards within the Building Regulations might be more effective.
The Environment Agency expects the balance between water supply and demand to be maintained using a “twin-track” approach. New resources should be developed alongside demand management measures as part of a coherent “planning solution” . Ofwat only funds the least-cost solutions presented as part of the water resources planning process and historically it has been difficult to justify water efficiency schemes on this basis because of a lack of evidence to support their effectiveness.
In its paper A Sustainable Water Industry – To PR09 And Beyond, Ofwat stated that it would look to the industry to develop its understanding of best practice in water efficiency, in terms of demonstrated impact on demand and to pursue innovative approaches. Ofwat has also recently published the ‘Water Efficiency Initiatives – Good Practice Register’. It includes a checklist of water efficiency activities that water companies should consider. Companies are not expected to undertake activities that are not cost-effective when the benefits are considered.
Last year too, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published its report Every Drop Counts. It recommended that the government develop a benchmark for domestic PCC and set water companies efficiency targets to deliver gross water savings, initially voluntarily but becoming statutory by 2014/15.
Entec works with water companies, regulators and developers on water efficiency and demand analysis research. It believes that water consumption targets will only be effective and achievable if they are implemented alongside compulsory metering so water use can be measured accurately. About 72 per cent of domestic customers in England and Wales are unmetered and consumption is estimated based on small samples of monitored households. The complex accounting methods that water companies use to estimate unmeasured PPC would have to be re-examined and made more transparent.
A direct alternative would be to fund water companies to implement demand management schemes as a matter of course, and without the requirement to prove that they are part of a least-cost solution to the supply-demand balance. Such a change in the regulatory framework would also help Ofwat demonstrate commitment to its new sustainability duty. Even without regulatory change, there is the opportunity for individual water companies to take the lead voluntarily.
A major obstacle is likely to be lack of public goodwill towards private companies. This, coupled with an expectation of higher levels of service in all aspects of life, means it may be difficult for water companies to drive forward water efficiency programmes. One way to address this would be for companies to develop arm’s-length functions that are more community based, associated more with local organisations such as schools, parish councils and wildlife trusts, and distance these operations from the revenue-driven parts of the business. This would need a shift in attitude on the part of many stakeholders in the sector, but could be a way to convince the public that every drop really does count.
Claire Penny, consultant in water management, Entec
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