The government has been urged to take a lead on driving the uptake of smart meters within the water sector as a means of managing consumption.
Conservative MP Anne Marie Morris expressed “real concern” that the gap between water supply and demand would not be bridged and called on government to take a role in lowering how much people use.
Morris said that water companies are currently “bearing the brunt of trying to convey this message, and the government needs to do some more heavy lifting”, during a House of Commons debate on South West Water’s performance.
She added: “It feels like the measures are being done to consumers, not with and for consumers.”
Devon, where Morris’ constituency sits, is forecast to face shortages of 30 megalitres a day by the middle of the century.
She said forecasting from South West Water about future demand topping 200 megalitres daily was “questionable” and its supply demand plans “unrealistic”.
Morris said the expectations for demand reduction were problematic: “There is a huge overreliance on smart meters to deliver the goods, and indeed on every one of us using less water.”
She added that consumers need proper guidance about how much water is used in a bath, shower and household appliances.
Without water labelling, which was committed to as part of the Environment Act, Morris said behaviour change to the required level will not be reached.
In 2022, the South West along with much of the country was plunged into drought, leaving the water company rating poorly on the supply-demand balance index as sustained high levels of consumption were seen.
The company prioritised work to add alternative supplies to its networks including repurposing quarries and mines to store water. It has plans to add two desalination plants to further bolster its options at times of high demand.
She added: “We cannot rely on reduced demand assumptions. We need more infrastructure – we cannot just sit on our laurels – and it needs to be innovative.
“We need to look at desalination as, to its credit, South West Water is beginning to do, but that is only the start of a very big mountain that still needs to be climbed.”
Susan Davy, chief executive of South West’s parent company Pennon, explained the company’s approach of “investing major sums to make more of the water we have”.
She said: “As well as investing in desalination, we plan to create 2,000 new jobs as part of a wider £2.8 billion investment plan across the greater South West – a doubling of investment from the first half of this decade.”
This includes upgrading half of its water treatment works, cutting leakage to below 10% and creating a water grid to connect its strategic reservoirs and adding a second large reservoir in Bristol.