Thames Water is celebrating the milestone of helping 250,000 homes save a total of 20 million litres of water every day as part of the company’s smarter home visit project.
The news follows a recent warning from the chief executive of the Environment Agency that England could be just 25 years away from not having enough water to meet demand.
During his keynote speech at the annual Waterwise conference in London on 19 March, Sir James Bevan said the country is facing the “jaws of death.”
Thames Water visited the milestone house of Douglas Broom in Chingford on Wednesday (8 May), and installed water saving devices, such as more efficient shower heads and tap inserts, as well as fixing a leaking toilet.
The company estimates that the devices, coupled with behavioural changes like turning off the tap when brushing your teeth, can save the average family more than 50,000 litres of water a year, while fixing the toilet leak alone could save between 200 and 400 litres every day. The saving from these changes on Mr Broom’s next bill is estimated to be £50.
Thames Water began offering the service four years ago to customers who already have or are due to receive a smart water meter. So far, it has installed nearly three-quarters of a million water saving devices and fixed over 14,000 leaking toilets and taps free of charge. It has committed to installing a further 700,000 smart meters by 2025 and carry out another 400,000 smarter home visits.
The company estimates that over the next 25 years, an extra 2.1 million people are due to move into its region, which it predicts will result in a shortfall of 350 million litres of water per day by 2045.
Andrew Tucker, water efficiency manager at Thames Water, said: “We’re proud to be operating the largest and most innovative water efficiency programme in the UK. It’s great to have reached this amazing milestone of helping a quarter of a million households reduce their water use and make savings on their water and energy bills with free devices and personalised advice.”
Mr Broom added: “The visit was really useful and I think everyone should have one. Jordan from Thames Water explained everything clearly and it’s great we’ll now save money on our bills thanks to the devices he fitted to our taps and showers. It’s important we all reduce how much water we’re using to protect the environment and keep our rivers healthy.”
At the Waterwise conference earlier this year, Thames Water announced the launch of an online calculator for households, to give customers a better understanding of the water they use and to help them save water, energy and money.
Tucker said the water company also plans to launch a more complex calculator for businesses shortly.