Without further action, there is a 1 in 4 chance over the next 30 years that large numbers of households will have their water supply cut off for an extended period because of severe drought. This is the finding of the National Infrastructure Commission report “Preparing for a drier future”, released in April 2018. Waterwise is working with supporters, including Southern Water, to develop actions to improve resilience through water efficiency and we welcome the NIC report.
The NIC report sets out an aim for water efficiency to provide 34 per cent of the recommended level of resilience we need through water efficiency. This includes reducing demand from 141 to 118 litres per person per day by 2050. We can be even more ambitious, for example, Southern Water is setting a demand reduction target to reduce per capita consumption to 100 litres per person per day across its region by 2040. Target 100 is not just about reducing water consumption; it is about shifting society to value water. A recent report for Ofwat suggests that levels of between 50 and 70 litres per person per day by 2065 are possible.
A key recommendation is for Defra to “enable water companies to implement compulsory metering by the 2030s beyond water stressed areas, by amending regulations before the end of 2019 and requiring all companies to consider systematic roll-out of smart meters in a first step in a concentrated campaign to improve water efficiency”. We fully support this recommendation and it was also in our Water Efficiency Strategy for the UK.
The NIC calculated that bringing forward metering could achieve a 400Ml/d reduction in demand before 2050. The Southern Water universal metering campaign was an important intervention carried out across its region. With 88 per cent of its customer base now on metered charges, the resulting 16 per cent reduction in water use has been a dramatic impact. Southern Water now wants to go much further and provide an ongoing bespoke programme of products, advice, services and incentives to help every customer connect with their campaign.
The NIC also highlighted the importance of customer engagement. The recent freeze/thaw incident highlighted the continuing gaps in customer engagement that limit how we can respond to resilience events. Many of the recommendations following the 2012 drought on this haven’t been addressed, however Southern Water and Waterwise have been working as part of a regional initiative called “Save Water South East” on longer term water efficiency communications. Businesses and households when asked have said that they would like better communication in the run-up to the drought with a higher background level of demand-side knowledge amongst the public.
This also fits with lessons from Australia, where clear, credible communication about the drought situation and response is paramount to public participation and support. A national communications platform, supported by a coalition of stakeholders, could help address these issues. Customers also need to feel more connected with how much water they are using. Southern Water is building on its metering project by testing a simple ‘water bit’ clip on device, crucially to those that want it, to enable each customer to see real time displays, linked to consumption data and its incentives package.
Water efficiency labelling was also highlighted by the NIC to enable consumers to make informed decisions. Waterwise are currently leading an independent review into water efficiency labelling options and Southern Water has been leading efforts to promote water labelling in the UK. This builds on findings from Australia, where a 20 per cent reduction in water use was achieved over 10 years. The Australian approach is now being used as the basis to develop an ISO standard for labelling.
Incentives can play an important role in changing customer behaviour. A strong label and economic incentives (e.g. rebates on efficient devices) are comparable to other recent environmental policies around charging for plastic bags, discounts for using your own coffee cup, and pushing for a move away from plastics in general. Southern Water has demonstrated incentives can work, through a ‘community incentive’ to share the proceeds of water savings on a community scale in Hampshire. The project has saved between 5 – 7 per cent and is now part of a scheme to roll out incentives to 1.6 million customers in AMP 7.
The NIC report makes a really valuable contribution through their approach to the economics of drought resilience. Water efficiency initiatives, including metering, are often considered less economic as water companies are planning to cut off supplies during a more serious and prolonged drought. The NIC believe that this is unlikely to happen as government and water companies would likely take emergency measures with high financial and environmental costs to ensure household water supplies. When these costs are taken into account, greater water efficiency and metering become much more cost effective.
We are seeing greater leadership and ambition, such as Target 100, from Southern Water. However, this will need more support from government on initiatives such as water efficiency labelling and building regulations. We also need to see more partnership working with retailers to accurately forecast non-household demand and to implement water efficiency programmes jointly. Waterwise is hosting a Southern Water sponsored Leadership Group with retailers to support this.
A strong water efficiency label and a national communications approach on water efficiency could help us achieve similar changes in behaviour to what we are seeing on food waste, plastic bags and use of disposal coffee cups.