Photo source: Thames Water
With excellent timing Ofwat have just released an informative report summarising the position on water leakage reduction. Only last week United Utilities formally applied for a drought order and news of impending hosepipe bans is bound to raise the pressure to reduce water leakage.
Thames Water in conjunction with Swindon Council have launched an imaginative water saving scheme aimed at encouraging customers to reduce usage. They are even offering free visits for an engineer to survey customer’s homes and install water saving devices. But will this really reduce water usage? So far just 41 people have signed up to the Swindon initiative hardly enough to transform usage.
When the payback period for installing a water butt can be measured in years, economic incentives alone, in the view of this blog wont change consumption. Many customers wont accept water saving ideas that impact on their personal freedom and consumer experience. Will the current strategy of installing more meters really reduce water usage to the best in class in Europe?
In some European countries the building regulations stipulate that new houses must collect and store rainwater for use in grey water applications. Measures like this have little or no impact on consumer’s experience and alongside work to encourage consumers to use water wisely could help to make a real difference.
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