Environment Agency Calls For Hosepipe Bans & Smart Water Meters

Earlier this month (June 17th), the Environment Agency issued a warning that the public water supply in England could be short five billion litres per day by 2055 unless urgent action is taken to safeguard resources for the future.

Environmental pressures, population growth and climate change are all converging to have an impact on supplies, while an additional one billion litres per day will need to be found in order to support emerging technologies, grow food and generate energy.

The agency expects that 60 per cent of this deficit will be addressed by water suppliers through demand management and water leak detection and repair, with the remaining 40 per cent sourced through supply boosts, such as water transfer schemes and new reservoir construction.

Sustainable water management

While the government has secured £104 billion in private sector funding to invest in water company infrastructure over the next five years, including £8 billion to manage demand and boost supplies, the Environment Agency has also issued a call for more hosepipe bans and smart water meter installations to help drive down demand and reduce the risk of shortages.

Individual water use will need to be reduced by 2.5 billion litres of water per day by 2055, it was suggested. Currently, the average person uses around 140 litres of water per day, but this will need to be slashed to 110 litres per day, according to the agency, which has also warned that future economic growth could be compromised in the face of water scarcity.

One of the biggest drivers of this expected deficit is England’s growing population, which is expected to increase to eight million people by 2055.

New challenges are also being presented by climate change, which is altering weather patterns and causing hotter, drier summers, and warmer, wetter winters.

This particular trend is predicted to continue as time goes on, becoming more pronounced, with more intense rainfall events expected to increase the potential for greater incidences of both flooding and drought.

Overabstraction of resources from rivers and aquifers by water companies and industry is another key factor that will need to be addressed, with some rivers now being destroyed because of this.

Speaking to the BBC, chair of the Environment Agency Alan Lovell explained that bringing in more restrictions like hosepipe bans during periods of drought will “bring home to people that the amount of water they use is making a difference”.

Reading University hydrologist professor Hannah Cloke made further comments, saying: “We really don’t value water. We need to think about it as a really, really precious resource. Everybody should be looking after water and conserving it and thinking about what they do when they turn on the tap and when they choose not to.”

Proposed solutions include water companies reducing water leakage rates by half by 2050, new infrastructure, water transfer schemes, demand reduction and smart meter rollout.

How can businesses benefit from smart meters?

As well as domestic customers installing smart meters to reduce water usage and consumption, businesses should also make this a priority if they want to save water and money at the same time.

Industry has the biggest opportunity to make a significant impact where water conservation is concerned and there are many benefits associated with doing so.

Naturally, it makes good business sense from a financial perspective because you can potentially save hundreds of thousands of pounds on bills if you’re a particularly heavy water user, but it also serves as a signal to consumers that you take your environmental responsibilities seriously.

Automated meter reading is one of the best ways to go about reducing your water usage, where water usage is monitored across a site continuously by seeing how much is used at hourly intervals via a water meter.

Also known as data logging, this tool will enable you to identify potential issues quickly so you can bring in the best water-saving solutions for the specific situation at hand, making changes over time as appropriate.

For example, if a spike in water flow is seen, this suggests that you might have a leak on your property, allowing you to take action immediately before it spirals out of control.

If you’d like to find out more about this kind of technology and how you could benefit, get in touch with the SwitchWaterSupplier.com team today.