Ofwat has launched a new consultation on its proposals to develop a new £100 million fund to help save water - the water efficiency fund was confirmed in the final methodology for the 2024 price review.
The fund is being set up to stimulate a measurable reduction in water demand across England and Wales, for both residential and business customers. The fund will sit alongside sector efforts to halve leakage by 2050 and develop £18 billion of water supply infrastructure projects that are currently in progress.
Launching the consultation, Ofwat said:
“We think the sector is at risk of falling short of its long-term goals for water efficiency. While the sector has worked on water efficiency for many years, we have not seen the sort of coordinated, sustained and large-scale initiatives that we think are required to achieve significant progress. We think that a different approach is needed urgently, and that a central fund has the potential to support the sorts of collaborative and innovative work that is necessary to get the sector on track.”
Water companies in England and Wales are predicting additional water needs by 2050 of around 4,000 megalitres per day (Ml/d) which is around 25% of the water currently put into supply in England and Wales. The companies currently put around 15,000 million litres of water into supply per day in England and 942 million litres per day in Wales.
The consultation lays out the regulator’s emerging thinking on the water companies’ role in helping customers to conserve water and on how the fund could operate and seeks views on a wide range of related questions, including:
- What the fund should focus on, including areas such as dedicated work on behaviour change, use of data-driven insights and the introduction of technologies that promote water efficiency and reduce wastage.
- How Ofwat can most effectively bring in expertise from other disciplines and sectors while utilising best practice within the water sector.
- How best to implement the fund, including what governance may be required, and how Ofwat can continue to protect customer interests.
Paul Hickey, Senior Director at Ofwat said:
“Securing resilient water resources is of paramount importance. It means following the twin track approach of developing new resources and managing demand for water with equal ambition.
“This fund will enable the sector to accelerate the sort of collaborative and innovative work that is necessary to make progress in this area. By bringing fresh ideas and existing expertise together, we can achieve more resilient supplies, improve environmental protection, and deliver better value for customers”.
This the first of two consultations - the next, in early 2024, will use the feedback Ofwat receives to set out a more developed approach. Ofwat plans to launch a more detailed proposal, based on responses in early 2024. Its final approach to the fund will be set out later in Summer 2024 with an expectation for the fund to be operational by April 2025.
Deadline to submit responses to the consultation is 22 September 2023 – click here to download the consultation document Scoping the Water Efficiency Fund: High level consultation
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