The Strategic Forum for Construction is launching a Water Action Plan this week to examine the management of water during construction.
The Water Action Plan is being launched on 9 June in London under the auspices of WRAP, the UK Government’s Waste and Resources Action Programme.
Water availability and water usage are rapidly moving up the sustainability agenda with both policy makers and construction companies alike now seeking to make improvements in how they manage water.
The project to develop the Action Plan emerged as part of the response to the 2008 joint Industry/Government Strategy for Sustainable Construction. The industry set itself the target of reducing water usage on construction sites by 20% by 2012 compared to 2008.
The Strategic Forum for Construction, the body responsible for the industry target, established a Water Subgroup, with representatives from both industry and Government. The group has defined the 2008 baseline and an associated methodology and subsequently has developed the Action Plan. Initial studies undertaken as part of the plan indicates that savings in the order of 13-24% are readily achievable, and as high as 40-83% where uncontrolled leaks were identified.
Funding to support the development of the Plan and baseline methodology was provided by WRAP. Topics to be covered at the launch include the 2012 reduction target, the embodied water of construction products and next steps.
Environment Agency commends Balfour Beatty for action on water use
The issue of water use by different manufacturing sectors undoubtedly looks set to move higher up the regulatory agenda. In a wide-ranging editorial for The Times newspaper yesterday looking at the long-term implications of drought and diminishing water resources in the UK, Lord Chris Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency, highlighted the efforts of companies like SABMiller and Balfour Beatty to find ways of reducing their demand for water.
Commenting on the current drought, Lord Smith said that in places like Central, South East and South West England the UK was heading for the driest Spring in a hundred years. It was important to manage supplies and monitoring abstraction to ensure there was enough water for the three essential user groups – households, farmers, and industry – and for the environment itself.
Lord Smith commented:
“Some businesses are showing a real lead in this. Industrial processes often use large quantities of water; so it’s hugely welcome. Farmers are beginning to invest in ways of storing more water during winter months in order to use during the summer. New buildings can be designed with water efficiency as well as energy efficiency in mind.”
He warned that the UK was now facing a long-term problem in the face of climate change and water availability, with the likelihood of ever-more extreme weather in the decades to come. In thirty years’ time the UK’s southern and eastern rivers would probably have something like 50% less flow in them during summer months – and in very dry periods they could be 80% down, with obvious implications for water use, water abstraction, and discharges.
The upcoming Water White Paper, now delayed until December, will set out Government thinking on a wide range of issues, including water use by water-intensive sectors.
Click here to register for the launch
UK water companies are invited to join an upcoming webinar which will explore how the sector can take indirect potable reuse (IPR) from concept to full-scale operational reality.
James Sumsion, CEO of predictive water intelligence specialists Kohtari, says the water sector needs to take a giant leap forward, so that it can anticipate and act upon water quality issues - rather than merely react.
Ray Moulds, Sales Director at Flood Control International, takes a look at how automated sliding floodgates are supporting secondary containment at water and sewerage company sites.
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.