Ofwat has published its second public consultation on a five-year £100 million Water Efficiency Fund (WEF) aimed at reducing water usage and saving customers money on their bills.
The WEF, set to launch in 2025, will complement ongoing efforts by water companies in England and Wales to halve leakage and develop up to £14 billion of water supply infrastructure projects.
Current projections indicate that England and Wales will need over four billion extra litres of water per day by 2050, representing about 25% of the current water supply.
The WEF will focus on a behaviour change campaign promoting sustainability and competitions to identify the best innovations and schemes.
The fund will cost billpayers an average of 62p per year.
Paul Hickey, Senior Director at Ofwat, said: “To secure long-term supplies of affordable, resilient water supplies we need to do three things: tackle wastage, boost supply and reduce demand.
“Companies know they have to deliver on the first and have been set a target to halve leakage.
“On supply, we are driving ahead with multi-billion pound projects to deliver new sources of water, including several new reservoirs.
“The final piece of the puzzle is to reduce demand. Under the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan, we are aiming to achieve a consumption target of 110 litres of water per head per day, down from about 146 litres per head per day currently.”
