The regulators agree that managing our use of water better is our collective responsibility. An EA spokesman says that everyone who uses water is responsible. "You know your uses of water and where lasting efficiencies can be made as well as where voluntary restraint could be exercised ... Your actions will contribute to securing the long-term future of water resources in England and Wales."
SEPA agree with this collective approach: "We all have a role to play. We will continue to work alongside businesses, the water industry and others to improve management of water use to ensure a good water environment for ourselves and future generations."
We then spoke with Barrie Clarke, Director of Communication at Water UK to get the view from the water industry's representative body. Water UK represents all UK water and wastewater service suppliers at national and European level. Here is the interview, in full:
"Ensuring constant supply during one of the most serious droughts of the past century is a challenge. All water companies have drought plans, updated in dry years and wet, with the advice of the regulators.
"As you'd expect, mending and preventing leaks is a big part of the job, but especially in a drought; asking customers to fix their own leaks (at least 1/2 of all leaks) and use water carefully is easier if your own record is good. Happily in the past 10 years losses have been cut by 30%. Real progress will be made in future where losses are still too high, because companies have won the right to invest in area-wide pipe maintenance and replacement as well as hunting and fixing leaks one by one.
"Managing demand is as important as anything else to securing supply for UK plc without huge extra cost. With the help of their water company many firms have reduced supply costs by up to a half, though I'm afraid many still haven't got round to it. A water audit is not painful and can yield good savings. But the potential gains don't stop there. Management that protects such a basic, finite resource deserves a reputation for 'corporate and environmental responsibility'; but if that's too soft-centred for you, how about the benefit of avoiding interruptions to business supply if water for essential domestic use is threatened?
"The average business can win on many fronts by cutting its thirst. Case studies often deal with manufacturing or process industries and it's true there is money to be made from recycling, reuse, collection of surface water, reviewing pipe networks, product formulation or waste composition. But your office-based service - marketing, software design or consulting, say - can benefit just as much, with wise use of water in cleaning; making staff water-aware; recognising conservation; or focusing on lower energy use (this saves water too - think full kettle for one-cup tea bag).
"As Envirowise can demonstrate, all types of company including specialist premises can save. In fact Envirowise provides help whatever your trade. Meanwhile the water industry-funded group Waterwise, which is making the large-scale economic case for water conservation, is another valuable industry contact especially for industry associations.
"So we have water companies, regulators, government programmes and industry groups all helping. Is anyone singularly responsible for better water management? The short answer is "no", but there really is a collective responsibility which hopefully all businesses (and their customers) will want to share. Yet if the responsibility is shared, the payoff to individual firms is theirs alone - a powerful business case for public-spirited action."
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