We are wasting far too much of our most precious commodity

Today is the beginning of Water Saving Week 2009. It was launched at a press conference last Tuesday (14 July) and has been greatly over shadowed by Ed Miliband unveiling, the very next day, the Government’s plans for transforming the UK to a low-carbon economy to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Of course, the amount of water we consume is also directly related to the carbon we emit.

As Tim Farron MP, Defra Shadow Secretary of State, who was chairing the press conference, pointed out that heating water in the home accounts for 5.5% of the UK’s total gas emissions. Doesn’t sound a lot but, in fact, it’s similar to the total emissions produced by aviation!

One of the key speakers at the press conference was Yvonne Orgill, chief executive of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association, which has signed up as a Partner to Water Saving Week and pledged its full support. She firmly believes that water saving is all about using water much more wisely.

“The key is reducing waste, not restricting its use.”

Orgill pointed out that BMA members had worked hard in recent years to create “innovative water saving products. Development has been carried out in many areas of the bathroom but particularly in water efficient, low volume flush WCs, low flow showers and taps, and low capacity baths.” And all of this has been achieved without compromising efficiency.

She also underlined the significance of the BMA’s Water Efficient Product Labelling Scheme.

This includes an online database – www.water-efficiency.org.uk – to guide householders, specifiers, and other professionals involved in the bathroom scene, towards products which achieve water efficient standards.

Also part of the BMA’s overall water saving initiative is to educate young people in the importance of water saving, hence the development of the two cartoon characters T-wit and Hoggy, which appear on the website www.bathroom-association.org/waterhog/default.asp And, of course, the Bathroom Academy is too, if you’ll forgive the pun, making as big splash on water savings.

Another contributor to the press conference was Simon Drury of Envirowise, which estimated that collectively UK businesses were missing out on combined cost savings of up to £10m a day by failing to maximise on the potential for water saving.

Envirowise had contacted a cross section of UK businesses and came up with some quite staggering statistics. For instance, 62% of the businesses polled did not take any steps to monitor water consumption, 85% did not have any specific water reduction targets in place and 61% did not know what their company’s annual water bill was!

The long and the short of it is that, although we are surrounded by it,the UK has less water available per person than any other EU country apart from Belgium and Cyprus. Believe it or not, South East England has less rainfall per head of population than parts of the Middle East.

Some 16 out of England’s 22 water regions are classified as ‘water stressed’ according to the Environment Agency. And ten are referred to as ‘serious’!

Photo shows Yvonne Orgill chief executive of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association

More information: www.watersavingweek.org.uk