Open Letter to the Government: Urgent Action on Water Waste in New Homes
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Watergate
The UK is facing a water scarcity crisis.
England alone will need new water supplies equivalent to the consumption of London’s entire population by the mid 2030s.
At Watergate we are challenging the new UK government to address this.
We’ve written to four ministers urging them to take a simple step that will have a massive impact on safeguarding our national water resources.
You can read our letter below and if you agree with what we’re proposing, we’d love you to share on social.
We will, of course, keep you updated on how discussions go.
To:
Matthew Pennycook MP
Minister of State
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Emma Hardy MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Steve Reed MP
Secretary of State
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Angela Rayner MP
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Deputy Prime Minister
Watergate AI Limited
New Wave House, Unit J
4 Humber Road
London NW2 6DW
United Kingdom
+44 20 3327 1000
Tuesday 16th July 2024
Urgent: Policy Proposal to Combat Water Waste and Boost Sustainability in New Homes
Dear Ministers,
Congratulations on your new jobs.
I know your in-trays will be overflowing, so here’s a suggestion for a simple, quick-fix policy that won’t cost you a penny, but will make a positive difference to the environment and taxpayers’ pockets, whilst also creating green homes and jobs.
Proposal: Install a Water Leak Detector in Every New Home
Currently, we are literally pouring one of our most precious resources down the drain, with
3,000,000,000 (yes, 3 billion) litres of drinking water lost to leaks in Britain every single day1.
Taking swift action to safeguard our national water resources really matters: despite our famously wet weather, we face a water scarcity crisis. By the mid-2030s, England will need new water supplies equivalent to the consumption of London’s entire population2.
While water companies need to tackle water lost to leaks in transit in the mains pipes, 30% of all water is lost ‘beyond the stopcock’—in our homes and businesses3—and it is far easier to detect and prevent this leakage.
Even if you only fitted leak detectors in the 1.5m new homes you plan on building over the life of this parliament, you’d be saving an amount of water roughly equivalent to Wales’ largest reservoir by the time your first term is done4.
Starting with leak detectors in new builds is a sensible first step and won’t cost taxpayers a penny. The cost of an effective leak detector would be borne by developers, who would subsequently save money, with fewer water leak repairs needed.
Homeowners and tenants will be better off too: they will save on water bills and insurance costs, which are soaring every year, with water leaks being a major contributor.
It will create green jobs for installers and saving water is also saving carbon5, meaning you’ll be helping with another of your government’s pledges.
As a British start-up designing and manufacturing one of the world’s smartest leak detectors, we advocate for this initiative. Yet, we are not alone in our call. Waterwise, the leading not-for-profit independent voice on water, supports this, and Ofwat’s CEO David Black has emphasised: “Water efficiency is central to ensuring resilient water supplies in the long term, to protect and improve the environment, and in the transition to net zero.”
We are committed to ending what we see as the era of dumb water.
What matters most is swift and decisive action.
I look forward to discussing this further with you.
Yours sincerely,
Krystian Zajac, Founder and CEO, Watergate
watergate.ai
- Every day 3bn litres of water are leaked in England and Wales alone according to Water UK. ↩︎
- The UK’s National Infrastructure Commission has estimated that new water supplies equivalent to the water consumed by over nine million people will be needed in England alone by the mid 2030s. The population of London in 2022 was 8.9m. Source: National Infrastructure Commission report, Preparing for a drier future. ↩︎
- United Utilities estimate that 30% or (900 million litres) of Britain’s water leakage takes place ‘beyond the stopcock’ (ie. from customers’ own supply pipes, inside the home, gardens and businesses. ↩︎
- Over a quarter (26%) new homes have suffered a water leak (Source: Aviva). The average rate of water lost to leaks is 109 litres per property per day. So, if 390,000 of your new homes were to experience an average undetected leak, they’d collectively leak 42,510,000 litres/day. Or 42,510,000 x365 days x5-year term = 77,580,750,000 litres or 77,580,750 m3. Llyn Celyn is Wales’ largest reservoir at 80,930,850 m3. ↩︎
- The water sector contributes around 6% to UK total carbon emissions Sources: Discover water and Watersafe. ↩︎