Anglian Water is asking us all to use less water – and for very good reasons. All of us, as consumers, can play our part.
Anglian Water serves communities and businesses in one of the driest regions in the country, receiving one-third less rainfall than other areas of the UK, and less rainfall than some areas of Spain.
Winters are becoming drier and Summers hotter; the demand for water is becoming greater, so it’s more important to Love Every Drop and save water where we can. If everyone makes small changes at home or work, together we can make a real difference.
Across this region consumers use an average of 136 litres of water a day. Some of this is through unnecessary and excessive use of water and some is wasted through inefficient appliances or dripping taps and leaky loos.
Anglian Water aims to encourage customers to save water, by sharing top tips for water saving indoors, water-saving tips for gardeners, and by updating water meters.
Upgraded water meters will be rolled out across the greater Norwich area soon. They’ll be able to provide customers with next day water usage data, which will enable innovative and prompt communication with customers about water usage and how they can maximise on saving water and money.
We are all in this together - to help keep the taps flowing and protect the environment we need everyone to use 128 litres or less per day by 2025.
Q: Why should I save water when it rains all the time?
A: You might think that a few days of heavy rainfall is a quick fix to water shortage but it’s not that simple. Only some of the water we drink is collected from rivers and surface water. A large amount of our tap water comes from aquifers that only fill up from rainfall during autumn and winter.
Droughts may become more frequent if we experience dry and mild autumn / winters. Plentiful, clean water is a given part of life in the UK and it’s easy to forget that the water coming out of our taps is part of an intricate and changing weather system.
And high consumption of water, combined with a growing population, is putting real pressure on our water resources.
Q: Why should I save water when there is a leak down my street?
It can be frustrating to be doing your bit to save water, but to then find there is a leak or an incident in your community. You can report a leak here. Anglian Water responds to incidents and leaks as soon as possible, find out more here.
Q: What impact does saving water haveon the environment?
A lot of energy is used in processing and delivering water to consumers’ taps, and this does produce greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. By saving water you are helping us reduce this impact.
Q: How can I make a difference?
There are lots of things that you can do to help. It starts with little changes to your water use behaviours. You can find out more here and we’ll look at this in more detail in our next, forthcoming, article.
Q: Water is a renewable resource, so what’s the problem?
‘Renewable’ doesn’t mean that its availability is unlimited. With our region being the driest part of the UK, and with an ever-growing population, we are looking for ways to ensure there is enough water to go around for everyone and that we leave enough water to support our ecosystems.
Q: Freshwater can be obtained by desalinating seawater, so why is water scarce?
Desalination of salt or brackish water can only be a solution to water shortage in a limited number of situations because it requires a lot of energy. And it’s very expensive.
Anglian Water has committed to upgrading and installing 760,000 existing and new water meters across the region to protect water resources. It’s proven that they contribute to reducing water consumption - the new meters take regular readings, helping customers keep track of their daily water usage. And they'll be arriving in Norwich soon!