The recent publication of Waterwise’s Water Efficiency Strategy for the UK and WaterUK’s Long-term Water Resources Planning Framework both promote and suggest a drive to push water efficiency forward. A key strand of the national water efficiency strategy highlights the potential benefits of a joint approach to delivering water and energy efficiency programmes.

Energy companies have a remit from OFGEM to deliver energy efficiency projects. Defra’s Water for Life (precursor to the Water White Paper) and its Statement of Obligations for PR14 set out the Government’s expectation that water companies will deliver overall demand reductions via demand management measures, including water efficiency. This therefore provides several opportunities and potential important benefits of including water efficiency into current and future energy efficiency programmes (and vice-versa) for added benefit to customers. Water efficiency should not be an add-on as the best water efficiency option often offers the best energy efficiency.

However, the Energy Industry is spending £6bn on Smart Metering the cost of which includes establishing a Data Communications Company (DCC) which constitutes a Communications Service Provider (CSP) and Data Service Provider (DSP), both of which are services required in Water Smart Metering Implementation. Water Companies would like to avoid costly solutions that deliver minimal benefit by finding an optimum route to implement a cost effective smart water metering solution that delivers savings to customers by potentially allowing customers to understand combined savings for water and energy.