Water Efficiency

Effectiveness of Measures to Complement, or as an Alternative to, Abstraction Reduction

Reference: 13/WR/25/5
ISBN: 1 84057 687 1
Published Date: 01/07/2013

The aim of this study was to provide water companies with an evidence base of the success of measures that could be used to complement, or as an alernative to, abstraction reduction. The specific objectives were; to collate evidence for alternative, or complementary measures to abstraction reduction or increased compensation flow releases for use in future water resources investigatons and options appraisals; to assess and critically review the technical success of alternative approaches in enhancing ecological quality; to provide an evidence base of potential alternative options to simply reducing abstraction.
Case studies for the measures were selected from a combination of approaches. To illustrate the case study examples sourced, an 'effectiveness review tool' was developed in Excel. This 'user firendly' tool was designed as a 'stand-alone' method to enable the user to find more information about the individual measures and details of the various case studies. A review was also undertaken of available hydro-ecological tools and approaches that can be used to assess the ecological effectiveness of measures. Finally, consideration was given to how this evidence could be improved through the provision of guidance on the design and implementation of pilot studies.

Price: £10  

Appendix

Reference: 13/WR/25/5
ISBN: 1 84057 687 1
Published Date: 01/07/2013

The aim of this study was to provide water companies with an evidence base of the success of measures that could be used to complement, or as an alernative to, abstraction reduction. The specific objectives were; to collate evidence for alternative, or complementary measures to abstraction reduction or increased compensation flow releases for use in future water resources investigatons and options appraisals; to assess and critically review the technical success of alternative approaches in enhancing ecological quality; to provide an evidence base of potential alternative options to simply reducing abstraction.
Case studies for the measures were selected from a combination of approaches. To illustrate the case study examples sourced, an 'effectiveness review tool' was developed in Excel. This 'user firendly' tool was designed as a 'stand-alone' method to enable the user to find more information about the individual measures and details of the various case studies. A review was also undertaken of available hydro-ecological tools and approaches that can be used to assess the ecological effectiveness of measures. Finally, consideration was given to how this evidence could be improved through the provision of guidance on the design and implementation of pilot studies.

Price: £10  

Estimating the Water Savings for Baseline Water Efficiency Activities

Reference: 09/WR/25/4
ISBN: 1 84057 550 6
Published Date: 13/01/2010

This project produced a method to estimate the amount of water saved as a result of behavioural based (soft) water efficiency activities, allowing the value of these activities to be recognised and traded against the companies' water efficiency targets.
The top 8 behavioural based activities carried out by water companies in the UK were identified. For each of these, a method was developed to estimate the water saved using: the numbers of consumers engaged, the potential water savings arising from the change in behaviour and the level of engagement for behaviour change.
Evidence in some areas is weak or does not exist, therefore the method allows water companies to produce the 'best estimate' in an objective and consistent way. The assumptions or estimates are clearly stated so that they are open to scrutiny and challenge, and as more evidence becomes available, they can be improved or replaced by better data.

Price: £10