Why save water?
Water is one of our most precious resources. Even though 70% of our planet is covered in it, only 1% of that water is readily available to use. On top of that, there's a carbon cost to every litre that's treated and transported.
There are four main reasons you should save
Save money
You’ll see an immediate decrease in your costs by reducing your water consumption.
Reduce water waste
By saving water, you'll reduce the amount of waste water down your drain too - a double benefit to your cost savings.
Protect delicate ecosystems
When you cut back your water usage, it helps to preserve natural resources and protect the environment.
Reduce your carbon footprint
It's easy to forget that energy goes into treating, transporting and heating every litre you use. Generating that energy contributes to global warming.
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Facts & figures
Check out some of the statistics that really bring water consumption to life.
Learn moreWater's journey
Water doesn't just arrive in your taps by magic. There's a huge amount of energy invested in treating it and transporting it.
Find out moreEngland's Chalk Streams
Ecosystem damage as a result of excessive water consumption is already a real issue in the UK.
Read case studyHidden water
It's not just the water we take from the tap or flush down the toilet - water's involved in the manufacture of many things we take for granted.
Educate yourself
Our planet is under threat
Water efficiency is an essential step on the path to saving it
Populations are growing, the world is getting warmer and demand for water is higher than ever. In parts of the world, water is already rationed. It's not permitted to flush the toilet with potable water, and showering is restricted to twice a week. In the UK we think this can never happen to us, yet in recent years, some regions have received less rainfall than the Sahara.
Facts & figures
A little help to bring the world's water efficiency challenge to life.
600 millimetres
This is the amount of rain London gets in a year. It's actually around half the rainfall of Sydney, Australia.
We often make the mistake of thinking that it always rains in the UK and we'll never be short of water, but that's just not the case. It rains, but it doesn't rain everywhere all of the time.
In the last twenty years we've had nine of our 10 warmest years on record. In the summer of 2019, after three dry years, river levels in parts of the country dropped so low that some waterways disappeared.
How much water we use...
6 litres
of water wasted by a running tap every minute
9 litres
of water used in each toilet flush
90 litres
wasted every week from a dripping tap
150 litres
used every day by each person in the UK
13%
of UK domestic water use attributed to laundry
19.3 million tonnes
That's the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere in the UK every year as a result of the treatment, transport and heating of water. It accounts for 5.5% of the UK's total annual emissions, more than farming and industrial processing combined. It's the equivalent of running 11.2 million cars for a year. It's easy to take the water which comes from our taps for granted, but there's a carbon cost to every litre.
Ready to start saving?
Head on over to our What can I do? pages to find top tips and start putting your plan together.
Start saving
We’re fully committed to improving our environmental performance and are certified to ISO 14001:2015. You can find out more in our environmental policy. Our Solutions team are certified to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018.
