Parts of Britain are classified as being seriously water stressed
Image: Environment Agency
There are two main factors at play
1) We lose water to leaky infrastructure
According to Ofwat, England and Wales lose around 2.9 billion litres of potable water per day. It’s a big improvement from the mid-90s when we were losing five billion litres a day.
But we’re still losing enough water to fill Wembley Stadium 2.5 times daily.
2) We also lose water on an individual level
The average person uses 150L of water per day. How much was losing? And how could I reduce my personal water consumption?
So I measured my weekly water usage in August 2023
Key results
- I used 255L on average per day. This is 70% over the national average (150L)!
- 1,792L used in total
- Greatest water guzzler: showering
A civil engineer’s journey to reduce water usage
Five changes to reduce my water use
- I reduced shower time from 12 to 5 minutes.
- I reduced bath tub volume from 75% to 50% full.
- I installed a rainwater butt to reduce my reliance on mains water for irrigation. This reduced my need for the hose pipe.
- I made sure the tap was turned off when brushing my teeth.
- I made sure the dishwasher and washing machine were 100% full.
Results
I used 135L on average per day compared to my baseline of 255L (47% reduction).
At this rate, I could save 43,800L of water per year.
A civil engineer’s journey to reduce water usage
What if everyone in England and Wales did the same?
The population of England and Wales is around 59 million combined.
If we assume everyone was as bad at using water as I was and saved the same amount of water I did, over 7 billion litres could be saved every day.
That’s equal to a 2.5-metre-deep swimming pool covering the district of the City of London.
This means that over 2.6 trillion litres could be saved every year.
That’s equal to a 2-metre pool covering 80% of Greater London.
As you can see, one person changing their water habits is a drop in the ocean.
But if we all act, we can make a big difference.