Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 20TH - 26TH MARCH 2020 | 7 News Interview W ater is consistently le out of the climate debate, but cutting the consumption of what is a carbon-intensive industry would simul- taneously lower customer bills, end water poverty and advance the net-zero agenda. According to Luke Pollard, Plymouth's Labour MP, the so-called "ground-breaking" Environment Bill com- pletely misses a chance to make everyone think and act di- erently on the environment. He says that at a time the UK should be leading on environmental policy, the gov- ernment is missing a big opportunity to cut carbon and protect the environment by not explicitly including water e… ciency in the bill. Although there is a provision in the bill that could be applied to water labelling, it is buried in a section on waste. Pollard says it should be a headline policy rather than an ambiguous inclusion. "Explicit support for water labelling and a regime that requires it should be front and centre of our approach," he tells Utility Week. "The only way we're going to see e… ciencies in the water sec- tor and public support is through behaviour change." In line with Southern Water's Target 100, we should be aiming for a per capita consumption of 100 litres a day, he says. Compulsory water labelling schemes have helped cut consumption by 30 litres per person per day in Australia. What began as a voluntary scheme that had little meaningful impact eventually changed habits a er legislation was introduced in 2006. Pollard says such a scheme should go beyond white goods and " ttings and be applied to buildings and homes to gain the same level of consumer buy-in as the energy performance certi" cate (EPC) label. "That's where we need to get to in terms of water," he says. "I want to see government take much bolder steps on water label- ling for homes and for white goods." He says that water e… ciency must go "way beyond putting a hippo in your toilet cistern or " nally taking action on faulty dual-– ush toilets". He wants to see gov- ernment explore water neutrality, " nding e… ciencies in existing homes and businesses to balance out the extra requirement from new premises so that new homes and businesses add no more to total water demand. "For every home we're building," he says, "the increased water usage should be matched by investments in water e… ciency in the rest of the population." Pollard argues that all homes should be " tted with a water meter. Households with a social tari- or larger families would then have an opportunity to understand their water usage and make savings. "Without an under- standing of our total water usage as a nation – an idea of what we're using and a plan for reducing it – then we are missing a key part in our " ght against the climate cri- sis," he says. "That has to come from a big principle that says we can't a- ord to build a dozen new reservoirs, nor introduce desalinisation in areas of water stress – which is basically half the population of England. Even though we think we're quite a wet country, we're not." Pollard believes water neutrality is achievable only as part of a shared mission and common goals, with a government-led campaign on e… ciency. "We need to make it easier through smarter, sensible regulation," he says. "Water labelling is the absolute " rst step." Creating, installing and updating water e… ciency measures, as well as assessing homes for water EPCs, could also be a huge job creator, he believes. Pollard thinks the Environment Bill should not only protect habitats, hold more water upstream and reduce the need for carbon-intensive end-of-pipe solutions, but also change the regulatory model. "We need to move away from a model built on pro" ts from volume of water being pumped through a system and the asset return on carbon-intensive sewage works, for instance, to one that gives a return based on water e… ciency, good land management and environmental stewardship, as well as providing decent water services. That is why this bill is a missed opportunity to deal with the climate crisis and create a revolution in terms of how we all value water." Parliamentarians have worked on the bill for years, so the omissions are not due to lack of time. Pollard explains that parts of the bill were resisted because some government departments "tried to take a chunk out of it on the way". The opportunity to look beyond political boundaries and create meaningful legislation now looks lost, he says. "Now we've declared a climate emergency, we've got to do things di- erently. For me, the Environ- ment Bill looks more like business as usual than the world-changing, world- leading piece of legislation that would make a real di- erence on water e… ciency, cutting bills and cutting carbon. "How o en do we get a piece of legislation about water? Hardly ever. So how many years do we now have to wait to get another piece of legislation that will seek to change the system on a whole- sale level?" We need to steer abolder course Shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard gives his outspoken view to Utility Week about what the government must do to show it is serious about water effi ciency and climate change. "The Environment Bill looks more like business as usual than the world- changing piece of legislation that would make a real difference on water effi ciency, cutting bills and cutting carbon." To " nd the latest on the Mind the Tap campaign, including exclusive insight for Utility Week members, visit: https://utilityweek.co.uk/tag/mind-the-tap/

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