30 November 2007
The government signalled its commitment to improving UK water efficiency yesterday, by announcing that the Water Saving Group (WSG) would keep operating for another year.
WSG members include regulator Ofwat, the Environmental Agency and the Consumer Council for Water - along with Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) - and the group's aim is to encourage UK householders to reduce their water consumption.
The group, established in 2005, also aims to co-ordinate plans to impose mandatory water efficiency targets for suppliers.
Environment Minister Phil Woolas commented: "We have to be cleverer about how we use water, and that means being more efficient and wasting less.
"The Water Saving Group has scored some important successes towards helping this happen, and not least that a range of organisations, each with its own priorities, has continued to engage constructively and find common ground for making progress on water efficiency."
Chief Executive of Ofwat Regina Finn added: "We welcome the group's work and its emphasis on practical proposals to help use water more efficiently - it is vital that each water company considers the relative merits of every option to balance its supply and demand."
Since its inception, the WSG has made the first step towards implementing mandatory targets by introducing voluntary efficiency targets for water suppliers.
Through the group's work, the government has also introduced new regulations empowering firms to impose compulsory metering to consumers at times of water stress.
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