Experts are urging ministers to label showers and toilets to tackle water shortages, as reported by the Guardian.
Water Resources South East chair Chris Murray said labels are “essential” to help consumers understand about the “water consumed by household produces and remove inefficient products from the market.”
The specialists are currently planning methods to tackle acute water shortages in south-east England, an area that is likely to face the biggest water shortages in the coming years. Experts also warn that billions of pounds are likely to be added to water bills to pay for infrastructure investments if the government does not act soon.
While ministers promised to introduce labels on household appliances showing how efficient their water use is by 2024, water experts say the deadline has already been pushed back and a delay could add billions to their plans to tackle water shortages.
To avoid this, experts are calling for the UK to follow Australia’s labelling system which has saved 158 gigalitres of water in 2022 and also saved customers and businesses £770 million on bills.
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“Our modelling and analysis have shown that achieving significant and sustainable reductions in water use will require multiple interventions from water companies and new government policies that embed water efficiency across society,” said Murray.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Clean and plentiful water is needed for every aspect of life. We have set out an ambitious programme of activities to improve water resilience in our environment improvement plan and plan for water and through the introduction of our water demand target.
“We are working at pace to deliver on all our commitments, which includes launching a water efficiency labelling scheme. We will publish our response this summer with a view to progress into the next stages of design ahead of its introduction in 2025,” the spokesperson added.
