England faces increasing water scarcity due to climate change, population growth, and the need to protect our environment. Without action, water supply shortfalls of over 4,800 million litres per day could occur by 2050. In addition to household water efficiency, non-household (NHH) water use – by businesses, public institutions, and industries – also plays a crucial role in ensuring a sustainable water future.
The UK government has set targets to reduce business water consumption by 9% by 2038 and 15% by 2050. However, achieving these targets requires greater awareness, incentives, and support for businesses to adopt water-efficient products and practices.
The project
Waterwise led a small scoping project, sponsored by Wave Utilities, partnering with Weir The Agency and funded by the Market Improvement Fund. The project aimed to explore the appetite amongst NHH businesses for a new, centralised, retailer-neutral incentive scheme that encourages businesses to install water-saving products in their domestic settings.
The project also sought to:
- Understand business needs – by engaging businesses through one-to-one interviews to understand each organisations awareness and implementation of current water efficiency schemes
- Learn from global and UK approaches to incentivisation schemes – by undertaking a literature review of different approaches to incentivising NHH water efficiency
- Explore the preferred funding and governance approach for a new centralised, retailer-neutral incentive scheme
Our research highlights:
- An appetite amongst NHHs businesses for a widely publicised, and effectively communicated, centralised incentive scheme to support the installation of more water efficient products.
- Support for such a scheme is strongest in the public sector organisations.
- A preference for independent governance, with businesses favouring a scheme managed by the government or an impartial organisation.
- A clear opportunity to improve access to data, helping businesses make informed decisions on water-saving initiatives.
Next Steps
The findings from this project have been shared with industry stakeholders to guide potential future decisions on developing a centralised water-saving incentive scheme. These insights come at a pivotal time, aligning with the launch of the UK mandatory water efficiency label and the Ofwat Water Efficiency Fund in 2025.
Work with us
Waterwise works with individuals, communities and organisations across the UK to make sure water is never wasted. We are proud to partner with a number of organisations who share our vision and are committed to improving water efficiency within their own operations, as well as helping us to raise awareness of water scarcity.
