Water is a finite resource. Water is essential for sustaining us, and our ecosystems, supporting our livelihoods, and driving our economies. It is a crucial element for human survival and the well-being of our planet.
With challenges like climate change, population growth, and increasing pressure on our water and wastewater infrastructure, the demand and availability of water have become increasingly strained. It is therefore important to understand the essence of water sustainability.
What is Water Sustainability?
Water sustainability refers to the responsible management and use of water resources to ensure availability and sufficiency for present and future generations while maintaining the health of our ecosystems. It involves the need for us to employ strategies and practices that balance the demand for water with its finite supply, considering environmental, social, and economic aspects.
Key components of water sustainability include:
efficient water usage to meet various needs (domestic, agricultural, industrial)
minimising pollution and deterioration of water sources
replenishing and conserving water through proper catchment management
promoting equitable access to clean and safe water for all.
Achieving water sustainability involves a combination of conservation efforts, technological advancements, policy development, community engagement, and public awareness. It aims to ensure that water resources are managed in a way that meets current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own water needs.
Why is sustainability in water important?
Water sustainability is the shield that will protect our future.
Consider: if we all use our water without thinking about it, use unlimited quantities in our daily lives…because we can …or because we are not thinking about it for our future, what happens next?
That's where sustainability steps in. It's about making sure we have enough water not just for today, but for tomorrow too. With climate change, we need to be ready for anything that the weather brings such as too much rain or not enough. Managing and protecting our water resources helps us handle these surprises.
Think of it as a way to keep our taps flowing and our raw waters, our rivers and reservoirs, clean and healthy, even when things like climate change mess up the usual weather.
Now, why does this matter so much?
Firstly, we all need water to keep us healthy and hydrated.
Our wildlife and nature depend on clean water and healthy rivers and reservoirs.
Conserving water also saves money and energy. When we waste less water, when we have less leakage, we spend less. We don't need to treat as much water to supply the same quantity to the population. We don't need to use energy to pump as much water to the taps.
Everyone should have access to clean water, no matter where they live or who they are.
That's why sustainability in water isn't just a "nice to have," it's a must! It's about making sure water keeps flowing, stays clean, and is available for everyone, now and for the generations yet to come.
Sustainability Aspects of the Water Industry
The water industry operates with sustainability as a key principle, shaping its operations to ensure sustainable management of its water resources.
Environmental stewardship remains a core focus. It prioritises efficient water resource management, water and wastewater treatment, asset infrastructure management and improvements as well as promoting water-saving behaviours.
The goals for sustainability achievement involve two major actions by the UK Government:
Long-term Planning
Long-term planning and investment is a focussed aspect, with identifying and embedding forward-thinking infrastructure and innovative technologies. This proactive approach aims to meet future water demands while navigating challenges posed by climate change and population growth.
The industry is consistently exploring innovative solutions, from smart network technologies to technologies capable of effectively increasing wastewater treatment capacities, and reducing the carbon footprint of treatment processes whilst adapting and addressing emerging complexities.
Community Engagement
Engagement with communities stands as a basic practice. The industry actively educates and collaborates with diverse populations, fostering a culture of responsible water usage, conservation and catchment management.
Beyond its environmental impact, sustainability also aligns with economic prudence. By reducing waste and optimising operations, the industry not only minimises costs but also fortifies a more resilient and efficient business model.
Sustainability is interwoven into the fabric of the water industry's ethos, steering its strategies and actions toward a future where water remains abundant, protected, and efficiently managed for successive generations.
Sustainable Water Management Initiatives
The UK water industry has initiatives focussed on ensuring sustainable water management, implementing a wide array of measures and initiatives:
Demand management and smart technology implementation to improve water efficiency
Leakage Reduction Programmes are an integral part of the industry's sustainability efforts and involve targeting leakages within water distribution networks.
Through significant investments in innovative technologies and comprehensive maintenance programs, water companies endeavour to detect, locate, and repair leaks swiftly. Cutting-edge methods like acoustic sensors, satellite technology, and drone surveillance aid in identifying leaks more accurately.
The integration of smart metres, sensors, and digital infrastructure revolutionises water management practices. Real-time monitoring of water usage enables tracking consumption patterns and swiftly identifies leaks or inefficiencies. Piloting advanced technologies like smart water networks enhances the industry's ability to proactively manage and optimise water distribution systems, minimising losses and maximising efficiency.
The industry's primary aim is to minimise water loss due to leaks, contributing to the conservation of water resources.
Here’s a sample sustainability project to address this:
Smart Water Cities
The Severn Trent Water’s roll-out of smart water meters and LoRaWAN® communication network throughout Coventry City creates a pathway to provide valuable water usage data in near real-time to gain a better understanding of water consumption on its network, to act immediately.
The new communications network allows more data to help find and fix leaks and allows the sharing of information on water usage with customers. This could in turn help customers save water – at a time when saving money on bills is crucial.
Resilient Water Supply
Long-term resilience to improve water supply infrastructure to ensure sufficiency of water supply and protect water resources for the future is a key component of water companies' business planning investment. In the UK water is abstracted from two types of freshwater sources: groundwater and surface water.
Some water sources in the UK are already under stress and there are no additional water resources for water abstraction. New water sources and supplies are being sought.
Havant Thicket Reservoir
A sample sustainability project for this is the Havant Thicket Reservoir.
A new raw water reservoir in Portsmouth Water and Southern Water’s region that could also become the first to use recycled water technology is expected to open in 2029.
Once completed it will hold about 8.7 billion litres of water and capable of supplying up to 21 million litres each day. Due to growing water demand from the increased population, along with different rain patterns, the new reservoir is essential to provide sufficient drinking water.
Using recycled wastewater would protect environmentally sensitive chalk streams and provide a much-needed resilient drinking water supply.
Diversification of Water Sources
To mitigate pressure on traditional water supplies and bolster resilience, the industry explores alternative water sources. This includes the adoption of innovative solutions such as desalination technologies.
The UK only has a few desalination plants including in the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands. In 2010, a plant was built in Beckton, east London which can deliver up to 100M litres of water a day and has been used during dry spells to boost Thames Water’s reservoirs in London.
One reason desalination plants are not common is because the high-pressure pumping process means they are expensive to run.
Sustainability Project for Desalination
The South West Water Desalination plants.
The South West Water's water resources are under immense and increasing pressure. Their current system relies heavily on rainfall, and climate change has shown that they need to develop alternative, climate-independent sources of water in Cornwall.
The South West has 1,376km of coastline, which makes desalination a logical option to explore as part of an additional £45m investment in new water resource schemes. They are assessing potentially building two small-scale desalination plants in Cornwall as part of this planning.
Energy-neutral water industry treatment processes
It takes tremendous amounts of energy to provide people with water and wastewater. This challenge will only increase as the populations grow.
Today, cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions can reduce energy consumption in the water sector massively, not least at wastewater treatment plants.
Also, using available wastewater treatment works on the land to install solar power to harness solar energy or construct wind turbines that generate renewable power to be used to power the works can enable the works to be net energy neutral.
An example of this is the Five Fords, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water Energy Park.
Water Energy Park
By creating a sustainable and energy-neutral (or energy-positive) operation at the Energy Park the company is taking a step towards being energy-neutral by 2050.
The aim is to maximise the energy generation and carbon reduction potential of the site. Integrating a large (2.5MW) solar array (PV), anaerobic digestion (AD), with thermal hydrolysis pre-processing for improved bio-solids processing capacity, a 1.2 MW combined heat and power plant complemented by wind and hydro technology.
The total investment in the energy park is around £36m.
Catchment management practices
Promoting good catchment and land management to protect water resources forms a cornerstone of the industry's sustainability strategy. Water companies actively engage with customers, businesses, and industries to encourage responsible water practices.
A sample sustainability project implemented for this is the CaST.
Catchment Systems Thinking (CaST)
This is a United Utilities’ Water Company approach to managing catchments in a holistic, integrated manner. With 56,000 hectares of land in the North West, United Utilities have applied catchment-based approaches on their land to deliver environmental and water quality improvements for many years.
This initiative looks at the wider environment. Key elements of the Catchment Systems Thinking (CaST) approach include incorporating natural capital decision-making to consider what is best for the environment, customers and communities by integrating risks and driving multiple natural capital benefits, and developing better ways of working through co-governance, collaboration and partnerships.
Advanced Treatment and Recycling
Ensuring the water returning to the environment is of the best quality for the receiving watercourse is a pivotal aspect of sustainability.
To achieve this, water companies employ cutting-edge treatment technologies that treat wastewater to stringent standards. Innovations and advanced treatment processes enable effective wastewater treatment.
Some companies integrate resource recovery practices, utilising treated wastewater to generate renewable energy or for non-potable purposes, further enhancing sustainability.
Here’s a sample project:
Innovative New Technology
An innovative and sustainable technology is set to significantly increase the amount of sustainable biogas that United Utilities generates from Stockport’s sewage sludge.
Partnering with Royal HaskoningDHV this UK's first project using new technology is expected to increase biogas production by more than 20%. It also reduces the amount of chemicals
used in the process.
Funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator programme (IEEA) the technology is due to be operational at Stockport by autumn 2024.
Customer Water Use
Educational campaigns, tailored advice on water-saving techniques, and the provision of free water-saving devices empower customers to reduce their water consumption.
Improved water efficiency in the business sector can contribute significantly to meeting national needs for delivering water on a long-term, sustainable basis. It follows that improving water efficiency in the business retail market is a high priority for the regulators and government (Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Defra).
A sample project associated with this is the Olympic Park in London
Olympic Park
The regeneration of the Olympic Park post-2012 London Olympics transformed a formerly industrial area into a sustainable urban space.
The park showcases green infrastructure, water-sensitive design, and biodiversity enhancements, serving as a model for sustainable urban development.
The incorporation of a potable-water-reuse system of water for irrigation and toilet flushing, as well as for the cooling towers of a combined cooling, heat, and power (CCHP) energy centre paved the way for future water-use projects.
Conclusion
Water sustainability is crucial for our future. It ensures clean rivers, a reliable sufficiency of drinking water supply, and resilience against climate change. Achieving it means using water wisely, preventing pollution, and ensuring fair access for all.
Sustainable water is much more than just fixing leaks, promoting water-saving, treating wastewater, and protecting new water sources. Water sustainability projects showcase the water industry’s commitment to sustainability. Water sustainability requires wide engaging collaboration and involvement of many sectors, communities and expertise to ensure the best possible outcome.
Water sustainability isn't just about today—it's about securing a clean, abundant water supply for generations to come.
Learn more about sustainability in the UK Industry and the basics of the UK Water Industry with us. Check out our course Introduction to UK Water Industry Training and other water-related courses.