Uncharted waters.
Water neutrality: the next net zero carbon.
POSSIBILITIES
Back in issue three, we looked at hydropolitics and hydropsychology on a global scale, considering the possibility of water wars and how this ‘liquid gold’ resource could be ‘the next oil’. Now, with the realities of water scarcity already being seen, we consider the implications closer to home, and the role of buildings in bringing water neutrality to bear.
Illustrations by Mark Boardman represented by meiklejohn.co.uk
We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea.
Sir James Bevan Environment Agency Chief Executive
These were the attention-grabbing words of Environment Agency Chief Executive Sir James Bevan at the 2019 Waterwise Conference, driving home the importance of the need for us to take responsibility for our own water usage. Sir James used smoking, seatbelts and single-use plastics as clear recent examples of mass human behaviour successfully modified and spoke of an unnerving graph widely featuring in water company business plans, colloquially known as the ‘jaws of death’.
One axis shows predicted water demand over the next decades (the line travelling upward as more people, homes and businesses appear over time). The other shows available water (the line travelling downward as the effects of climate change kick in). These lines significantly diverge around 20 to 25 years from now, creating said ‘jaws’ – the point at which, without serious action, we won’t have enough water for our needs.
Below: The unnerving graph known in the industry as the ‘jaws of death’. Source: Thames Water
By the time Sir James spoke at the Royal Society Conference in 2021, the National Framework for Water Resources had been implemented to identify England’s long-term water needs – which sectors will use the most, and the actions required to ensure resilient water supplies will be available. “What gets measured gets done,” said Sir James, who this year focused on the flatlining that has occurred since the progress of the 1990s, due to development and continued industrial pollution. Currently only 14% of our rivers meet the criteria for good ecological status.
Such stark realities have prompted other high-profile campaigners to direct attention to our water issues, including comedian Paul Whitehouse with his documentary Our Troubled Waters, and the singer of The Undertones, Feargal Sharkey, who continues to shout about water quality from the rooftops. Across the pond. Hollywood actor Matt Damon has co-founded global water and sanitation charity Water.org to improve access to safe water.
In the words of Leonardo Da Vinci, water is the driving force of all nature, and while excess carbon is indisputably very bad for the environment, a scarcity of water, even for a week, spells deadly news even quicker. Water resource management is not just nice to have – it’s essential – and many believe that the UK should be setting a date for becoming water neutral, as it has done for net zero carbon. It’s our next big battleground, with water neutrality – i.e. not increasing the rate of abstraction for drinking water supplies above existing levels – key to the win.
“We often take water for granted. For decades, we have had a solid, reliable water infrastructure in the UK, and have been secure in the knowledge that we can turn on the tap and get access to fresh, wholesome water without worrying that it might run dry,” says chartered public health engineer David Sorisi, Associate Director at Hoare Lea. “As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘when the well is dry, we know the worth of water’: only when a resource starts to become scarce, and cost more, does fundamental change happen. We have seen this throughout history. As a modern society, we should be in a position where everyone has access to a clean water supply that doesn’t cost the earth.”
As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘when the well is dry, we know the worth of water’: only when a resource starts to become scarce, and cost more, does fundamental change happen.
David Sorisi Associate Director, Hoare Lea
Paul Whitehouse filming Our Troubled Waters with John Bailey from the Canal and River Trust. Photo: BBC Pictures
Head of Policy and Strategy at NGO Waterwise, Dr Nathan Richardson has been working in water management for over 35 years, in academia, industry, consultancy – a journey that has given him a rounded perspective on water and how to value and use it wisely.
“What Sir James Bevan was trying to do with his language was to shake things up and rattle us out of our complacency on water demand,” he says. “Latest calculations show a shortfall of over 4,000,000,000 litres of water per day if we want secure supplies, economic growth and a healthy environment... He was spot on, I think.”
The main challenge ahead for the UK, he says, is making our water system fit for the present and the future; ensuring there is sufficient water for people, business and the environment, and ensuring we are not polluting our rivers and seas. Sitting on a customer challenge group for one water company, he sees raised public awareness of water company performance as a good thing.
This isn’t just down to the companies; the regulators have a responsibility here too. The sector is going to have to work hard to win back trust.
Dr Nathan Richardson Head of Policy and Strategy, Waterwise
“The sector has not got the balance right over the last 15 years, between the levels of investment needed and the price of water, and we are seeing the consequences. This isn’t just down to the companies; the regulators have a responsibility here too. The sector is going to have to work hard to win back trust.”
Dr Richardson feels infrastructure investment simply must go up if we want secure water supplies and a healthy environment – and that we should all be paying based on what we use. “It is a nonsense that so many households pay a flat fee no matter their consumption levels and so have little incentive to use water wisely. In terms of bills, I think people will get that we need to invest more. For me, the key thing is helping those who struggle with costs.”
Variable tariffs make sense, but getting everyone smart metered is integral to making them work well. “I envisage tariffs based on water availability with height charges in droughts, or a rising block set-up where the first chunk of ‘essential’ water we all need is free or very low cost but then the unit rate goes up the more ‘discretionary’ water you use. This could encourage people to use less and help with affordability.”
New water supplies need to be diverse, sustainable and affordable.
Jill Hudkins President, Tetra Tech
A need for smart, holistic solutions
Incentives for water conservation are important but do not result in new water supplies or better water distribution. New water supplies need to be diverse, sustainable and affordable. Fundamentally, water resiliency requires thoughtful management of extremes of too much or too little water, says Jill Hudkins, long-term water infrastructure expert and President of Tetra Tech.
“In regions with limited water supplies, utilities are increasingly broadening their sourcing to include water reclamation and reuse, and treatment of new water supplies such as brackish groundwater to meet their water supply needs. They are also seeking to increase headroom in the system through more effective demand management; for example, reducing leakage, decreasing pressure and lowering per capita consumption provide cost-efficient means of increasing capacity. Digital technology also plays an important role in supporting conservation and smarter TOTEX (total cost of project) investment approaches for water utilities. Advanced analytics can be used to drive system optimisation, increase customer value and provide stakeholder transparency.
Smart infrastructure investments benefit both communities and customers, without making bills for essential services unaffordable to low-income households.”
A route to reducing water, comparable to that for reducing carbon, is possible, and basically outlined by Waterwise in its UK Strategy for Water Efficiency to 2030 which sets out water-saving benefits and how we can do it though behaviour change and technology. “Water is where carbon was a decade or so ago,” Dr Richardson reflects. “We need to get it up the agenda as it will be the medium through which the effects of climate change are felt – with droughts and floods. Competition for available water between sectors and countries is going to increase as the population rises and climate change bites.
It’s going to take real leadership and cooperation to see us through without impacts on a massive scale. Governments do need to take the lead; water providers need to rise to the challenge, but we all have a role to play as water users in making sure we value water and use it wisely.”
Hardham Water Supply Works, Horsham. Photo courtesy of Southern Water
Open for sustainable business and sensible builds
“Water scarcity is not something that might happen in the future; it is already happening now in certain parts of the UK,” says David Sorisi, “impacting on how we design buildings within these areas. Water neutrality is not just focused on personal consumption; it affects all business sectors within the built environment and how they use water.”
Indeed, many regions, councils and organisations are now dealing with the issue. Recently, and for the first time, the Environment Agency objected to new housing in the south of Cambridgeshire over water concerns, fearing that supplying water to thousands of new homes would pose “a significant risk”.
The area around the town of Eye in Suffolk, known as the Hartismere Water Resource Zone, has seen people build their own reservoirs after a water shortage meant businesses using large volumes of water (manufacturers, farmers, food processors) were refused permission to set up or expand. It’s a policy that will stay in place until 2032 when new water supply schemes in Hartismere should be operational.
After Essex & Suffolk Water objected to agricultural firm C E Davidson’s application to build six new chicken sheds on their farm (requiring mains water), the company is installing a 16 million-litre reservoir in a nearby crop field to collect rainwater captured from farm buildings.
With water abstraction for drinking water supplies having a negative impact on the wildlife sites in the Arun Valley, parts of Crawley Borough and Chichester District, as well as parts of North West Sussex, including all of Horsham District, have also been identified as areas of serious water stress by the Environment Agency. Natural England advises that any new development must not add to this and, instead, it must be water neutral.
We need to look at incorporating solutions which mimic the natural water cycle and provide a holistic design approach.
David Sorisi Associate Director, Hoare Lea
“The affected authorities in North West Sussex are required to demonstrate that new development does not increase demand for water abstraction above existing levels, to ensure rare habitats are protected,” says Clark Gordon, Water Neutrality Project Manager at Horsham District Council. “This has had a significant impact on the ability to deliver growth and economic investment, delaying the provision of over 20,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs. Finding sustainable, long-term solutions is therefore critical, and over the last two years the affected local authorities have worked collaboratively with organisations including Natural England, the Environment Agency, and Southern Water to develop potential solutions.”
Good progress has been made, he says, in highly challenging circumstances. “The delivery of water neutrality will involve new development built to very high efficiency standards, and Sussex North Offsetting Water Scheme (SNOWs) which will deliver water efficiency savings in existing developments that will provide credits enabling new development to be unlocked. The work is complex and slowed by limited resources but is hoped to become operational soon.
Science can help us navigate the phases of water, optimisation of its management, and even encourage behaviour change through financial incentives.
Leslie Shoemaker Chief Sustainability Officer, Tetra Tech
The three-step hierarchy for water neutrality (source: Waterwise)
Buildings play an important role in achieving water neutrality and will be a large part of the solution in reducing water consumption. “The complexities surrounding water neutrality and scarcity mean there is not a ‘one solution fits all’ approach that can be implemented to overcome the pressures,” says David Sorisi, who feels each development needs to be reviewed and assessed based on the intricacies of the scheme and its location. “While there are wider issues faced by the water companies and their abilities to provide resilience to their networks, if we focus on the built environment, we need to look at incorporating solutions which mimic the natural water cycle and provide a holistic design approach to a building’s water and drainage systems.
Future designs should aim to slow down rainwater, capturing and reusing it for non-potable appliances to reduce our overall demand on the incoming wholesome supply and, where possible (and suitable to the development), assess the reuse for grey and/or blackwater systems,” Sorisi suggests, adding that a successful water neutrality scheme will be very closely linked to the Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) plan. “They should work harmoniously together, in theory.”
While rainwater harvesting or reclaimed water systems have been in the industry for years, they are often seen as a ‘nice to have’, or value-engineered out of a scheme due to cost, he adds. “As our focus changes from cost savings to water savings, we are likely to see big changes across the industry within the next couple of years, with the implementation of these systems increasing.”
The search for sustainability can guide our response to the water challenge, agrees Leslie Shoemaker, Tetra Tech’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “Sustainable thinking means managing water efficiently and holistically – water is just H2O, here since the beginning of time, and something we use and reuse infinitely. Science can help us to navigate the phases of water, the optimisation of its management, and even encourage behaviour change through financial incentives. The challenge is worth taking – our water depends on it.”
LET’S TALK
DavidSorisi@hoarelea.com