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by Karma Loveday

Retailer Wholesaler Group updates water efficiency roadmap as new targets beckon

The Retailer Wholesaler Group’s  (RWG) has updated its 2021 roadmap in the face of mounting demand reduction obligations under policy and regulatory changes aimed at promoting water efficiency in the non-household (NHH) market.


The update by RWG's Water Efficiency Subgroup addresses the statutory demand reduction target of 9% by 2038 and 15% by 2050 set under the Environment Act, and PR24’s performance commitment on wholesalers to deliver NHH demand reduction. According to the group, “as yet there is no real understanding of how we will deliver the government target (including off-setting expected demand growth) or how much it will cost to do so” and only limited experience of delivering demand reduction at scale.


Meanwhile: “According to the EA’s current assessment, the scale of proposals in the wholesalers’ revised Water Resource Management Plans that were produced [in 2023] would deliver 6.1% NHH demand reduction by 2038” – short of the 9% target.


The revised roadmap focuses on action in two areas:

“(i) Customers: what we need to do to motivate NHH customers to embed water efficiency in their businesses in the same way as they do carbon dioxide and energy reduction. It is proposed that we need to make progress in three areas:

  • increase awareness of the water scarcity issue and of Defra’s target for demand reduction in the business sector;

  • create the imperative for NHH customers to take action to reduce/optimise their consumption; and

  • provide support to help them do it – in the way of data (through smarter metering), policy tools, and funding.

"(ii)  NHH Market: what does the market/industry need to do to support demand reduction in the NHH sector, and what are the enablers? It is proposed that as a market we now need to focus on:

  • understanding what works at scale, how much it will cost, and how we fund it;

  • how we deliver – including the respective roles of retailers and wholesalers; and

  • how we measure progress.”


The RWG's water efficiency sub-group is now working on two immediate priorities with a target date of March 2024: options and models for wholesaler/retailer collaboration during AMP8; and a common method for tracking and measuring the impact of water efficiency activities.

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