Metering, tariffs, efficiency, and technology at center of new plan
Environment Minsters in the United Kingdom want households to cut their water consumption 20 percent by 2030. The announcement comes as the UK Environment Agency prepares to release its study on water resource management, which looks at how the industry should coordinate resources in the face of climate change, rising energy prices, and growing demand.
Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, aims to cut use by 30 liters (8 gal.) a day per person by 2030, according to a report in The Times. Benn says the current daily consumption of 150 liters (40 gal.) is unsustainable and needs to be slashed. As a point of comparison, the USGS estimates that average daily water consumption in the U.S. is somewhere between 80-100 gallons per capita.
The plan will include changes in how water is billed, in an effort to have a direct impact on consumption patterns. Such changes would likely include mandatory metering that would adjust rates based upon usage levels (i.e if a household uses more than average, they will pay a higher rate), labeling for water consuming appliances like dishwashers and washing machines, and incentives to restrict flow from taps and showers.
Such measures would probably be applied selectively at first, mainly in areas already short of water in the southeast part of the England.
Officials believe that a combination of metering, tariffs, water efficiency and new technology can reduce water usage to 34 gallons person per day by 2030.
Image credit: bmitchellw via flickr under a Creative Commons License
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