Water conservation: Water Saving Group (WSG)
Established in October 2005, the Water Saving Group brought together key water industry organisations in order to combine their skills and experience and promote the efficient use of water in households in England. The Group was successful in improving the framework for water efficiency in England.The group formally came to an end in November 2008; however work on water efficiency continues within each of the individual organisations formerly represented on the Group.
Background
The first Government led Group of its kind, it sought to identify ways of raising awareness about water efficiency, as well as identifying collaborative work to improve the evidence base and contribute to demand management in the long term. The overarching goal of the Group was to reduce per capita consumption in households. The Group comprised of representatives from:
- Defra
- Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
- Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG)
- Ofwat
- Environment Agency
- water companies
- Consumer Council for Water
- Water UK
- Waterwise
The Water Saving Group’s achievements
The overarching goal of the Water Saving Group was to reduce per capita consumption in households. Members of the group worked collaboratively to undertake a concerted package of measures to achieve this common goal. The package of measures was reflected in the group’s action plan (PDF KB) and will contribute to make progress towards the Government’s ambition to reduce per capita consumption to 130 litres per person per day by 2030 through cost effective measures. Details of the group’s achievements and plans for individual organisations’ future work are set out in the paper below:
WSG minutes
- November 2008 (PDF 31 KB)
- May 2008 (PDF 30 KB)
Official level WSG minutes
- October 2008 (PDF 60 KB)
For a list of minutes from earlier WSG and Official level WSG meetings please visit the National Archives website:
- WSG minutes (National Archives website)
Related documents
- Ofwat’s response to its consultation on water efficiency targets, November 08
- Waterwise’s Evidence Base for Large Scale Water Efficiency, October 2008 (PDF)
- Waterwise’s report on the water and energy consumptions of dishwashers and washing machines, September 2008 (PDF)
- Consumer attitudes to water efficiency of bathroom fittings: quantitative research, April 2008 (PDF 850 KB)
- Saving water, we can make a difference (PDF 700 KB)
- as part of the Government’s new water strategy for England, Future Water, the Water Saving Group has approved a list of top water saving tips - Joint Defra/CLG policy statement on water efficiency in new buildings, July 2007
- CCWater’s research on customer attitudes to water use, November 2006
- Ofwat’s publication of its water efficiency initiatives good practice register, November 2006
Page last modified: 22 January 2009
Page published: 26 October
2005