A partnership involving water companies, the water regulator Ofwat, the Environment Agency<\/a>, the Met Office and Natural Resources Wales is behind the campaign, which will be paid for by water companies over four years.<\/p>\n Water use in England<\/a> and Wales is among the highest in Europe, with countries such as Germany and the Netherlands averaging 120 litres a person a day by comparison.<\/p>\n A team of behavioural psychologists are advising the campaign, which aims to change attitudes to water use.<\/p>\n \u201cThe critical issue is, how do we make people believe water is an important resource?\u201d said Prof Thomas Webb, a social psychologist at the University of Sheffield. \u201cSo we need to change assumptions. We need to make people aware of how much water they are using and help them see this as a collective effort, and something they can be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n Water shortages in England are predicted to reach 5bn litres a day by 2055<\/a> \u2013 equivalent to a shortfall of 2,000 Olympic-sized pools \u2013 as a result of climate breakdown, population increases and the expansion of water-intensive industries such as datacentres.<\/p>\n But research for the campaign reveals that people have no idea how much water they use<\/a>, and are underestimating their useage by a factor of about five \u2013 on average, people believe they use about 30 litres a day, compared with actual usage of about 140 litres.<\/p>\n A hosepipe ban came into effect in Kent on Friday morning, days after South East Water urged customers<\/a> to use water sparingly as demand increased in the heatwave.<\/p>\n Prof Lizzie Kendon, the strategic head of climate processes and projections at the Met Office<\/a>, said: \u201cClimate change is driving increasingly extreme weather patterns, with wetter winters, drier summers and more intense bursts of rainfall.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen rain falls on dry, hardened ground, much of it cannot soak into the soil, where it is most valuable, instead it runs off and is being lost. There is an urgent need for action.\u201d<\/p>\n The campaign is calling for the public to make small everyday changes to their habits to reduce water use \u2013 such as taking shorter showers, using water butts in gardens and fixing dripping taps. Showers use 10 litres of water a minute, and replacing the shower head with a water-saving model can reduce use by up to 50%, lowering energy bills.<\/p>\n Prof Ian Walker, the head of psychology at Swansea University and one of the academic advisers to the campaign, said people needed to be empowered to act.<\/p>\n \u201cIdeally, what you need is a system for taking information from a smart meter, feeding it to a household in real time and combining it with meaningful information about what to do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n He said one-off changes, such as purchasing a more water-efficient shower head and washing machine, were the easiest behavioural changes to encourage. But habitual behaviours \u2013 which constituted most water consumption \u2013 were much harder to change.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Down to Earth<\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Those behind the campaign acknowledge that with public trust in water companies at an all-time low \u2013 as a result of record sewage pollution<\/a>, drinking water outages<\/a> in south-east England, and companies including Thames Water<\/a> in high levels of debt and failing to meet their legal duties \u2013 the request to cut water usage might be a difficult sell.<\/p>\n Leaks by water companies amount to 19% of water demand, and no new reservoirs have been built in England by water companies for 30 years.<\/p>\n The industry has now pledged to build 10 new reservoirs<\/a> as part of a \u00a3104bn investment over the next five years.<\/p>\n James Wallace, the chief executive of River Action, said: \u201cWe welcome any initiative that encourages people to conserve water. Every litre saved helps reduce pressure on our rivers, the lifeblood of our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n But Wallace said the greatest responsibility for saving water still lay with the companies themselves: since privatisation, \u00a378bn has been paid to shareholders, and each day more than 3bn litres of drinking water are lost through leaking pipes. \u201cWe need a fully funded national emergency plan that holds polluters and water companies accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Shas Sheehan, the chair of the House of Lords environment and climate change committee, which recently called for<\/a> a society-wide campaign to reduce water use, said it was essential that the campaign was supported by a credible, year-round communication strategy. \u201cThat strategy must be transparent, consistent and demonstrate that water companies are taking visible steps to put their own house in order. The campaign must bring the public with it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt present, there is a clear risk that messages on reducing water use will not land as intended, given the erosion of public trust in water companies \u2026 water companies must lead by example if they are to expect sustained changes in public behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782320775_222_500.jpg\")
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