The 2025-2030 water resource managements plans (WRMPs), described by the Environment Agency as a step forward in ambition, set out many new approaches to water management in England.
These include proposals for multiple indirect water recycling schemes and a widescale rollout of smart meters by all water companies. In another first, assessments of natural capital – the value of everything that comes from nature – have been used to inform plans.
This means the costs and benefits to society and the environment are better accounted for in decision-making , as Ofwat explains in its summary of revised draft plans.
This is an important shift. Research conducted on behalf of A Freshwater Future, an independent review of water sector performance, facilitated by CIWEM, found that 81% of people are worried about the health of the UK’s nature.
Businesses across all sectors, but particularly water, are expected to consider the wider impact of their operations. In Ofwat’s 2019 strategy – Time to Act, Together – one of the three strategic goals was for water companies “to provide greater social and environmental value, delivering more for customers, society, and the environment”.
Of course, water companies have a long-held commitment to positively impact the communities they serve, and many are already making headway in embedding a purpose-driven culture. There is much to be gained from this sharper focus on environmental and societal wellbeing, not least the support it can give recruitment efforts – increasingly, those entering the job market want to work for a company with values that align with their own.
Crucially, a purpose-driven approach can help build customer trust and confidence and enlist support for public-facing activities. This is essential if communities are to get behind the WRMP projects proposed for their catchments over the next five years, such as water recycling, new reservoirs and desalination plants, while changing their own behaviours to reduce water consumption at home.
Supply chain companies are supporting the utilities’ public value commitments through their own social responsibility programmes. Many of these align directly with water companies’ social values, encouraging collaboration and partnerships.
One example is Xylem’s Watermark, which aims to provide safe water resources for global communities and educate people about water issues. Xylem also provides community grants to non-profits such as Aquabox, a UK-based charity which provides safe drinking water through filtration units to crisis zones around the world.
Through a community grant in 2022, Watermark contributed towards providing access to clean water for 10,000 people with Aquabox gold boxes containing water purification filters and items of humanitarian aid.
Recent responses have included the shipping of seven consignments of water filters to Ukraine, which will have the capability to meet the water needs for over 40,000 people. A similar response was given to southern Pakistan following devastating floods in 2022.
In a UK grassroots Watermark project, Xylem’s Axminster facility partnered with Plastic Free Axminster, part of the marine charity Surfers Against Sewage, and pledged to remove at least three types of single use plastics from its site in Axminster, Devon.
Another key initiative sees staff visit schools to talk to pupils about the water-cycle. In the UK, this engagement can support the work of utilities by not only educating young people about saving water, but also how the vital project proposals in WRMPs, such as water recycling, will benefit their community.
These informative sessions from water professionals may even inspire the next generation of water professionals – good news for a sector that is facing a shortfall of workers.
These are just a few examples of how Xylem, like many suppliers, is directly engaging with the public, local businesses and charities to advocate for the sector. To learn more about supporting communities through Watermark partnerships, take a look at Xylem’s 2023 sustainability report.
