30/04/09
This year's Waterwise conference attracted a large audience from many sectors. Green shoots are in short supply generally, but romance between water and energy was bursting out in the Oxford spring.
Waterwise, the NGO part-funded by the water industry, believes that breadth of interest is vital if regulators and ministers are to be convinced that the sector can play a key role in achieving resource efficiency and a low-carbon future.
Conference chair was shared between the Energy Saving Trust's enthusiastic CEO, Philip Sellwood, and Walter Menzies, chief of the successful Mersey Basin Campaign and a Waterwise board member.
This fourth annual conference seemed to encapsulate all the high hopes of the more water-efficient future skilfully articulated by Waterwise in recent years. Demand management was a core feature of water company strategic direction statements in 2007 and has since been carried through to 2009 price review business plans and water resource management plans currently being finalised.
Meanwhile many other sectors are responding to the message from ministers and others that reducing water waste is good for business and corporate reputation.
For Water UK, Pamela Taylor, Chief Executive, spoke about the industry's positive approach to water efficiency activity trials and the value of the collaborative approach promoted by the government-led Water Saving Group. It was a pity that since the Group's final report, the main outcome had been Ofwat's imposition of water efficiency targets on water companies. What happened to the shared over-arching goal and acknowledgement that changing society and public behaviour on this kind of thing required genuine cooperation between influential groups, not a demand that the supplier alone could do it?
Among the other speakers were the chair of UK Climate Programme; retailer B&Q's social responsibility adviser; and the Greater London Authority climate change adviser.
Water UK Chief Executive's speech
