5 Minutes with Nicci Russell

Having previously sat in on a talk chaired by Waterwise CEO Nicci Russell, Collingwood’s Head of Building Products, Mark Goldsmith, was keen to delve deeper into the organisation’s work across the water efficiency landscape and its relevance to the built environment.

Fortunately, Nicci is part of Mark’s network - so the opportunity for a proper catch-up presented itself.

Here’s what they discussed:

Mark: Waterwise is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. As one of the original team members - initially serving as Policy Director - how has the organisation evolved, and how has it gained traction across the UK, Nicci?

Nicci: The two main things that have changed in the last 20 years are the scale of the problem and the scale of the work being done to tackle it.

In terms of the work, when we started out, there were only a few really dedicated people across the sector doing anything on water efficiency! A couple of water companies were retrofitting a few hundred homes each - that was it. And when we used to go to Scotland and Wales to talk about water efficiency, given how wet people think those countries are, it’s fair to say it was seen for a while as a niche subject - with only a few dedicated voices. Now all the water companies across the UK have really large retrofitting programmes - by which we mean fixing or updating taps, toilets (including leaky loos - more on that later!) and showers, making them water efficient. And water efficiency is squarely on the agenda of Ministers in all four UK nations. Waterwise can definitely claim some credit for this - we have spent 20 years influencing decision-makers, bringing together coalitions, urging greater ambition and running campaigns.

In terms of the scale of the problem, in those 20 years, water use per person has increased; there are more of us than ever before; and human behaviour has caused a climate emergency, so there is less water available when we need it. Talk about a triple whammy. Here are three shocking stats for your readers, to illustrate the scale of the challenge:

1. In the UK, by 2050, there will be a 5 billion litre daily gap between the water we have and the water we need, which is more than a third of the daily water we use now.
2. In 2024 the Scottish Minister said ‘We face periods of drought, and have seen recent instances of water scarcity, with risks of more, affecting our households, food producers, and nature’.
3. This year, spring in England was the driest in 100 years.

This certainly focuses minds.

Mark: Waterwise has introduced the Checkmark certification for buildings. What prompted the development of this scheme, what does it involve, and what benefits can recipients expect?

Nicci: The idea of the Waterwise Checkmark is to enable companies and organisations to show their customers and employees that they are walking the walk on water efficiency. Most organisations have resilience and contingency plans in place, but it’s shocking how few of them cover ‘what if the water runs out?’. There’s a 1 in 4 chance over the next 30 years that households and businesses will experience water supply cuts. So, the other point of our Checkmark is also to help organisations set and meet water targets. The Checkmark shows that they are doing this - by having water-efficient kit in their buildings, and by engaging with their staff to drive efficient water use. After all, a water-efficient shower which someone spends an hour in will not fit the bill at all!

The award recognises that a particular building - from offices to community centres - has put in place a variety of measures to encourage water-efficient behaviours and reduce water waste, from internal awareness campaigns to water-efficient devices and fittings. Really big organisations like Welsh Water and DVLA are proud owners of the Checkmark, as well as Business Stream, based in Edinburgh, and United Utilities. It can cover owned and rented premises, and helps organisations stand out as water efficiency champions - especially useful for brands with a USP on sustainability builds and advice. Non-household water use accounts for a third of the public water supply used in England, so it’s a big chunk - and most businesses are currently using 10 to 30% more water than they need to.

Mark: I understand Waterwise has been involved in the government’s Future Homes Hub Standard. What role have you played there, and which other policy areas are commanding attention within the organisation right now?

Nicci: We have been very involved in work to ensure homes and buildings become more water efficient under both the current UK government and the previous one. For us, the key is that measures are in place for all homes and buildings - not just new build. We do need all homes and buildings to be water-efficient if we are going to meet the challenge of both adapting to and mitigating the climate emergency. Wasting less hot water reduces carbon footprint and energy bills, and wasting less water of any temperature cuts down on the carbon and energy footprint of pumping, treating and transporting water to and from homes and businesses. We want to see all homes and businesses over the next 50 years getting down to really low levels of water use. At home, on average across the UK currently we each use around 140 litres a day. That’s almost doubled since the 1960s. When I was growing up, in the 1970s, we used to have one bath for the whole family, once a week, and now people might have multiple showers a day (some of them very long!), we have leaky loos, and sprinklers in the garden. In fact, on the subject of sprinklers - they use 1,000 litres an hour, which is almost as much as two families of four in England will use in a whole day! To get down to much lower levels of water use we will need to build re-use of water - rainwater and greywater - into all of our homes and businesses. Water re-use in homes could knock 50 litres a day off per person consumption.

We are eagerly awaiting the government consultation on tightening up building standards on water efficiency for new homes, and making this mandatory. That would match the scale of the challenge. The mandatory water efficiency label for kitchen and bathroom products in the UK, which we have long campaigned for, and is finally due in the next 12 months, will provide an opportunity for water-efficient goods to be targeted in retrofit. We’ve called for the equivalent of an Energy Performance Certificate for water and also called on the government to require businesses using the most water to publish a water reduction plan.

Mark: Waterwise has also been central to the development of the UK Water Efficiency Strategy to 2030. What gaps have been identified as part of that work, and how should bathroom manufacturers and those with water-intensive production processes be responding?

Nicci: We developed the Waterwise UK Water Efficiency Strategy to 2030 to tackle the very big challenge of not being able to meet the water needs of society, the economy and the environment, right across the UK. Water is devolved, and Waterwise covers the whole of the UK, so we were the perfect people to do it! We are already running out of water, right across the UK, and nothing happens without water. Not economic growth; not schools, factories and hospitals; not even human life.

We had over 100 organisations buy into the UK Strategy, and it sets out ten strategic objectives. It’s a roadmap for government and the water sector in terms of how to close the gap between supply and demand, using water efficiency. It covers goals like water efficiency measures being included in building retrofit programmes, including to achieve net zero; people and organisations fitting water-efficient products and making use of a mandatory water efficiency label; leaking toilets and confusing dual-flush buttons being a thing of the past; and organisations being more motivated to save water. If our Strategy was delivered across the UK, it could save 1 billion litres a day.

We would urge bathroom manufacturers and companies which use lots of water in their industrial processes to get in touch with us at Waterwise! We can help you put together your water strategy, plan how you will set targets and reduce water use (and water and energy bills) and also build water efficiency into your products. I would love to come and talk to your teams to inspire them on why water efficiency is important. And you could accredit your approach through the Waterwise Checkmark. Could you operate your business without water? No one can! Contact us! We also know that the bathroom industry, including with the brilliant Tom Reynolds, CEO of the BMA, is working hard to design solutions to leaky loos and confusing dual-flush buttons. Around 400 million litres of water is currently estimated to leak from UK toilets every day, which is enough water to supply 2.8 million people - the populations of Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and Bristol combined!

Mark: With ESG rising fast up the boardroom agenda, what are the better manufacturers doing in your experience to stay ahead of the curve?

Nicci: Gold standard is re-using water in their manufacturing processes, instead of using poor drinking water. Plus having a target to reduce their water use both per employee (in office buildings) and per process (in factories and transport). Building water-efficient products - and including water efficiency as their USP in marketing. Including water in their contingency and resilience plans - again, could you run your business without water? Plus, accreditation like the Waterwise Checkmark for buildings - and developing water-literate employees who use water wisely at work and at home. Manufacturers can also promote our year-round water efficiency campaigns with their teams and customers - and sponsor them for fantastic brand alliance, too! In fact, Waterwise can help with all of this - and it funds us to work against our not-for-profit purpose of leading and inspiring change so that water is never wasted. Helping us ensure the taps don’t run dry, underpinning economic growth, and society as a whole!

A message from Nicci: Now you’ve finished this article, here is what I would like you to do! Ensure you are factoring water efficiency and water scarcity into your products and operations - and contact Waterwise to help you do this! In the meantime, dive into our website and hopefully you’ll be inspired. You can also contact my colleague Claire Spendley, Head of Commercial Services, via email.

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