Campaign launched to address ‘serious’ risk of UK water shortages within next 25 years

With the Environment Agency warning in 2019 that a mixture of population growth, climate change, and drier summers could see water shortages leave UK rivers and lakes at risk of drying up within 25 years, conservation charity World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Finish Dishwashing UK have launched a new water saving campaign to educate the British public on water scarcity and to encourage people to take action to save water in their homes.

With over half of the UK’s domestic water supply coming from freshwater rivers, by making three water saving changes at home to help protect resources for the future, individual water usage would fall by 33 litres per person per day, enough to ensure future water needs can be met.

Ways to save water at home include taking shorter showers, using a dishwasher and washing cars with a bucked instead of a hose.

The campaign is being supported former Olympic swimmer Mark Foster and wildlife presented Michaela Strachan, who embarked on a wild swim to highlight the amount of water that could be saved if we all make small changes at home.

Talking about the swim, Strachan said: “The health and wellbeing benefits of wild swimming are well documented, but many people don’t make the connection between these natural bodies of water and the water coming out of our taps. We take it for granted. I’ve experienced first-hand severe water shortages in South Africa, but because we think of the UK as a rainy, wet country, I think most people will be really surprised to know that water shortages could be a problem here in the UK in years to come.”

Colin Linstead, Freshwater Specialist at WWF, said: “We are delighted to enter a new partnership with Finish to help replenish UK freshwater landscapes and boost understanding of the need to save water. We urge people to get involved, make simple, everyday changes at home and conserve water – doing so will benefit the environment and people too.”

To find out more, visit: wwf.org.uk