Water Resources

The first major report on water resources in England, published by the Environment Agency states that climate change and demand from a growing population are the biggest pressures on the availability of water. Without action to increase supply, reduce demand and cut down on wastage, many areas in England could see significant supply deficits by 2050 – particularly in the south east.

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Most human activities that use water produce wastewater. As the overall demand for water grows, the quantity of wastewater produced and its overall pollution load are continuously increasing worldwide. Over 80% of the world’s wastewater – and over 95% in some least developed countries – is released to the environment without treatment.

Most human activities that use water produce wastewater. As the overall demand for water grows, the quantity of wastewater produced and its overall pollution load are continuously increasing worldwide. Over 80% of the world’s wastewater – and over 95% in some least developed countries – is released to the environment without treatment.

The specific aim of the Innovation Projects Open Call is to increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research outputs by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users, particularly businesses.

Funds will be used to support projects which focus upon generating user applicable outputs from past and/or current NERC supported research and which translates them into outcomes that achieve impact.

NERC have added two further directed funding opportunities:

Birmingham has come ninth in a list of the world’s best cities for sustainable water management – top for the UK – with Rotterdam, Copenhagen and Amsterdam ranking highest globally.

The research carried out by Arcadis and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) ranked 50 of the world’s top cities by their score against three factors: the resilience of the water system, the efficiency of water use and the quality of its water – with each of the dimensions broken down into a range of sub-indices.

Water Saving Week is a national campaign to promote simple water saving tips for the home, garden, schools, workplace and communities.

Waterwise and WaterSafe are leading the week, which runs from 21 - 25 March 2016.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the need for everyone to use water wisely - whatever the weather and wherever the location - to protect this precious and finite resource for generations to come.

Despite being regarded as a country of fairly inclement weather, the UK has less water available per person than most European nations. Using water more efficiently will help ensure that bills remain affordable and water supplies are reliable now and in the future.

Reducing pressure on water resources is necessary, not only by developing new resources, but also in tackling the inefficient use of water. Being water efficient means taking simple steps to reduce water use and employing water-saving technologies which will also save both energy and money.

Customers' number one priority for the water industry is safe, reliable supplies of water at a price they can afford. To deliver this, it's critically important that the water industry plans for the long term, because decisions and investments made today will determine the level of service that the industry can provide well into the future.