Water’s worth saving

Growing families, that prize-winning garden, cleaning the car, brushing your teeth, exercising, thirst-quenching, the pandemic – we’re all using more and more water.

On top of this, over the last ten years we’ve seen a significant change in our weather, with longer, drier spells causing even higher levels of water scarcity in the East of England - specifically in the area shown on the map below.

We all need to change our habits to limit the damage this does to our local community, and together we can make a difference. But to have a big impact, everybody needs to get involved.

That’s why we’re working with you and your community in this area, to save water and protect this precious resource for generations to come. The more that you help us save, the more funding we’ll make available to support your community.

How can I help?

By reporting any leaks seen out and about, reducing the amount of water wasted throughout the day, and repairing leaking toilets, everyone can do their bit to save water. And if you haven’t got a water meter, having one fitted also helps you to become more aware of your usage, and the less you use, the less you pay!

You can also help by spreading the word! The more people that know about our work in this area, the better, so please get sharing on social media, on the phone to your friends, over the garden fence and at work. Get your town criers, your parish councils and community leaders involved too.

Think you’ve spotted a leak in the street? Is there a puddle somewhere even when it’s dry? Please check if we know about it by looking on our Community Portal leak map.

If you can't see the leak on the map, chances are we don't know about it. If that's the case, please report it using the Portal leak report form. You can also use the Portal to track leaks. If you want to check how our repairs are coming along, or need to know where our team are working, use the map!

If you've found a serious leak or a leak has stopped your water supply, please call our emergency leakline on 0800 526 337.

Did you know that leaking toilets waste up to 215 litres of water a day? That’s equivalent to losing £4 a week if your loo’s sprung a leak!

Good news is, we’ll come and fix it for free! Yes, you read that right…FREE!

We want to cut down on water waste, so where better to start?

Click here for more information about how to check your toilet for leaks, or to see how we can help.

Wasting water is like pouring your money down the drain. If you think that by not having a meter means you can use as much as you like, then think again.

Clean water is not unlimited. We all need to think about how we use water, and what we can do to cut down our usage.

While it feels like it rains every day, it can take up to six weeks to turn captured rainwater into water that is safe to drink and use. Our growing population, combined with climate change impacts, also means demand for water is increasing - which is putting pressure on supplies.

Since lockdown began in March 2020 people are now using up to 29 litres more water a day on average. This is the same as 20 Olympic sized-swimming pools (or 88 million pints!) of water every day across all of our customers. It's easy for you to use less water each day by following our tips below.

Check out our advice for saving water in your home and challenge yourself and/or your family to see how much you can save.

Have your own outdoor oasis? Keeping your garden in good shape doesn’t mean you need to use lots of water, find out how you can waste less water outdoors.

It might feel like summer is nearly over, but we’ve got lots of summer water saving tips here so you can enjoy the sunshine and save water at the same time.

The way the community fund works is pretty simple. We know how much water we supply to this area, and we can see when the demand for water changes.

We want to reduce the average demand for water in this area by at least 5% and if you and the local community can help us achieve that, we’ll donate £10,000 to community groups and charities across the region that meet our eligibility criteria.

If you can help us save more, and reduce average demand by 10%, we’ve got up to £20,000 to donate to community groups and charities in this area.

We want to make sure that the funding will support critical issues in our communities. The community groups and charities that will receive the funding will need to tackle at least one of the three following areas:

Ending water poverty – we want to end water poverty in our regions by 2030. We know that people in water poverty often face other difficulties too. We want to work in partnership with groups and charities that support people and tackle poverty such as food banks, financial advice and providing a helping hand.
Promoting water for health – we’re super proud of our tap water, and we’re willing to do just about anything to get you slurping more straight from the tap. It’s really important to drink plenty of water to stay healthy and hydrated. We want to work in partnership with groups and charities that help to educate people about the importance of staying hydrated, like sporting groups, nutritional groups and education initiatives.
Protect the water environment – we want to have the best rivers and beaches in the country, and we want to leave the natural environment in a better condition for the future. We want to work in partnership with groups and charities that focus on improving the environment, especially the water environment, and deliver enhancements for biodiversity.

We’ll be asking you, our customers and the local community to nominate charities and community groups that support the above three areas and would benefit from the funding available, you know your patch better than anyone else!