Being a plumbing, heating or renewables engineer today means being a juggler, balancing rising costs, evolving regulations and rapidly changing technologies.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) water reduction delivery plan is beginning to flex its muscles – and mandatory water efficiency labelling is part of that process. DEFRA’s ‘Water demand Environment Act target delivery plan’, published in December 2025, outlines a range of commitments to delivering water savings. Its aim in the long-term is to achieve up to approximately 54% usage reductions in England.
The policy outlines working with Ofwat to reduce water leakages, promoting smart meter rollouts and the launch of a mandatory water efficiency labelling scheme (MWELS) for high water-consuming products, such as washing machines, showers and toilets.
In addition, DEFRA is reviewing the tightening of water-efficiency requirements within the Building
Regulations, which could see the water efficiency standard in new houses through fittings drop from 125 litres/person/day to 105 litres/person/day.
What does this mean for plumbers and bathroom installers?
Due to this increasing emphasis on water-efficiency policy, environmental considerations are beginning to drive purchasing behaviour. So, what could the next 10 years look like for plumbers and bathroom installers? Well, for a start more knowledge will be needed of the physical water-efficient solutions that are available.
There will also be a rise in retrofit work, as toilets and showers are upgraded, smart meters are integrated or leak remediation implemented. Also, water audits will likely rise in popularity.
Which appliances to focus on
Whether MWELS become a reality or not the underlying message is clear – water efficient products are the future and cannot be ignored. So, which products should be focused on in new installations and refurbishments? Well, not surprisingly, showers are the biggest single contributor, using approximately 25% to 30% of a household’s water, followed closely at 20% to 25% by toilets.
Here are some of the features installers and homeowners should be looking for when thinking about choosing more water-efficient bathroom products.
Showers
When it comes to energy- and water-savings in social housing bathrooms, installing a reduced or variable flow electric unit that has different flow options makes sense, as it can be more cost effective in terms of the water saved over the shower’s lifespan.
AKW’s WRAS-approved, flow-limited showers help achieve impressive water savings, as well as promoting safe, reliable showering.
AKW’s SmartCare Plus, SmartCare Lever and iTherm electric care showers all come with an eco-default setting (which can be over-ridden if needed) that limits flow rate to 6 litres per minute. The Arka TMV3 Mixer Shower water-saving model, for example, is fitted with a flow limiter for a maximum flow rate of 8 litres per minute. They all offer specifiers and end users a durable showering solution that looks good but delivers in terms of its environmental credentials.
Toilets
A standard modern toilet uses around 6 litres of water per flush. Newer dual-flush models are more efficient and can save a significant amount of water over the many years they are functional. Many social housing providers are choosing to use AKW’s Livenza Plus close-coupled toilet as it comes with a 3/6 litre flush option and encouraging the use of toilet cistern displacement devices in their housing stock, as these can save up to 5000 litres of water per year per toilet.
Wash basins
The deeper the wash basin, the more the user is tempted to fill it. AKW’s Livenza Plus basins are smaller than standard wash basins, offering 62% less volume than AKW’s largest one, allowing for significant water saving potential.
Bidets
It might seem strange to include bidets in a water saving discussion, but a bidet uses approximately 0.2 litres to 0.5 litres of water per use, compared to a toilet that uses anything from 3 litres to 13+ litres for an older model. Also, it replaces the need for toilet paper, which is a water- and energy-intensive item to produce.
Water-efficiency is here to stay, so is it time to upgrade your product knowledge, making sure you are equipped to juggle present and future shifts in regulations? www.akw-ltd.co.uk
Stuart Reynolds is UK Marketing and
Product Management Director at AKW.
COST-SAVING GUIDE
You can download AKW’s latest water and energy cost saving guide at www.akw-ltd.co.uk/document/water-energy-costsaving-guide