Trial Starts in Dundee to Better Understand Household Water Use

“It’s all about generating and providing information on water use, supporting customers to change how they value and use water, and identifying and fixing waste through leaks.”

Brian McCarthy
Economic Demand Manager, Scottish Water

The first ever trials of household water use monitoring are about to start in Dundee, putting city residents at the forefront of sustainability in Scotland.

Scottish Water is about to start exciting new trials in part of Dundee to better understand how much water a typical household uses daily.

In a first for the utility, the domestic smart monitor trial, which will involve the temporary installation of about 2300 monitors in some houses in the north west of the city, will seek to determine whether providing household customers with regular, up-to-date information about their water use would significantly reduce domestic demand.

The monitors will provide simple information to help customers make small changes which can help save a lot of water over time, reduce leakage and lower households’ energy bills.

Climate change projections, and forecast movement of the Scottish population and growth in house building between now and 2050, means there is a risk to Scottish Water’s ability to maintain water supplies in some areas during drought conditions.

The company believes that one way to tackle this is to reduce demand and the amount of water we take from the environment every day and that saving what is one of Scotland’s most precious resources benefits everyone – communities, the environment and people’s wallets.

Domestic consumption is the largest individual volume of water demand at almost 1000 million litres per day (slightly more than half the total water produced each day), and so presents a great opportunity. However, customers are generally unaware of how much water they use or the benefits that can come from using less.

In Scotland, we estimate each household customer uses on average about 180 litres of water per person per day and this is far higher than in England and Wales where the average is 137 litres of water per person per day. 

Each monitor on the Dundee trials will download water use information once a day and households will be able to see how they use water each day, week and month, empowering them to make more environmentally sustainable choices about their consumption like having shorter showers, using washing machines only when fully loaded and using only the water needed when boiling the kettle.

The three-year long project, in which Dundee will lead the way in protecting Scotland’s water and help test the feasibility of installing smart monitors across Scotland, will also help identify any continuous flow of water which could signify a leaking supply pipe or something like an overflowing toilet within the home.

Brian McCarthy, Economic Demand Manager at Scottish Water, said: “From our current assessment of water use, and evidence from other water companies already measuring household consumption, we know there is a substantial opportunity to reduce water wasted in this way.

“Being able to account for the water being used in an area more accurately allows us to target leakage reductions with more certainty and account for water being used much better than we can just now.

“The knowledge we gain from this trial will help us form a future strategy for domestic monitoring across Scotland. 

"We do not know what that will look like just now but we know that the results from the trial will guide us. It’s all about generating and providing information on water use, supporting customers to change how they value and use water, and identifying and fixing waste through leaks.”

The monitors will be connected to a central data management system through a public/private radio communication network and customers will have access to their data via a web-based platform and easy-to-use app. 

Scottish Water will analyse the findings and work to find solutions that deliver a sustained change in the amount of water provided each day.

Scottish Water has selected the north west of Dundee for the pilot as it has a good spread of different types of homes and demographics which will help the company provide a representative sample for the rest of Scotland. Many of the homes also have the appropriate infrastructure in place to allow a monitor to be fitted without major disruption. 

Mr McCarthy added: “We will be testing different types of customer engagement and support through the trials. Some will be light touch and some more hands on, providing detailed advice. This will tell us what has the greatest impact, and what not to do, if we are to consider a wider rollout in communities throughout Scotland.”