Homes of the future - United Utilities works with housing developers to encourage water wise developments

United Utilities is encouraging housing developers across the North West to be wise about water.

Through its Environmental Incentives Scheme, developers can benefit from discounts on network connection fees by introducing a range of water efficiency measures and sustainable drainage measures.

Graham Morley, Developer Services Manager at United Utilities explained: “During the next five years, almost 150,000 new homes are expected to be built across the North West, so it is more important than ever that water resources are managed responsibly and pressure on sewer networks is reduced – housing developers have an important role to play in supporting this.”

 “We’ve been working with developers since 2018 to offer incentives to those who build homes that are either water efficient or drain surface water sustainably.”

Now, the Environmental Incentives Scheme goes further and aims to help developers achieve a high standard of water efficiency performance and boost the use of sustainable drainage systems.

The scheme works on a tiered basis and includes measures ranging from installation of water flow regulators and inclusion of a water butt or small rain garden through to rainwater harvesting, and permeable surfaces.  The scheme also allows the most water efficient developments to offset their water usage through United Utilities’ water saving initiative for existing customers.

Graham Morley added: “Water is one of our most precious resources, it is part of what makes the North West great. As the population in our region grows and we continue to experience the impacts of climate change, we need to ensure that the systems we operate are resilient to these pressures on our infrastructure.

“As well as managing rainwater more effectively to keep it out of the sewer network, we’re on a mission to cut out unnecessary water waste by reducing and managing demand across the North West.

“That means looking beyond our own water and wastewater networks and working with a range of organisations, including housing developers, to help create communities that are more sustainable than those that have gone before.

“Our innovative Environmental Incentive Scheme has potential to help save millions of litres of water every day.”

Across the region, more than 58,000 homes that feature measures to divert rainwater away from the sewer network and over 90,000 homes that feature water efficiency measures have either been already built or are in construction.

More information about United Utilities Environmental Incentives Scheme is available here