Sustainable water use in 2025 – A growing agenda for the UK built environment

Water is a finite resource, playing a vital societal role, including maintaining human health, food security and electricity generation. It is only renewable if managed appropriately, but this is becoming increasingly difficult.

A 2023 report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) highlighted that at least four billion people live under highly water-stressed conditions for at least one month per year. The most acutely impacted are the Middle East and North Africa, where 83% of the population is exposed to high water stress, and South Asia, where 74% are exposed. At least one billion additional people are predicted to live under extremely high water stress by 2050.

Europe also faces significant challenges. Belgium, Greece and Spain rank among the top 30 most water-stressed countries in the WRI report, with other countries already experiencing high or extremely high water stress. The EU is due to release a Water Resilience Strategy in late 2025 to ensure sustainable water management.

What about the UK?

There’s growing emphasis on water efficiency in the UK. Large parts of central southern England, including cities like London and Oxford, are already highly water-stressed. Future projections indicate that high water-stress will spread across almost all of the south east, with medium to high-stress expected further north among eastern counties. 

By 2055, in England alone, an additional 5 billion litres of drinking water per day will be required to meet demand. The UK’s Independent Water Commission Final Report (July 2025), highlighted that water bills are expected to rise by 30% over the next five years. Significant action to improve water efficiency is therefore expected in the coming years. The Government will be using recommendations following the report to help achieve a 20% reduction in per capita water consumption by 2038, a legally binding target set out in the 2021 Environment Act.

Implications for the built environment

Real estate is a major consumer of water, through consumption, sanitation and in various building systems such as cooling infrastructure. Therefore, we have a responsibility to minimise unnecessary consumption.

Inspiration can be found across the globe. For example, a “water-balanced” building in Melbourne, Australia, is designed to be self-sufficient for water needs and could disconnect from the mains supply if required. This is achieved through a combination of rainwater, greywater and blackwater harvesting, as well as advanced infrastructure like vacuum toilets.

While infrastructure like this is currently expensive and complex to retrofit into existing buildings, there are many other effective methods:

• Asset-level water efficiency strategy: Understanding a site’s current water landscape, including the types of water-using fixtures and metering, helps to determine the most impactful actions to improve efficiency. 
• Automated Meter Readers (AMRs): These enable near real-time tracking of water consumption, allowing for quicker identification of unusual usage patterns and faster resolution of potential leaks.
• Low-flow devices: These tend to be inexpensive and easy to install, yet can significantly reduce water use. Restrictors to handwash taps can reduce flow to 2.7 litres per minute compared to the average of 9 litres.
• Behavioural change: Encouraging signage can nudge users toward more sustainable choices. Equally important is direct engagement, displaying consumption data in communal areas, training cleaning staff in low-water use methods or workshops on reducing everyday water use.

As water stress intensifies, embedding water efficiency into the design and operation of our buildings is no longer optional, it’s essential for a sustainable future.

Further information

Contact Will Chantry

How to develop a portfolio-wide water efficiency strategy