Water Stewardship unlocks innovation and opportunities for organisations in 2026, in Water Plus engagement approach
Bigger water users, including in the public sector, are seeing broad benefits from a 2026 water stewardship programme delivered through new collaborative action.
Interactive workshops, peer to peer learning and assignments to help with the development of a Water Stewardship Charter, were all parts of the programme.
It’s developing technical skills around water mapping and conservation and has a focus on building site-specific strategies to accelerate continuous improvement. Completing the activity sees organisations receive certification and a digital badge, to illustrate the commitment to responsible practices.
Business water retailer Water Plus engaged a variety of UK organisations around the water stewardship programme, delivered by Ireland-based 20FIFTY Partners, with funding from water wholesalers Northumbrian Water and United Utilities.
The collaborative initiative is helping to accelerate water efficiencies amongst larger water users, supporting their sustainability targets and helping tackle UK water scarcity risks ahead.
Reducing overall water use can also reduce carbon emissions and lower energy costs where less hot water’s needed.
Amongst those seeing results in 2026 is Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Ekaete Utuk, Energy & Waste Compliance Officer at Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Overall it’s been a great programme and will be useful in strengthening operational resilience, alongside improving water efficiency.
“The content was comprehensive with practical assignments to develop and improve the organisation water strategy and business case.
“It has certainly helped with reviewing our water metering strategy, so we can improve water monitoring and targeting and I look forward to the follow up support. The programme builds on our wider action-taking with Water Plus that’s underway to increase water efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.”
In Water Plus’s ongoing customer engagement, its collaborative industry action also saw 100 leak spotters provided to Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and 100 leak spotters have arrived with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
The two trusts are also adding data loggers onto water meters, in their proactive water management approach with Water Plus. It’s part of steps by the Trusts to further build operational resilience and identify more efficiency opportunities, with daily water data feeding into an analysis portal from the loggers.
Scott MacIndeor, who leads the technical water efficiencies team at Water Plus, said: “Seeing smarter water strategies unlocking innovation and efficiencies at sites is great to see, as we help more businesses and public sector locations find ways to gain bigger benefits that can help to meet climate challenges all of us face.
“By identifying opportunities and spotting issues early, we can collectively power-up smarter water strategies, reduce waste, lower operational costs, cut carbon emissions and protect resources for now and the future.”
The leak spotters provided to the trusts are strips that can be placed in toilets to detect silent leaks and were funded by the regional wholesaler United Utilities.
Luke Brewer-Nevitt, Water Efficiency Delivery Manager at United Utilities, said: “The Water Stewardship programme is helping organisations take practical action to reduce demand and manage water more sustainably, with collaboration like this key to protecting water resources and building long-term resilience at sites and across the UK.
“Together, we’ve invested significant effort with Water Plus to successfully launch the programme run by 20FIFTY Partners and build strong early engagement from customers.”
Paul Conheady, Head of Programmes at 20FIFTY Partners, said: “Embracing water stewardship and sustainability by integrating it into operations is increasingly becoming a key imperative for organisations to not only survive but thrive in a rapidly changing environment. The choice is between a future that is resilient and innovative, or one with escalating risks which is why more and more larger water users are taking up water stewardship approaches.
“We’ve successfully delivered this programme to more than 600 large water users in Ireland, so it’s fantastic to partner with business water retailer Water Plus, as well as water wholesalers in England Northumbrian Water and United Utilities to expand this further and support and inspire UK-based organisations to achieve greater water efficiencies.”
In August 2025, a Joint Green Plan was adopted by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care Trust to reach Net Zero by 2040, for emissions they directly control (the NHS Carbon Footprint). It also set a Net Zero target of 2045 for emissions the Trusts can influence (NHS Carbon Footprint Plus).
The joined-up programme allows best practice to be shared across both organisations to drive further progress towards the Net Zero targets.
Additional information:
Further detail on the Joint Green Plan for the two hospital trusts, which runs to 2028 at: www.tamesideandglossopicft.nhs.uk/about-us/sustainability
For the emissions the Trusts control directly (the NHS Carbon Footprint), their Joint Green Plan sets out the Trusts will reach net zero by 2040, with an ambition to reach an 80% reduction by 2028 to 2032.
For the emissions the Trusts can influence (the NHS Carbon Footprint Plus), their Joint Green Plan sets out the Trusts will reach net zero by 2045, with an ambition to reach an 80% reduction by 2036 to 2039.
Water Plus, which is the largest water retailer in the UK, won a UK Customer Satisfaction Award in 2025, from best practice leaders for work with customers around water management and boosting water savings. It’s also a finalist for two UK Customer Satisfaction Awards in 2026, for the awards run by best practice leaders the Institute of Customer Service.
