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How Can Businesses Tackle The Issue Of Reduced Groundwater?

For many companies, the cost of water bills is seen as a necessary evil that they simply have to pay, unless and until they can find a provider that can offer a lower price. 

But for firms that want to be innovative and find suppliers that will work with them to do so, there are some great ways to keep costs down.

As well as water-saving measures, the development of off grid water solutions can provide new sources of water, although this requires plenty of expertise to make such solutions work and avoid environmental damage.

What Off-Grid Water Sources Are There?

For example, a stream running past your premises might offer an opportunity, but tapping it for too much water may have bad consequences for water-dwelling flora and fauna.

However, open water sources are not the only possible ways for you to obtain more water off-grid. Wells and springs, for example, have been used for thousands of years. 

Many firms, especially water-intensive companies and those whose products (such as some drinks) rely on the distinctiveness of the water, will make good use of these.

The problem with this, of course, is that springs can dry up and wells can suffer if the water table gets too low. The second of these problems may sometimes be seasonal, but new studies have indicated that the issue could be an increasingly persistent one in many areas as the climate changes.

Why Are Groundwater Levels Falling?

Studies carried out by University College London in association with the Guardian newspaper and Watershed Investigations have revealed that, across most of Europe, groundwater levels have fallen significantly this century.

The survey, covering the period from 2002 to 2024, shows that central Europe in particular has become a lot drier, although groundwater levels have increased in Denmark, most of Scandinavia, the Baltic states, Ireland and north-western Spain.

In the UK, the picture is more mixed, with increased groundwater in the south west, Wales and parts of northern England.

However, in context, this brings more reasons for concern. Apart from the eastern half of Yorkshire, the wetter areas are mainly uplands with higher rainfall and reservoirs. The areas that use more groundwater for mains supplies are getting drier.

This means that the south of England, in particular, may face increased water pressure. Although the government is pushing for more reservoirs to be built, with nine either under construction (Havant Thicket) or planned (all the others) in the southern half of England, this may not be enough to solve the whole problem.

What Can Companies Do To Improve Off-Grid Water Sourcing?

Faced with increased pressure for groundwater, what can a company do if it is in a part of the UK where this resource is becoming scarcer? There are several possibilities that we could help you with:

• Deeper wells to reach a lower water table
• The construction of your own on-site reservoir
• Improved efficiency, such as reducing leaks
• Rainwater harvesting

These need not be mutually exclusive steps, but can be combined as part of a plan to be more efficient in the use of water in an increasingly uncertain climate.

For example, your own reservoir may prove useful in unusually wet periods, collecting extra water that can be stored away and used when dry spells emerge. 

Additionally, anyone with such a reservoir in place in the winter of 2024-25 could have seen it filled up, providing useful extra water for the very dry spring and summer of this year.

Rainwater harvesting can be a particularly smart way to use water resources. 

Rather than the water simply rolling down the slope of the roof onto the ground below, if you have a means of collecting and storing it on the roof, this can be piped to the flush toilets on your premises, where it is classed as ‘grey water’ and saves on mains water.

How Is Climate Change Affecting The UK?

The Met Office has projected that the UK has experienced its hottest year on record in 2025, citing this as further clear evidence of a changing climate. 

This does not mean the UK will simply be drier all the time, but will go through periods of unusually dry spells and increasingly wet periods, with a range of consequences.

Extra rain may sound like an antidote to dry ground conditions, but this only happens because warmer temperatures mean more water evaporates from the ground to begin with.

Faced by a changing climate, there is no doubt that something needs to be done collectively to help countries like Britain deal with a different climate.

Water management will have many aspects, but for companies, being able to make better use of off-grid sources could prove invaluable as a means of future-proofing your supplies, or at least reducing your reliance on the mains at a time when droughts may become more commonplace.