Protect and Conserve Water

Rail operations are responsible for, or connected to, around 20 serious pollution incidents each year, along with many hundreds of less severe events. Although organisations collect data on water use and have reduction strategies in place, this information is not compiled or analysed in a way that provides a comprehensive picture of water consumption across the industry.

Existing management challenges, such as landlord tenant responsibilities for leak repairs, commercial competition between franchises, and the relatively low cost of water, have created limited financial incentives to invest in water efficiency measures. As a result, holistic approaches to reducing potable water use have not been widely adopted.

This section provides guidance to help the rail industry reduce its water consumption and strengthen its pollution prevention practices.