Barriers

Solutions

Low priority of water efficiency measures

Regulatory measures and reinforcement of awareness of the moral obligation of improving water efficiency.

Low awareness and lack of information

Presentation of water efficiency advantages for companies’ competitive advantage and improvement of green image. Dissemination of information by the government.

Mistrust from the client

Demand enhancement:

1) Customer-oriented information about costs and benefits

2) Evaluation of future gains

3) Payments related to a contractually agreed level of water-efficiency improvement (performance contracts)

4) Development of a supportive and favourable legislative framework (e.g. model contracts, mandatory audits or water-efficiency certificate)

High perceived technical and business risks

Explanation of how the business model works and examples of success. Development of more tools to cover the risk of guaranteed savings.

Lack of accepted standardised measurement and verification procedures

Capacity-building to create a comfortable and confident market with the creation of standardised contract models, terminology and procedures, and the establishment of an accreditation system.

High transaction costs resulting from administrative barriers

Active public support: establishment of procedure to favour WASCO (adaptation of the legislation); preparation of WASCO model contract.

Lack of appropriate forms of finance

Stimulate the involvement of a third party by improving the knowledge of the WASCO concept and by better explaining its business model. Government support through subsidies, public banks, credit lines opening, and the establishment of appropriate framework conditions that channel private financing to this sector.

Only one-third of domestic properties were metered in England and Wales in 2008 [16]

Installation of a water meter to be included in the regulation to incentivise users to reduce their consumption: water used by metered customers is about 10 per cent less than non-metered customers [17] .

Economic downturn

Reinforcement of the public sector role in the initiation of projects.

Lack of incentives for insurance companies to reduce risk premium

Regulatory measure could help insurers consider the contribution to the macro-risk in the risk premium, which is usually based on micro-risk.

Lack of clarity and stability of regulation (future of CSH is uncertain)

Regulators must define clear and stable rules.