Waste water heat recovery benefits

Housing associations and local authorities are being urged to consider shower waste water heat recovery (WWHR) in planned maintenance and retrofit programmes, as the technology offers a simple, low-maintenance way to cut tenants’ energy bills and boost the efficiency of existing homes.

Showersave says social landlords face rising pressure to improve energy performance while helping tenants manage ongoing cost-of-living challenges. With the government’s Warm Homes Plan set to accelerate retrofit activity, the company argues that demand reduction technologies such as WWHR should sit alongside solar PV, insulation and low-carbon heating.

Although recognised in the Future Homes Standard, WWHR remains underused in social housing upgrades. Steve Parker, head of social housing at Showersave, said: “Waste water heat recovery is a simple technology that can make a genuine difference by reducing hot water energy demand without asking residents to change their behaviour or creating an ongoing maintenance burden for landlords.”