YORKSHIRE Water has unveiled a 25-year blueprint for managing resources in the face of climate change and population growth.

The Bradford-based utility company consulted with the Government, Environment Agency, Ofwat and 30,000 customers to produce its Water Resources Management Plan, which sets out the company’s vision for meeting the expected challenges of the next quarter century.

The approval of the plan by Defra comes as Yorkshire Water kicks off its water efficiency campaign, Save A Little, Save A Lot, aimed at helping its five million people customers to find ways to use water more carefully

Clare Dunlop, water resource manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Long-term, rigorous planning is key to anticipating the challenges we could face as a company so we can maintain a reliable water supply to our millions of customers.

“Our Water Resources Management Plan gives an insight into the preparations we’re already putting in place for the next 25 years to maintain the high standards we’ve set for ourselves. At the same time, we’d like to continue to ask customers to help us manage our resources by using their water wisely.”

Yorkshire Water said its research showed that water supplies could be affected by increasingly extreme weather conditions within 15 years if no action is taken.

Another challenge is the expected 800,000 increase in Yorkshire's population by 2040.

It said long-term planning and forecasting had allowed the company to make necessary investments which will maintain a reliable water supply .

These include cutting leakage by half since 1995 but with plans to reduce it by another ten million litres a day by 2020.

Yorkshire Water will invest £75 million on replacing 228km of water mains by then and will also focus on 'at risk' areas that are prone to flooding or pollution and addressing these.

As part of the water efficiency campaign, customers will be eligible for a range of free water-saving devices – including tap aerators, shower timers and shower flow regulators.

A video featuring a family using the devices is on Yorkshire Water’s website and YouTube.