Water consumption: trend reversal in dry 2015

In 2015, the water utilities of Switzerland and Liechtenstein provided 933 million cubic meters of water, 32 million cubic meters more than in 2014. The additional volume corresponds to about twice the content of Lake Davos. Average per capita consumption is 307 liters per day, an increase of 2.3% compared to 2014. Also significantly higher was the maximum daily discharge of 512 liters per inhabitant; in 2014 it was 438 liters. As a result of the dry weather, the proportion of spring water in 2015 was also lower than the average of the last ten years, at 38.3%. This was offset by the increased use of groundwater (42.4%) and lake water (19.3%). The industry association SVGW does not interpret the increased water consumption compared to 2014 as a trend reversal, but rather as a result of the pronounced drought in 2015. Over the past 25 years, drinking water consumption in Switzerland has decreased by a good 20% overall.

Water treatment
In 2015, 30% of drinking water was supplied to consumers without treatment or treatment, and another 30% only after a UV disinfection stage. The fact that the majority of drinking water in Switzerland is not treated or is only disinfected as a preventive measure is thanks to the precautionary principle in force and the measures for groundwater protection. This will become even more important in the future. 10% of the discharged water was filtered in a single stage (with subsequent disinfection). The remaining 30% went through multi-stage treatment, including all the water extracted from lakes and rivers.

Water price, operating costs and investments also higher
The average water price (median), comprising the basic charge and the volume price, has increased slightly compared with the previous year. Assuming an annual consumption of 120 m3 per household, single-family homeowners pay an average of CHF 2.58 per 1000 l, while households in apartment buildings pay CHF 1.94. The higher water price is also a result of higher operating and capital costs, which at Fr. 1615 million were around 4% higher in 2015 than in the previous year. At CHF 922 million (CHF 107 per inhabitant), water utilities invested about 5% more in 2015 than in 2014.

Well networked and with more power
84% of the water utilities had at least one third-party procurement option for drinking water in 2015. The high degree of interconnectedness increases the security of supply, which is particularly important in view of the more pronounced dry periods to be expected as a result of climate change. Increasingly, drinking water plants are also being used for electricity production. For example, Swiss water utilities generated an estimated 170 GWh of electricity in 2015, 92% of which was generated by turbining drinking water. The industry thus covered around 40% of its electricity needs from its own production in 2015.
648 water utilities participated in the survey for the 2015 operating year. This means that almost 70% of the publicly supplied population in Switzerland and Liechtenstein were covered.

Source: Swiss Gas and Water Association SVGW