Cambridge Water is encouraging customers across Cambridgeshire to take part in a simple but powerful action at home as it launches ‘Yes We Cam Check Our Loos’ – a new push to help metered customers save money, reduce water waste and protect the region’s precious chalk streams.

As part of the campaign, customers are being asked to make one small change to their everyday habits by checking their toilets for hidden leaks at the start of every month. This is a quick an easy task that can save significant amounts of water. Customers who are on a water meter will also benefit from a reduction in their bills by finding and fixing leaks.

Hidden leaks in toilets are more common than many people realise, with one in eight homes said to have a leaky loo. This type of leak, often easy to miss, can waste large volumes of clean, tap-quality water every day. This places unnecessary pressure on local water resources and the environment.

One small change, together

‘Yes We Cam’ is built on a simple idea: if everyone makes one small change, together it can have a big impact.

Cambridge Water is now calling on customers to include checking their loos once a month as one of those easy actions.

Natalie Akroyd, Director of Quality and Environment at Cambridge Water, said:

“Checking your loo might seem like a small thing, but it can make a big difference.

“Yes We Cam is all about doing one simple thing differently in our daily routines. If we all take a few minutes to check for leaks every month, together we can help save water, save money and protect our local environment.”

Why it matters

In Cambridgeshire, all drinking water comes from underground aquifers – the same sources that feed the region’s globally rare chalk streams.

With the region already classed as water stressed, reducing unnecessary water use is vital to protecting these unique habitats for future generations.

How to check your loo

Customers can check for leaks in minutes:

• Wait 30 minutes after the toilet was last flushed
• Place a piece of dry toilet paper at the back of the toilet bowl
• Leave it for at least three hours, then check
• If the paper becomes wet, it could signal a hidden leak

Fixing even a small leak can save water, reduce bills and help cut carbon emissions from treating and pumping water.

Part of a bigger effort

The check-your-loo message builds on the success of Can for the Cam and Yes We Cam campaigns, which have already helped customers across the region save millions of litres of water through simple everyday actions.

By adding regular loo checks to these habits, Cambridge Water hopes even more customers will get involved in Cambridgeshire’s biggest ever water-saving effort.