Business Advice Water saving tips

There are many ways that you can save water around your home. You may find the following tips helpful.

– Use a bowl in the sink when washing fruit, vegetables of dishes. You can then use the waste water to water your plants.
– Fill a jug of water and put it in the fridge for when you want a cool drink.
– Turn off the tap when you clean your teeth. A running tap uses up to nine litres of water a minute.
– Wait until you have a full load before using your washing machine or your dishwasher. Some new washing machines use less than seven litres of water for each kilogramme of clothes, while modern dishwashers can us as little as 10 to 15 litres of water a cycle.
– If possible, take a shower instead of a bath. A five-minute shower uses about 40 litres of water. This is about half the volume of a standard bath.
– Use a water-saving device in your toilet cistern. Depending on the size of your cistern, you could save between one and three litres each time you flush the toilet.
– Using a watering can in the garden instead of a sprinkler or a hosepipe. Garden sprinklers and hosepipes left running can use between 500 and 1,000 litres of water an hour.
– Think about fitting a water butt to collect rainwater off your roof. Water butts usually store about 200 litres of water. As well as being better for watering your plants, using rainwater in the garden reduces the amount of treated water you use.
– Check your property regularly for leaks on your internal plumbing.

If you have a water meter, all of these tips may help you to reduce your water and sewerage bills.

Even if you do not have a meter, using water wisely and cutting down on the amount of hot water you use will lower your gas and electricity bills. It will also reduce the amount of climate-changing greenhouse gases you release into the atmosphere.

Using less water will also help reduce the greenhouse gases that are released from collecting, treating and supplying clean water.

You can find more useful tips on how to save water on the Consumer Council for Water’s (CCWater) and Waterwise websites. The Bathroom Manufacturers Association has developed a voluntary labelling scheme to help consumers to make informed choices when purchasing water using products.

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/contact-us/water-company-enquiries/households/your-water-company/changesupplier/contact-us/water-company-enquiries/households/conservingwater/watersavingtips/

Help for you to save water

Water companies have had a duty to promote the efficient use of water by all their customers since February 1996.

As a minimum we expect all companies to provide information to customers about:

– the sensible use of water with business
– how to conduct a self-audit of business consumption
– the availability of cistern and other water saving devices
– the availability of supply pipe leakage detection/repair
– how to report a leak
– how to get further information

However, we expect companies in areas of water stress to do more than this minimum level.

Our good practice register sets out in more detail the water efficiency options that companies should consider when planning their water efficiency activities.

Most companies can provide advice to their customers either on their website or on leaflets on how to save water.

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/contact-us/water-company-enquiries/households/your-water-company/changesupplier/contact-us/water-company-enquiries/households/conservingwater/help/

WATER EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES – GOOD PRACTICE REGISTER Water and Sewerage Companies (England and Wales) – 2007

Overview:

– This register provides a checklist of water efficiency options that companies should consider when planning their water efficiency activities.  

– Different activities are listed by type. For example activities related to cistern displacement devices or collaborative research and development are grouped under these headings.

– Activities are listed under two categories, “baseline” or “water stressed”. Baseline activities are those that should to be considered across England and Wales. Water stressed activities are those that should be considered in areas of water stress, such as the south east of England.

– The driver for carrying out each activity is listed. For example customer awareness, demand reduction or developing the evidence base.

– Contact companies are given for each activity. These companies can be contacted for further information.

– The register is a live document and will be updated when new information, techniques or experience becomes available. This will formally be done annually to coincide with Ofwat’s ‘Security of supply’ report and involve Waterwise, Water UK and the water companies.

Guidelines for use:

– This register is a checklist of water efficiency options, which companies can choose to engage in if their specific situations are suited. Some actions will not be appropriate or could prove to not work or be too costly in some areas.

– This register should not be used as a year-on-year action plan. Some activities could be undertaken only once and not need to be repeated whereas others may need to be undertaken at regular intervals.

– We do not expect all companies to carry out all actions under either the baseline or water stressed categories. Nor are these categories mutually exclusive. Companies should consider any activity that they believe is appropriate for a particular area.

– Companies are not expected to undertake activities where they are not cost-effective compared with the benefits that would be achieved.

– As general good practice, Ofwat believes that on any visit to a customer’s property (either domestic or commercial) the opportunity should be taken to pass on the water conservation message. This may be as simple as providing a leaflet on water saving tips, providing a pack of water saving devices, right up to providing a full water audit of the property. Where appropriate companies should also consider other possible synergies in delivering water efficiency messages during their day-to-day contact with customers.

– The contact companies are not intended to be an exhaustive list of those companies that engage in a particular activity, but rather a point of contact for more information on the activity. The company(ies) underlined are the contacts for the activities in the ‘water stressed area’ column. Note that this does not necessarily mean the highlighted company’s area is ‘water stressed’.

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/contact-us/water-company-enquiries/households/your-water-company/changesupplier/contact-us/water-company-enquiries/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/gud_pro_goodpractreg.pdf

Sustainable water is good for business
Businesses could save a huge amount of money by making water a key part of their environmental strategy Sponsored feature tap
Using less water creates less wastewater, which in turn uses less energy and costs less money.

The issue of water has traditionally never been high on the agenda of most businesses and in recent years it has lagged behind carbon strategies, energy targets and corporate social responsibility reports.

But as water becomes an increasingly precious resource, a huge opportunity exists for companies to save money by putting water management at the centre of their environmental strategy. Businesses can also learn important lessons from the challenges that energy has faced over recent years in terms of reducing use and waste; by using water more sustainably, they can operate more efficiently and effectively.

It’s estimated that every cubic metre of water supplied, made safe to use and then taken away from our homes and businesses as waste equates to 1kg of carbon. By better understanding the energy implications of heating or chilling water as part of the manufacturing process, businesses can cut their energy costs and reduce their carbon emissions, too.

But if a business wants to change its water management strategy, where should it start?

Several of the major water companies are offering support to small and medium enterprise (SME) business customers in the form of Rippleffect, a new water saving service developed in partnership with resource efficiency experts WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme, a not-for-profit, government-funded company that supports businesses, local authorities, communities and individuals to “reap the benefits of reducing waste and using resources in a more efficient way”).

Rippleffect has been designed to give practical advice to SMEs to help them better understand their water footprint – the volume of water needed to provide goods and services. The programme demonstrates simple ways to save water and money, and learn about “quick win” water saving devices. By showing businesses the true costs of water, says WRAP, they can save as much as 30% on their water bills.

Brewer Greene King is no stranger to environmental improvement. It was the first pub operator and brewer to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard, which recognised Greene King’s energy savings efforts, and it has since tackled water consumption with the same vigor.

Teaming up with Anglian Water Business, Greene King reviewed water use at 90 sites and soon discovered that simply by changing water tariff, it could make savings of more than £12,500 a year It also installed smart meters, which helped to save a further £11,000 a year. Ralph Wright, Greene King’s energy buyer, explains: “Our water loggers have helped us pinpoint high water consumption outside of trading hours, which is usually a sign that a piece of equipment is faulty and leaking.

“We spend about £3m a year on water, and waste around 10% of that through bad usage or leaks, and that’s what we want to reduce.

“But it’s not a one-off job – you’ve got to keep monitoring because if you don’t know what’s happening, you don’t really know where to concentrate your efforts,” Wright says. “Monitoring is the key to all of it.”

Clearly long-term behavioural changes, supported by developing technology and a focus on innovation, will help companies use water more sustainably in the future.

But drawing on the lessons learnt from the drive for energy efficiency, there’s a similar need to act quickly.

Peak Consultants work closely with the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC), based at the University of Lancaster.

LEC’s director, Mike Matthews, explains that while water companies may have long-term strategies to move water from areas with an abundance to areas where it’s scarce, the time and expense involved makes this a costly option and not one that meets the immediate need for water efficiencies.

“We have to start looking for solutions now,” he says. “There is no point waiting 20 or more years for a new reservoir or a larger sewer. Instead the need to conserve and recycle what we already have should be the primary focus.”

In England and Wales, more than 10bn litres of sewage are produced every day. To treat this amount of effluent requires more than 2,800 GWh of energy, equating to 1.7m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

Using less water would create less wastewater, says Matthews, which in turn uses less energy and costs less money. It’s an equation companies like because for many, the primary motivator around water conservation remains a financial one.

“Yes, businesses might care about the environment but, more often than not, it’s about the bottom line,” he says. “We can offer solutions that are both sustainable and financially sound, such as exploring the use of groundwater and boreholes rather than mains water, or looking at alternative methods of drainage.”

In recent years, terms such as energy efficiency and carbon emissions have become part of everyday language and it’s surely only a matter of time before water footprints and sustainable water management join them.
Credits

This content is brought to you by Guardian Sustainable Business in association with Anglian Water. Produced by Guardian Business and Professional to a brief agreed with Anglian Water. Paid for by Anglian Water. All editorial controlled and overseen by the Guardian.

Rebecca Nicholl for the Guardian Professional Network – Wed 6 Jun 2012 18.08 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-water-good-business-strategy