Monday 12 June 2023
Businesses and public sector sites make bill and cost savings, from looking more at their water use – and working with the Water Efficiency experts at UK’s largest water retailer Water Plus
Businesses, in 2023, say that just by noting their water use more often in a year they’ve seen benefits, with nearly 27% saving water and almost 40% saying it’s helped with budgeting, in a survey this year. Some of those responding to a survey this year by Water Plus, the UK’s largest water retailer with customers in England and Scotland, also found they’d saved energy, through using less hot water.**
The 228 million litres of water loss would cost more than £680,000 on water bills in 12 months.*
Water Plus is at The Big Zero Show 2023, speaking to organisations at their stand after winning two National Sustainability Awards, in October 2022, including the Water Reduction Award and a UK Customer Satisfaction Award in March 2023, for work with organisations on their water.
It’s highlighting water efficiency and water pipe messages, to help organisations of all sizes - under their #BeWiseOnWater awareness campaign, including on its online Help area here – and on its business social media channels.
Jamie Gibson, Managing Director of SME and Small Corporates at water retailer Water Plus, which also won a Global Gold for Water Management in the Green World Awards 2023 for work with organisations on their water, said: “Knowing what water you’re using – and where – is an important first step to help power your organisation to more efficient operations, Net Zero and beyond. And we’re raising awareness to help organisations keep bills and running costs low, particularly this financial year, by sharing the signs to look out for under our Be Wise On Water awareness-raising approach.
“Water efficiency may sound like something that would be expensive, or maybe complicated, though it’s basically about being more aware of water use at a business, or other building and is all about reducing the water bill – plus the survey shows it really does pay to note meter reads more often, where it’s safe to, during a year and has saved sites energy too.”
Where less water is used – and any water waste, including hot water reduced and stopped, then there is a saving in carbon emissions for sites, as there are carbon emissions for all water provided to buildings and any taken away that goes down sinks or through toilets and shows.
Scott MacIndeor, Head of Advanced Services at Water Plus, said: “We’ve helped hundreds of sites, at organisations large and small manage their water more easily, efficiently and effectively, reducing risks to interruptions and saving on energy where less water needs to be moved or used – and where less hot water’s been used too. It’s seen a rugby club cut water use by 36%, at peak use times – and helped others identify thousands of pounds of savings.”
- Noting down meter readings regularly, if the meter is safe to access and providing these online, is worth doing to track use and spot any unexpected changes. Providing meter readings to water retailers, ideally each month, during a year, also reduces estimated bills, helping with cost control, particularly in this financial year. Submitting the reads online can also be done at times that suit businesses.
- A site that was tracking what they were using, spotted additional water use of 71 cubic metres of water (71,000 litres) when no-one was on-site, along with additional water use when people were there. It couldn’t find any visible signs of a water leak. So, they contacted Water Plus, who arranged a visit in February 2023 and pinpointed an underground leak, showing the benefits of looking closer at water use throughout a year.
Multi-award winning Water Plus has more than 710,000 customer supply points in England and Scotland, providing billing, customer service, account management, technical water expert services and water efficiency advice, to household name businesses, the public sector and other sites.
Join a multi-award winner water partner today, to help with your Net Zero journey. Get in touch at: hello@water-plus.co.uk and find out more about how Water Plus helps organisations, including in the public sector – along with the awards Water Plus has won, at: www.futurenetzero.com/category/water-plus-news/ .
Some of the Water Plus team are also at The Big Zero Show 2023, so chat to them there – tickets are free to attend the event: https://bigzeroshow.com/water-plus/ .
Additional note:
** 26.9% out of 78 responses said looking at their water use more often had helped them save water, with the example on the question given of spotting a water leak. Responses to survey from Feb 2023 and March 2023. 39.7% of the 78 said it was helping them budget and 2% said it’d saved them energy (with the example of the question of by using less hot water) and 70% had seen a benefit of reading their water meter more often. Survey with small and medium-sized organisations.
* From 1st January 2023 to 24th May 2023, estimated water loss totalling 228,762 m3 at an approximate cost of £688,072 – has now been stopped due to Water Plus engagement with organisations through work with the Advanced Services team that provide Value Added Services (statistic based on actual water meter readings for water loss that has been stopped through isolation, or repair). Estimate based on if the water loss had been running for 12 months.
