Wednesday 12 July 2023

Sustainable water management solutions for summer

From small steps to larger solutions, we can all be wiser on water this summer. The award-winning water experts at business water retailer Water Plus – and the official Future Net Zero water partner - show how…

In the hot weather, there’s more demand on the water networks. To keep water flowing for everyone, it’s important that we all take steps to cut out water waste at sites and help reduce un-necessary water use, overall. For organisations, this can be as simple as implementing some quick checks and changes to reduce water wastage in the short-term.

Here are some quick wins to save water (and lower energy and running costs) at your business this summer:

Take regular meter readings.
Knowing how much water you’re using is a great place to start any savings journey. If you have multiple sites, comparing usage will help you learn how sites are performing and spot any anomalies. Any unusual or unexpected increases in consumption on the meter are usually the first sign of a hidden leak.

Plus – if you send regular meter readings to your water retailer, you’ll benefit from bills based on usage rather than estimates. Water Plus customers can do this easily in online MyAccount.

Check your site for hidden leaks, dripping taps, and leaking toilets.
Look for signs of a leak outside buildings such as damp walls, drips or lush foliage. But it’s not just major leaks that cause a problem – even small drips from taps and toilets can add up. For instance, some smaller leaks on site pipes can also affect the flow of the water at your building and can cause water to stop suddenly.

Ensure staff know who to report any water problems to and have a plan of action ready to repair any issues.

Water Plus offer an expert leak detection and repair service, to detect and repair major leaks.

Reduce watering in the heat.
Turf is tough stuff and can recover easily from browning and drought. Consider turning off sprinklers, or collecting and re-using rainwater for watering purposes at times when water is scarce.

Consider low-cost, quick-return water efficiency devices.
Many water-saving devices are low cost and fit to your existing equipment – meaning you don’t have to change any behaviours, but can benefit from less water from the taps.

Tap aerators and water efficient shower heads are quick wins that can slash everyday water usage up to 30%. It’s seen a rugby club cut water use by 36%, at peak times, by working with Water Plus and doing just that – and theses devices have helped other sites gain thousands of pounds of savings.

Although water is in Scope 3 of emissions targets, it shouldn’t be looked at last as a way to contribute to Net Zero goals. This summer and beyond, water stands to become an important player in the sustainability sector. Saving water can help support other sustainability initiatives, because there’s carbon and energy associated with the water we use – from heating it, to treating it, to flushing it away. Plus, it doesn’t always need to be a case of cutting down. Finding ways to make the water you’re already using go further, and be more efficient, is an even better long-term strategy for organisations.

Here are some bigger interventions to have bigger impacts on water use:

Automatic meter readers.
For bigger sites with more than one meter, or customers with nationwide locations, automatic meter readers are our number one recommendation. They do what they say on the tin – but you might be surprised at all the benefits on offer from understanding your water usage in-depth.

Thanks to automatic meter readers (where data loggers are installed on water meters with work by our expert team) Water Plus customers have saved an estimated 976 million litres of water – stopping nearly £3 million in water waste* - over the last year.

Site water audits.
Water Plus offer water audits for your business sites – assessing all ways your organisation uses water, to identify current issues and recommend bespoke improvements.

Many of our customers have seen significant savings after arranging an audit with us.

Expert water efficiency advice and innovation.
The Value Added Services team at Water Plus have years of experience advising businesses on the best way to make water savings, cost savings, and environmental gains.

Whether it’s re-routing plumbing to re-use grey water, diverting rainwater and configuring non-return-to-sewer options, or implementing expert trade effluent innovations, there’s a solution available to help any organisation reduce, re-use and re-cycle their water more efficiently.

Even if water is integral to your operations, investment in innovation can have big results for Net Zero goals – and the sooner you start, the more you stand to gain.

Get in touch with our team to find out more about a solution to suit you.

*From 1st January 2022 to 31 December 2022, estimated water loss totalling 976,445 m3 at an approximate cost of £2.9m was stopped due to Water Plus’s engagement with organisations (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