Saving water and money
We want our commercial and industrial customers to get the maximum value out of every litre of water they use. So, if your business uses water, it's in your interest to make sure that it's not being wasted. Water used by businesses is metered, which means that wasted water comes straight off the bottom line.
As a business you could also take up the offer of renting or buying a mains-fed water cooler, thus saving you money on bottled water charges. Find out more about renting or buying a water cooler.
The tips here are designed to help your business save money by saving water.
Big Splash
Envirowise is currently running a campaign called 'the big splash'. Companies across the UK are taking part in the big splash and learning how to become more profitable, whilst reducing their environmental impact. Envirowise offer free hands-on advice to help you understand how much water your business currently uses, simple ways to reduce water use and how to measure the cost savings. To date, Envirowise has been actively working with over 150 companies across the UK to provide training and advice on how to reduce water use and make substantial cost savings. So far, companies involved have identified savings of over £1.75 million and water savings of more than 2 million m3 of water. Essex & Suffolk Water is one of a number of major UK water companies supporting the big splash 2005. Big Splash leaflets have been distributed to a large proportion of businesses within the supply area. If you are an owner or manager of a business within the Essex & Suffolk Water supply zone, and are interested in saving money and reducing environmental impact, then find out how the big splash can help at: http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/page.aspx?o=bigsplash
Toilets
You can reduce the amount of water your toilets use every time they flush by installing a 'save-a-flush' in all your cisterns. They work by reducing the cistern's volume by one litre. Over a year this reduction will bring a worthwhile saving. Save-a-flushes are free and are easy to fit.
NOTE: If your cisterns are modern they may already be sufficiently small so that fitting a save-a-flush would reduce the flushing efficiency of the toilets.
Urinals
Urinal controls are now a legal requirement. They prevent wastage from traditional systems, which were often set to flush at regular intervals whether or not they were in use. A number of alternative controls are available:
OPTION A
Valves are fitted to the pipework supplying the urinal cistern. When the valves detect a change in water pressure from hand-washing, they allow water to fill the supply system.
OPTION B
Sensors are installed which detect the presence of a person in the room. These initiate a flush once a preset number of people have been detected. Such systems can operate on individual urinals or across a group. The sensors can be infra-red movement detectors or beams, magnetic door switches, or thermal gauges in the base of the urinal bowl.
You can also avoid the use of water altogether by installing waterless urinals. These allow urine to flow to the sewer without flushing and have a deodorising pad to prevent odours. This needs to be changed regularly.
Taps
Taps can waste water if they are left running, are dripping or they release more water than is necessary due to high water pressure.
Spray taps
Spray tap noses contain holes which force the water out in a spray and therefore use less water than traditional models. Regular attention is required to ensure that the spray heads do not become blocked by soap, grease or limescale. You may have to run off cold water before hot water is obtained (this can be overcome by point-of-use water heaters). If left unused, spray taps create ideal conditions for legionella growth.
Tap controls
Battery operated solenoid valves are fitted into the pipework and stop the flow after a pre-set time period. Alternatively, infra-red tap controls mean that the tap only works when hands are beneath it. The water flow is at a preset temperature, so there is no need to touch the taps to adjust the warmth.
Push taps
The flow of water through the tap stops automatically after a preset time delay. These taps are inexpensive, allow a variable flow rate and some include aerators to reduce the amount of water used.
Restrictor valves
Flow and pressure restrictor valves save water by reducing the diameter of the supply pipe, thus restricting the flow to a constant flow rate. Restrictor valves can also be fitted to shower hoses.
Pumped circuits and pipe heating
Hot water from a central storage tank undergoes long pipe runs in order to get round the building. To save water, pipe circuits can be pumped at periods of demand. Alternatively, a thermostatically-controlled heating element fixed to the pipe can top up the water temperature to ensure that it is hot when drawn.
Instantaneous water heaters
These are perfect in situations where small quantities of hot water are required at some distance from the central storage tank.
Pipework lagging
This ensures that cold water storage tanks and supply pipework are adequately lagged to prevent the risk of burst pipes due to freezing.
Leak detection
Here are some simple steps you can take:
- Take meter readings with the internal stop tap(s) that control the incoming mains cold water in the closed position - alternatively check the meter at a time when no water is being used, for example out of working hours or at weekends.
- Check all overflow pipes for signs that they have been operating.
- Check all external stop taps, sluice valves and, if installed, fire hydrants for leakage.
- Check that all site taps, wash down taps and stand pipes, are shut when not in use, and are free from leaks.
- Check all water-using equipment within the site is operating correctly.
The installation of sub-meters and valves at strategic points may help to isolate/locate the problem.
If you suspect you have a leak, please contact us. We can arrange to visit your site and to give free advice. We also have a leak detection service available. Get in touch to find out more.
Sub-metering and valving
Sub-metering allows measurement of the volumes of water used for different purposes. If there are a number of buildings on one site, it can also aid leak detection.