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Practical tips for saving water |
Environment Agency TOP ten tips for water efficient businesses
- Always measure and monitor the amount of water you use. Compare water use each year so you can identify any unusual patterns. Also compare water use against production output for manufacturing companies and against staff numbers for service sectors.
- Make sure staff are fully aware of the importance of water minimisation.
- Appoint a “water monitor” within your organisation to undertake periodic site walk-overs to identify water minimisation opportunities.
- Train employees how to use water efficiently and establish a recognition and reward programme for employees and teams who do an outstanding job.
- Ensure pipes are well insulated to protect against frost damage. A leaking pipe can cost more than £900/year in water and wastewater treatment costs.
- In companies where the urinals operate without flush control, savings of over £3,800/year in water and sewerage costs can be achieved by installing passive infrared (PIR) sensors at a cost of about £350 and with a payback period of 5 weeks.
- Spray taps can reduce water use by 60 - 70% compared with conventional taps.
- Tap aerators and flow restrictors can save money. For a tap which is being used 20 times a day for a time period of 15 seconds, fitting a tap aerator, at a cost of £5/tap, would save about £13/tap/year in water and sewerage cost savings.
- Consider alternative water sources, e.g. rainwater use and greywater re-use.
- When purchasing new equipment, take its water efficiency into account. It may be more expensive to buy water efficient equipment, but it may have a short payback period due to the water savings achieved.
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