As residents in the South East face further possible water restrictions many local businesses continue to waste water unnecessarily, literally pouring money down the drain. If every business in the region leaves just one tap dripping for a day, a staggering 8 million litres of water would be wasted. (1) Over the course of a year, the cost to businesses in the region would be over £2 million. (2).
Government-funded programme Envirowise is calling for businesses in the South East to take the plunge and reduce their water usage to save money. By signing up to the big splash challenge, companies will receive free guidance on water minimisation from Envirowise, including an on-site water and waste review and help with implementation and evaluation.
Katie Plummer, Envirowise Manager for the South East, said: “The results from last year’s big splash challenge are really encouraging. More than 100 UK businesses directly benefited from our help, actively changing their practices and achieving excellent savings in the process. This year, Envirowise is committed to helping even more companies achieve great results through the Big Splash challenge.”
Mick Gregory, Water Efficiency and Regulation Manager at South East Water, said: “As a partner of the big splash initiative we are pleased to support any activity which helps minimise the huge quantities of water being wasted every day across our regions. The fact is that many businesses simply do not think enough about their water usage – yet there are a number of simple no-cost or low-cost water conservation techniques that could help cut annual water consumption by up to 30 per cent.”
To get started, Envirowise recommends considering the following low cost measures:
(1) Turn taps off fully and replace leaking hoses and worn tap washers for a quick and cheap way of saving water. In staff washrooms, push-button taps can use up to half the water used through conventional taps and help prevent floods in event of a sink becoming blocked.
(2) Check your water system for leaks, which can be expensive and cause damage to your building. Take meter readings regularly and carefully – if you are paying for water that you cannot account for you may have a leak.
(3) Reduce your need for mains supply water by looking at ways you could recycle ‘grey water’ such as cleaning equipment, vehicles or outside areas.
(4) To reduce the amount of clean water used in every toilet flush, fit a water displacement device into cisterns – these are often available free of charge from your local water company.
(5) Run a staff competition to identify water-saving ideas or organise a brainstorm. Consider appointing ‘water wardens’ to take responsibility for water minimisation measures in each area of your site.
Envirowise can also offer industry-specific advice on reducing water wastage.
To find out more about the big splash challenge, and sign up to start saving money and water, call the Envirowise Advice Line on 0800 585 794 or visit www.envirowise.gov.uk/bigsplash
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(1) Based on one dripping tap wasting the equivalent of 26 litres of water a day (Envirowise publication GG67 ‘Cost-effective water saving devices and practices’), and on there being 309,740 businesses in South East (ONS: ‘UK Business: Activity, Size and Location 2004’)
(2) Based on the cost of water being approximately 0.08 pence per litre (www.ofwat.gov.uk)
Issued on behalf of Envirowise by Harrison Cowley. For further information please contact Kate Sturley or Rod Dennis on 0117 929 2311 or kates@harrisoncowley.com.
About Envirowise
Envirowise delivers a valuable programme of confidential advice to UK businesses. This advice enables businesses to improve profitability and reduce environmental impact.
Independent, practical and proven guidance is available through the Envirowise Advice Line, information resources and on site visits (Ireland, Scotland and Wales only) delivered by a national team of expert advisors. Each solution is driven by the specific needs of individual firms, to genuinely improve their business practices, profitability and competitiveness. Since 1994, Envirowise has helped UK industry save £1 billion.
The Envirowise programme is available to any UK business, completely free of charge. For more information visit www.envirowise.gov.uk or call 0800 585 794.