Water minimisation is one of the easiest ways of achieving cost savings, as water is no longer a cheap and plentiful resource with mains water costs, sewerage and trade effluent charges on the increase.
Mains water, sewerage and trade effluent charges are all steadily increasing. One of the reasons for this increase is a stricter environmental standard.
For more information on environmental legislation that is relevant to the retail sector please follow the link to the legislation page.
- It costs only a few pence to replace the washer on a leaking tap, but two drops of water a second from one tap can add £13 a year to your water bill.
- Self-closing taps can reduce water use by 50% compared with conventional taps. Push taps can also be fitted easily to existing tap bodies.
- The average toilet uses 9 litres of water per flush. Water displacement devices can reduce this by a third, ie down to 6 litres per flush. These devices reduce the volume of water in the cistern.
- You are charged for water leaking from underground pipes on your property. If you are using water during unoccupied hours, you have a leak.
Therefore, shopping centre management can have a direct influence on water use by simple solutions such as fitting water saving devices in washrooms and toilets, thereby reducing water use by up to 40%.
- Look at bills to find out how much water is used and sewage/effluent discharged.
- Locate all areas where water is used at the shopping centre.
- Install meters and read regularly to monitor water use.
- Identify where and why water is wasted.
- Make immediate savings through no-cost and low-cost measures, see Fig 1.
- Look for leaks in water systems
- Set a target to reduce water use by, say, 10% per year
- Consider changes to service charges to reward tenants who take action to reduce water use.
For more information on how to reduce water use, see the following publications
Reducing waste and utility use in managed shopping centres
(EN336)
Water bills ... are you splashing out too much?
(EN323)
Typical achievable reductions in water use:
Activity Proportion of water use (%) Typical reduction (%)
WC flushing 43 30 – 60
Washing 27 50 – 60
Urinal flushing 20 50 – 80
Miscellaneous (leak detection, rainwater collection, grey water recycling, water-efficient gardens, etc) 10 20
Source: Construction Industry Council
Reducing energy use