Q. Why should I be worried about my company's water usage?
A. The first reason to consider your water usage is because, as a utility charge, any savings you make will be added directly to the bottom line. Although water is relatively cheap compared to energy, it can still equal as much as 1% of a businesses turnover, particularly when you consider the hidden costs associated with water usage, such as heating, pumping and treatment.
The second reason is the increased pressure on businesses to consider the environment from customers, stakeholders and Government. For instance, last year Defra published the Food Industry Sustainability Strategy which includes targets for the food industry on different topics including water, waste, energy and transport. The water targets are for a reduction in water use by food businesses by 20% by 2020.
Q. Is there a way of benchmarking my company's water usage against my competitors?
A. As all business sectors use water in different ways, it can be useful to compare your water usage to other businesses in your sector to really understand how wasteful you may be compared to competitors. It can also be a great motivator to take action because, if your competitors use less water than you, their utility bills are lower providing them with a competitive edge. To help businesses benchmark their water use, Envirowise has developed ‘water account'. This enables a business to enter in its annual water use, which is shown in a graphical format compared to other businesses within the sector, or for food and drink, within the sub sector. Water account can be found here.
Q. Usually, I just pay the water bill, but if I want to check water usage, where should I start?
A. Although water bills are a good place to start analysing water usage, it is much more accurate to read the actual meter and sub meters if they are installed. The first thing to do is to understand what the meter is showing, you can find guidance in the leaflet EN662 Understanding leaks, water pressure and meters. Once you are happy reading the meter, a regular monitoring system should be established and the data recorded in a spreadsheet (you can download the Envirowise water monitoring spreadsheet here. The advantage of recording the data in this way is that any changes in water usage will be identified earlier than the next bill and any issues, such as leaks, could therefore be rectified, saving the business money.
Q. How are my water and wastewater bills calculated?
A. There is considerable variation with respect to water and wastewater charging across the UK. There are a number of factors which affect charging, such as the service provider, the diameter of the incoming water meter, and the tariff structure agreed with the service provider.
For further information, see leaflet EN665 Understanding water and wastewater bills, which is downloadable from the Envirowise website at www.envirowise.gov.uk/EN665.
Q. How are my trade effluent bills calculated?
A. There is considerable variation with respect to trade effluent charging across the UK. Trade effluent charging is based on the Mogden Formula that relates cost to the volume and strength of the trade effluent discharged. For further information, see leaflet EN665 Understanding water and wastewater bills, which is downloadable from the Envirowise website. See also the Mogden Formula tool, which is available to download free of charge from the Envirowise website here. This is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that details how trade effluent bills are calculated and demonstrates how UK businesses can make savings by reducing effluent volumes and strengths.