Looking closer at water use at a site during the year can have a range of benefits for organisations – large and small.
Being more aware of water that’s used helps organisations reduce water waste and risks to supply interruptions on site water pipes too.
Tracking water use throughout a year can also provide more benefits – with more than 45 sites alerted to water issues spotted by data loggers on water meters in just one day, after a rise in temperatures following colder weather in December 2022.
The Water Plus Advanced Services team was closely monitoring the data feeds to alert organisations too and issues included a manufacturer that saw water use increase from 200 litres an hour – to 2,000 litres an hour, tracked by a data logger through the Water Plus online smart portal. They acted immediately when the Advanced Services team made contact and isolated the issue on a site pipe.
Water know-how, to keep in mind, for your sites
Along with knowing what water you’re using where, at sites, it’s also important to cut out any water waste to not only reduce costs but reduce the chance a pipe issue causes the flow to stop.
Cutting out any water waste, like drips or leaks, also helps reduce impacts on the environment – along with reducing the carbon emissions linked to water, which is under Scope 3.
If less water needs to be moved around by pumps at a site, or if less is used overall, for example across an industrial or manufacturing facility, then there’s an energy saving there too.
And organisations say looking closer at their water use has saved them energy, saved water and helped them budget*.
Having a plan in place pays off
Having a water action plan, so you and staff on-site know what to do in a water emergency, is essential to save time and money if the worst should happen.
Do you have clear channels staff can report water issues quickly and easily – to prevent any issues affecting a building, or its water supplies?
Take time to:
- Understand your water system and monitor use throughout a year. A survey found 92% of people, from public sector and private sector organisations, said they wouldn’t know if there was an underground leak at their organisation.**
- Know where the stop taps are, and make sure staff and facility managers can find them – and turn them off, when needed. It’s worth checking during a year – as part of maintenance routines – that stops taps are in working order and haven’t seized up.
- Check what your insurance covers – know who has financial responsibility.
- Know who to call in the event of an emergency – have numbers ready, so you can respond to leaks or water emergencies quickly and effectively.
- Consider a plan for emergency water delivery to your site, in case of a supply interruption.
- Insulate exposed pipework, tanks and cisterns – plus, it’s worth checking your site, if it’s left empty at times – and keeping an eye on the weather for additional surface water or icy conditions.
It’s been shortlisted for two UK Customer Satisfaction awards in 2023 and a Green World Award in 2023. It was also shortlisted for three Water Industry Awards in 2022, including Water Retailer of the Year and Water Efficiency Project of the Year.
To request data loggers, or additional water efficiency services, contact the Water Plus team at: hello@water-plus.co.uk .
More tips to #BeWiseOnWater can be found here.
* Survey in February 2022 of customers contacted to encourage more water meter readings to track their use closer and submit more reads to Water Plus during a year. More than 43% of respondents to the survey had seen a benefit of reading their water meter more often out of 65 who completed the survey. Of those who saw a benefit, 41% said they had saved water (with the example on the question of saving water helping to spot a leak or a dripping tap), and 20% had saved energy (with the example on the question of using less hot water).
** Online poll in January 2022, during presentation, with 26 responses on survey question.
