Tuesday, December 02, 2008 RELATED FEATURES

The private sector has already taken on the 'reduce your water footprint' concept but local government, education and hospitals could save a small fortune if they had an efficient water management programme, according to commercial and industrial water management company Waterscan

Despite the UK's high rainfall, the country has relatively little water per head due to limited capacities for water storage coupled with high population. As a large consumer of water, the public sector needs to examine how it can reduce the wastage of this valuable resource. Not only can efficiently managing water usage help the environment, but it can also substantially reduce water bills.

'Carbon footprint' is already common parlance, and the public sector is taking steps to reduce its carbon usage by investing in energy saving or generating equipment. As the public sector gears up to spend millions on building new schools and hospitals, now is the time to invest in infrastructure that also reduces water consumption and wastage.

Pubic sector bodies can save themselves a small fortune (as well as doing their bit for the environment) by adopting a variety of techniques, including a water audit (checking expected consumption against bills), leak detection and repair, water saving devices on urinals, taps, showers and toilets, greywater recycling (using shower water for laundry and irrigation and to flush toilets), and rainwater harvesting (using rainwater for cleaning and irrigation and to flush toilets).

Incorrect billing and leaks can cost thousands but recycling greywater and harvesting rainwater can save substantial sums. One leaky tap can waste over 500m3 per annum, which equates to approximately £840 a year. This does not include the additional costs of heating and pumping the water.

Water companies can go unchallenged for years, charging customers hundreds of thousands of pounds without them truly understanding what they're paying for. This is especially relevant for water because it's the only utility that organisations pay for twice – once to use it and again to remove the wastage.

Leaks can also go undetected for many years because failures from the water main usually occur without any visible signs of a problem. A leak that is running as little as 1 litre a minute could cost as much as £1100 a year. As the pipe work deteriorates, the costs can mount considerably and increase the risk to the property through low pressure problems, threaten water quality and eventually lead to the loss of water supplies altogether. With expert leakage detection engineers, a water leak can be traced to within a few feet and the leak repair is often completed within a day with no disruption to the building users.

Greywater recycling takes water from showers, baths or laundry and cleans it using a chemical-free ultra-filtration membrane. The 'green water' the system produces can then be used for flushing toilets, irrigation or washing vehicles. Rainwater harvesting stores rain and filters it, providing water that's suitable for flushing toilets, cleaning and irrigation, reducing pressure on the environment and helping to conserve valuable drinking water resources. Filtration systems used for this purpose can last up to 10 years before needing to be replaced.

Once the initial water management system is in place, consumption monitoring can highlight any issues as they arise (such as new leaks). An automated system of meter reading can be used to feed data to an online water management tool, allowing utility managers to see usage rates live as they happen. And if consumption exceeds expectation, an immediate alert can be raised.

Waterscan recently launched its 'water footprint' campaign, urging organisations to examine their water consumption. The private sector (including companies like Tesco, Whitbread and BT) has already woken up to the 'reduce your water footprint' concept but local government, education and hospitals all use significant quantities of water and would benefit considerably from a water management programme to ensure a sustainable property portfolio – saving money as well as this valuable resource.

The company's managing director Neil Pendle said: "The public sector should put reducing water footprint high on its energy agenda. That's why we want to raise awareness of the issues surrounding water consumption and make it as high profile as that of carbon footprint."

www.waterscan.com


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