Water Efficiency – adaptation and mitigation
December 21st 2009 Water efficiency can save your business money, and also help reduce the effects of climate change says Jacob Tompkins, managing director,Waterwise
November 2009 was the wettest November on record with an average of 217.4mm of rain across the UK and widespread flooding in Northern England, especially in Cumbria where it caused chaos to infrastructure (bridges were having urgent checks and some were condemned), flooded 1300 properties and devastatingly killed a police officer. Extremely heavy rain was also experienced in south-west Scotland and Snowdonia. Severe flooding seems to be happening more and more often in the UK and the effects of climate change are only going to make them worse. It may seem strange to be discussing water efficiency at this time but it can help reduce the effects of climate change and save you and your business money.
Luckily, unlike in Gloucestershire in 2007, the water infrastructure in the UK withstood the recent weather conditions, and whilst bridges were failing, water continued to flow from taps and showers.However, our water infrastructure is based on assumptions about the climate that no longer hold true. Supply systems are not designed to deal with long term multi-year droughts and massive rainfall events. Floods and droughts are flip-sides of the same problem, so water efficiency can help both of these phenomena. Water efficiency can help to reduce peak flows in the drainage system, and can also help preserve our water supplies in times of drought.
Wasting less water also helps to mitigate the effects of climate change because the UK water industry is responsible for 1% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions, and heating water in our homes is responsible for a further 5% of emissions.
Businesses need to adapt their infrastructure and their attitudes to avoid future failure of our water systems. One of the easiest ways is to promote water efficiency.
Retrofitting existing fixtures and fittings, placing posters around the workplace, internal education days on water efficiency, replacing old appliances with newer water efficient ones will all reduce your businesses water consumption and encouraging employees to take water efficiency back to their homes will help reinforce it further.Not only can water efficiency save your business money on water bills, but reducing your hot water consumption will save you money on your gas/electricity bill, and also can help your green credentials.A retrofit device as simple as a cistern displacement device in the toilet cistern can save one litre of water per flush. Sensors on taps will reduce the amount of water wasted whilst employees use the tap by about six litres of water per minute. Leak detection devices can detect a supply pipe leak and help your insurance premium as well as save water and prevent structural damage to the premises. Ensuring your pipes are protected against the cold weather can reduce the risk of leakage after a frozen pipe.Your water company might offer water audits, so get in touch with them to see if they can help.
Waterwise has now awarded over 60 Waterwise Marques to products that are water efficient,well designed and available on the UK market. Look at the Waterwise website to see a full list of products and to see how these can help your business save water.
The application process for the Waterwise Marque is now open for manufacturers of water efficient products and closes on 26 February 2010 – visit the website for an application form.Waterwise has also produced a best practice guide to water efficiency retrofitting – this can help you to implement water saving measures in your premises.
For further water efficiency advice for your business please visit the Save Water section on the Waterwise website – www.waterwise.org.uk More articles from Waterwise Technology Ltd: | 
