Following Jersey Water’s request for individuals and businesses to manage water more carefully, Chamber’s Sustainable Business Forum has put together a short briefing on reducing your business water consumption. Key highlights are given below and the full briefing can be seen here.
Quick wins:Health check your water systems – it’s easy for dripping taps and small cistern valve leaks to go unnoticed in a busy office. Having facilities staff or a plumber carry out a building water survey will help you identify and fix these at minimal cost.
Lavatory cisterns fitted before 2001 are likely to flush a larger than necessary volume of water. Installing a Hippo water saver or even just a brick or two in 9 or 12 litre cisterns will significantly cut regular water use without reducing effectiveness.
Educating your employees – this is not as arduous task as it may sound. Most of the information, posters and materials you need are available for free on www.waterwise.org.uk/
Big wins:Retrofitting infrared sensor taps in your bathrooms may initially look costly but payback can usually be expected within two years with savings from both reduced water use and electricity for water heating.
Urinal flush controllers are a great way of cutting water use especially if your current system continues to flush overnight and at weekends. Again payback is fast and potential savings significant.
Finally it’s worth examining any industrial processes your business employs that use water. Is the equipment you use water efficient? Could the waste water from the process be fed into another use? Could the process itself be fed by rainwater collected and stored on the premises?
Was 2011’s weather an extraordinary event or a precursor to the new norm in a changing climate? Either way employing the water efficiency measures above – and in the full briefing paper on Chamber’s website - will pay dividends. However should weather patterns really change for the worse over the coming years it could become more a significant factor in running a cost effective business than any of us currently imagine.
Francis Binney Sustainable Business Forum
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