It’s easy to take water for granted. It is readily available and seemingly abundant here in Scotland. But increasing your water efficiency can have a pretty significant impact, not just for you and your business, but also for the environment.
Why save water?
Well, firstly, improving your water efficiency can have a big impact upon the price you end up paying. There are some straightforward rules to follow which can help save a lot of water. This is particularly the case with high users who can often find that small improvements can lead to huge benefits. In addition to the direct financial benefits, improving your water efficiency can also benefit the environment and reduce your carbon footprint. For businesses pushing to lower emissions, saving water can provide a sound way to help achieve carbon reduction goals, which, in turn, will help reduce costs and enhance reputation.
How to save water?
1. Purchase water efficient equipment
Every business will naturally have to renew their facilities. Next time, opt for more water efficient options, they may be more expensive initially but should reduce spend over time. Simple and affordable tools can also reduce your usage, tap aerators and cistern capacity reducers can lower your usage day by day.
2. Engage employees
Empower your staff and create a green team. Encourage staff to meet regularly to actively seek to improve the water use. Ask your staff what they think the business could do. Engaging with staff will help them become more conscious of water use, at the end of the day, these are the people who use your water.
3. Reduce landscape water use
Lush green lawns can require vast amounts of water use; a water butt will maximise rain water and will soon pay for itself.
4. Check for leaks
Ensure all outlets are off. Take a meter read. Don’t use any water for 20 minutes. Take a read again and if the read is higher, you know may have a leak.
By following the four strategies detailed above, you could lower your water use and save money year on year, There are also plenty of accreditations and incentive schemes set up to reward businesses for achieving carbon reduction goals. So, give them a go, you’ve got nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain.