Simple water-saving tech offering significant impact

‘Every day, over 50 million household and non-household consumers in England and Wales receive good quality water, sanitation, and drainage services. These services are provided by 32 privatelyowned companies in England and Wales’, according to data from water sector regulator, OFWAT.¹ Meanwhile, Environment Agency data reveals, ‘The water industry uses up to 3% of total energy used in the UK’,² and the sector is thought to be the fourth most energy-intensive industry.³ For these reasons, creating efficiencies for water-related energy use across healthcare environments throughout the country will have substantial benefits in terms of reducing water consumption, lessening CO2 emissions, and in turn reducing metered water bills and benefitting budgets. It is well documented that water consumption per capita has risen exponentially in modern times, with UK residents now using over 142 litres of water per day each, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

In a Department of Health publication, it was revealed that: ‘During 2002/2003, the NHS in England consumed 40.3 million cubic metres of water, and produced 34.4 million cubic metres of sewage. This comes at a cost – not just financial, but at a cost to the environment. Financial savings of up to 20% may be achieved through water efficiency measures, with little or no cost in investment. This translates to a possible saving of £9.5 m per year’.⁴

Make savings when flushing and filling