Workplace services expert, PHS Washrooms has launched a campaign to challenge business managers to ‘cut costs twice’ on water bills. The idea comes from information published by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) that says ‘few businesses identify water as a raw material that is paid for twice – to receive it and to take away the waste.’
Water charges are volume based and, according to PHS Washrooms, billions of litres of water are flushed needlessly every year at significant expense. The company says that water rates for supply in the UK vary from around 59 pence to over £2.00 per cubic metre. Added to this is the secondary cost for sewerage that PHS Washroom says ranges from around 53 pence to over £2.16 per cubic metre. The combined average cost is around £2.30 per cubic metre for water and sewerage, but in one major water authority this dual expense adds up to a total of £4.35 per cubic metre, a volume used by flushing the toilet just over 100 times.
“Paying for incoming supply of water is increasingly expensive,” said PHS Washrooms’ managing director, Ian Osborne. “But most organisations overlook the additional cost associated with the corresponding wastewater. The simple fact is that reducing your incoming demand will have impact on both supply charges and waste charges – any initiative you take to use less water therefore can’t help but cut costs twice! And by cutting ‘costs’ twice we mean not only the financial expense but also the environmental cost as well.”
Saving water can be achieved in a number of ways: For example, ‘over half of domestic water used in commercial premises can be due to urinals operating without flush controls’ (WRAP) and there is an array of products on the market to control, regulate and reduce this process. One example is the new Flow-saver™ water management system from PHS Washrooms, which can save up to 96 per cent of water compared to uncontrolled urinal cisterns and 30 to 40 per cent in comparison to basic water management systems. This fulfils the Water Supply Regulations 1999, which state that ‘all urinals should be fitted with an automatic device for regulating the periods during which the cistern may fill’.
To support the ‘cut costs twice’ campaign, PHS offers an online calculator that can quantify water savings. It uses basic information about your site, such as number of toilets or urinals and hours of operation. It also prompts you to enter the rates you pay for water and sewerage but provides averaged default figures in lieu of that detail to keep the process as simple as possible. To see how much water and money you could save, visit www.phswaterandenergysavings.co.uk
PHS Washrooms is highlighting WRAP’s assertion that ‘by reducing wastewater generated, businesses can reduce treatment costs and improve their bottom line’. Ian Osborne concludes, “Taking effort to save water is easy, with lots of options that are quick and simple to implement but that have a big impact, both financially and environmentally. We have a range of products to reduce water usage for toilets, urinals and basins so there are multiple ways to save. Putting the saving into context, in an office of 500 staff, just fitting Flush-wiser WC flush controls could save over a million litres of water and an average of £2,500 per year. Any action taken like this will cut costs twice and pay for itself in no time!”
