How to cut water usage to help deliver financial and environmental savings for your business

Front of mind is likely to be managing increasing overheads, with cost rises across almost every aspect of doing business. In addition, businesses are under increasing pressure to respond to the climate crisis and demonstrate their commitment to delivering environmental efficiencies.

There’s been a great deal of focus on energy as an area that businesses need to address to try and bring down costs and contribute to their sustainability goals. Water, in comparison, can often be overlooked and yet by reducing water use, businesses can achieve significant savings.

We acquired the non-household customer base of Yorkshire Water in 2019, and since then we’ve been delivering water and wastewater services to over 140,000 businesses in the region and working with our customers to identify water efficiencies. Last year alone, we helped businesses in the UK save more than £14million in water efficiency savings, and 7.5 billion litres of water – that's the equivalent to nearly 3,028 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

And yet we believe there’s the potential to do so much more in this space. In recognition of this, we launched our pledge to help our customers save up to 20 per cent of their water use.

Effective ways to reduce water use

For many companies, relatively low-cost fixes such as monitoring consumption levels, undertaking water maintenance checks, installing water efficient devices, and running colleague engagement campaigns will be enough to make significant savings.

Larger capital projects such as installing recycled greywater capabilities and optimising complex industrial processes require larger upfront investment and are more relevant to businesses that have a greater demand for water use through their processes. However, for those businesses where this applies, these measures can help to deliver extensive long-term cost and carbon savings.

Generating energy efficiencies

Reducing business water usage through efficiency improvements does not just reduce water demand, it also decreases wastewater volumes which require energy-intensive treatment, delivering further sustainability gains. In addition, the heating of water constitutes a significant driver of overall energy bills and carbon footprints for businesses across all sectors.

Approximately 20 per cent of the energy bill for a typical gas-heated office stems from heating water for restroom facilities, taps, showers, kitchens, and cleaning processes. With commercial energy costs rising by over 50 per cent in the past year alone, there has arguably never been a better time for companies to minimise water heating.

A win-win scenario

We’re passionate about supporting our customers to reduce costs and achieve their sustainability goals. While the specific interventions may differ, all industries can benefit from optimising water efficiency. With the need to act on the climate crisis and increased energy prices impacting all sectors, the business case for enhanced efficiency has never been stronger.

Jo Dow, Chief Executive, Business Stream

To find out more about how Business Stream can support your business to reduce water use and benefit from financial and environmental savings, please direct enquiries to Tana Briggs, Senior Account Manager at [email protected]