Don't Lose Your Profits Down the Plughole

After one of the driest Springs on record, and with more dry summers expected in future, there's never been a better time to make sure your business is using water wisely - and saving money!

Topic Based Information Sheets

The South West Tourism Alliance website includes a wide range of information sheets for you to use covering topics such as Monitoring Your Energy Use, Saving Water in Bathrooms & Washrooms, Get Your Guests Involve, Quick Training for Your Staff on Saving Water

Use Your Water Company to Save Water

For many businesses their own contact with their water company is in paying the bills. However, water companies can also provide support to help you save water and money.

South West Water

Over the 10 years since it started providing water efficiency support SWW has helped around 500 businesses make typical savings of around 25%.The support SWW offers includes:

• A suite of online business tools including a Water Calculator that measures water use by a chosen unit (Litres per Bed Night, for example)
• A certification scheme that gives a tangible acknowledgment when a business has become water efficient and has been designed to align with the Green Tourism Business Scheme
• A water audit that identifies improvements that can be made. Where possible, savings, costs, and payback are calculated and included with a report
• Help with arranging for the key improvements (those that have a payback of 12 months or less) to be made, including a Pay-as-you-Save finance scheme to assist if the business has difficulties funding the up-front costs of improvements

Contact the water efficiency team on 01392 443497 or email waterconservation@southwestwater.co.uk .

Wessex Water

Wessex Water set up a dedicated team several years ago to help businesses manage their water use. To date they have concentrated on the larger users but more recently have expanded their services into schools and smaller water users. This includes hotels and guest houses. They can assist in a number of areas including:

• Different water tariffs where the water costs less than the standard amount. This would usually apply to the larger establishments
• Free water audit of your business identifying where water is used and recommendations for improvements
• Assistance in making improvements - Wessex Water would be happy to discuss ways to help deliver the improvements you want to make
• Automatic meter reading device - monitors your water usage and can be viewed through the internet. (Note that this is a chargeable service.)

Find out more on how Wessex Water can help your business: contact business.care@wessexwater.co.uk

Other water companies in the South West:

Bristol Water (supply only)              Severn Trent          Bournemouth & West Hampshire   

Remember Running Costs When You Buy Equipment

It's easy to compare costs of appliances solely in terms of their purchase price, but don't forget that running costs mount up over the lifetime of a product. The Water Efficiency Product Labelling Scheme (WEPLS) provides help to make an informed choice, while the Bathroom Association website includes a water calculator and much more

For more information on how drought could affect your business, and what you can do to prepare, visit www.climateprepared.com. For information on how the climate is expected to change in the future, visit: http://www.oursouthwest.com/climate/scopingstudy.htm

Date added: Monday 27th June 2011
Latest updated: Thursday 8th March 2012