Save water and reduce your carbon footprint

Overall, our use of water contributes around 5% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) (PDF).

You can reduce your carbon footprint by saving water. By using less water, you’re helping to lower greenhouse gas emissions from:

* your own energy usage, using appliances to heat water and run water
* the energy needed to abstract, treat and pump water to you
* the energy needed to take away and treat your wastewater

Benefits from saving water for your business
Measure your water use
Reduce your water use
Re-use water
Maintain water efficiency
Get support and advice

Benefits from saving water for your business

As well as helping to lower greenhouse gas emissions by saving water, improving your business’s water efficiency can also:

reduce your water bill
save on energy bills through heating of less water
leave more water in your local environment
free up water for future housing and business growth
demonstrate your commitment to sustainability

Measure your water use

The first step to making water savings is to understand:

how much water your business is using
where your business is using water

Do the following to find out about your water use:

Locate your water meter

Find your meter and take regular readings if you aren’t receiving regular updates on your water use from your water retailer. This will help you spot any unexpected increases in use and identify issues.

Smart metering helps you track the amount of water you use. All water companies will install smart water meters for free to business premises in England and Wales between 2025-2030, according to Ofgem’s Smart Metering report (PDF).

Analysing your water data means you can:

control your usage
reduce water and sewerage bills
detect leaks more quickly

Review your recent water bills

Track your bills to see if they went up or down over the past 12 months.

Identify where you’re using water

Identify the key areas of water use. Make sure you know where your supply pipes run and where the shut off valves are.

Reduce your water use

Find and fix leaks

Fixing leaks can reduce water wastage, lower your bills and increase your resilience to drought. A dripping tap can waste 5,000 litres of water a year.

Check for:

toilets leaking water into the pan
overflowing or poorly controlled urinals
dripping taps

Over time, pipes can corrode and weaken, leading to small holes or cracks in the pipe walls.

Both indoors and outdoors, listen and look for:

unexpected water use
rust
other signs of leakage, such as mould

Check your water meter in off-peak hours when water use should be lower or negligible, for example, overnight. If the meter shows higher than expected use, there may be a leak.

You can control leaking taps, toilets and pipes by:

shutting off water to unused areas
making sure taps are turned off properly or replacing the washer
replacing faulty washers in the toilet cistern
routinely inspecting and maintaining pipes, valves, flappers and gaskets

Consider installing:

submeters
temporary flow meters
leak detection and failure abatement devices on your premises and any major-water using equipment, such as cooling towers and boiler systems

Insulate to save money

Burst or frozen pipes can be expensive to repair. Lag pipes and tanks well to prepare for winter. Insulate hot water pipes to retain heat and save money.

Insulate your water tank and radiators to save money on your bills.

Install water efficient devices

Install water efficient devices to save water and minimise the use of heated water.

Devices include:

automatic, spray or sensor taps
water efficient showerheads can save more than a third of water and the energy to heat it
dual-flush toilets: flushes as low as 4 and 2.6 litres are available
urinal controls or waterless urinals
tap aerators that add air into the water to reduce water flow
trigger nozzles on hosepipes
cistern displacement devices (CDD) that displace water when toilets are flushed

Train your staff

Train your staff on the importance and practices of water efficiency. Place posters around your building to encourage water saving behaviour. Waterwise can help and offer training and materials to help raise awareness.

Take part in national campaigns such as Waterwise’s Water Saving Week each May.

Make sure your staff and any cleaning contractors report leaks and water issues for repair.

You could set water usage targets and encourage involvement to encourage employees to play their part.

Find out more about how to involve your team in your carbon reduction plan.

Replace equipment with water efficient models

Consider replacing equipment that is over 15 years old. According to Ofwat:

some new washing machines use less than seven litres of water for each kilogramme of clothes
modern dishwashers can use as little as 10 to 15 litres of water a cycle

Check GOV.UK’s Energy Technology List for over 8,000 energy efficient products that can save your business energy and money. The new mandatory product water efficiency label will enable businesses to easily find water efficient products. You may be able to claim capital allowances on equipment.

Use the Bathroom Manufacturers Association’s voluntary labelling scheme to help you when you buy bathroom products.

Reduce the cost of heated water

Turn down the thermostat on your water heater. Research from Nesta shows that turning down the flow temperature to 60 degrees improves your boiler’s efficiency by nearly 4%.

Change from washing laundry at 40°C to 30°C to reduce your water heating bills. You could get 3 cycles instead of 2 using the same amount of energy, depending on your washing machine.

Wait until you have a full load before using your washing machine or your dishwasher. Don’t pre-rise your dishes, you don’t need to with modern detergents.

Use the eco setting if your equipment has this option.

You can also reduce your water heating bills by using less hot water. Showers can account for the highest usage of water consumption.

Re-use water

Harvest rainwater

You can harvest rainwater harvesting by:

collecting water from large paved or hard-surfaced areas
installing water butts on downpipes to catch rainwater from roofs

You can use this free water for:

cleaning equipment
washing vehicles
flushing toilets
irrigating gardens

Make use of greywater

Greywater is wastewater from:

bathtubs and showers
hand basins
kitchen sinks
clothes washing
laundry tubs

Find out where your wasted water is going, and if or how you can recycle it in other areas of your business.

Maintain water efficiency

Do the following to maintain water efficiency:

Set up a maintenance programme

Regularly check on taps, toilets and pipework to identify leaks early.

Monitor your bills and water usage

Continue to calculate your average daily use to see if you’ve reduced your water consumption. Check your energy bills to see if you have reduced costs.

Keep staff engaged

Set targets and incentives for water conservation to motivate staff to actively participate in saving water. Encourage staff to contribute innovative ideas and reward them for their contributions.

Track and share your progress

Take steps to continually improve water efficiency.

Share your success with your employees and community through a Corporate Social Responsibility Report. Publish your report on your website.

Get support and advice

Use guidance in the International Organisation for Standardisation’s ISO 46001 to develop and implement a water efficiency management system.

Contact your water retailer and water wholesaler to explore the support they can offer. Many water companies offer:

free or discounted water saving devices
advice on saving water
free repairs, like fixing leaking toilets

Your water retailer and wholesaler may offer water audits to see how efficient your business’s water usage is.

Water saving NGO Waterwise offers businesses a Checkmark award if you want support and recognition for your organisation’s water saving efforts. You can find useful resources in the Checkmark guide to help you meet requirements.

You should also think about water efficiency when engaging with your water retailer or considering switching. Check Waterwise’s Retail Market Water Efficiency Switching Guide (PDF) for guidance including questions you can ask your water retailer.

Waterwise also offers regular water saving training sessions through the year as well as bespoke training for businesses. They are also rolling out an accredited Water Literacy training programme to support individuals and businesses on their water saving journey. Find out more about this training programme at info@waterwise.org.uk.

Check Consumer Council for Water (CCW) and Ofwat for more guidance on water saving measures.

Relevant links:

Find out about:

how to reduce waste and maximise resources
how to reduce carbon emissions in transport, buildings energy usage, your supply chain and more in browse by theme
sector-specific information on how to reduce energy and save carbon in your business area