Investigate water consultancy
Get better control of your water management and reduce costs
Considerations
- Have you reviewed your bills recently to see if they accurately reflect your consumption? Are you being billed the same amount even if the property is vacant?
- Do you know how much water you are using? Are you able to monitor usage to make sure you are not being charged for a leak or internal inefficient use of water?
- Have you investigated how you can adapt your premises to be more water efficient to save water and reduce cost and associated carbon generation?
Insight
Water is often considered the forgotten utility as unit costs are substantially less than other utilities. However, water bills are well known for being inaccurate as retailers often rely on estimated bills. Bills often go unchecked if they appear similar to the previous month and get processed without question. If not addressed, the errors can be perpetuated month on month.
Further, across portfolios, water administration can be piecemeal with bills from a number of different retailers and different charging regimes. This makes management and control difficult. One approach to this administrative burden is to prepare a tender for a single supplier to streamline bills. This can often lead to improved deals and cost savings.
Bill validation to check for discrepancies and unusual consumption is vital in containing costs. A recent instruction to act for a manufacturing facility in the Midlands resulted in a £150k saving. Any bill validation exercise should be backed up by an on-site water audit, to properly understand current consumption. On average a water audit can identify 10 – 20% savings, for inefficient buildings this can be much more. Water conservation efficiencies can be implemented that would typically give 6 – 12 month pay back periods.
Stagnant water sitting in pipes and tanks, particularly with closed buildings, increases bacteria growth and the risk of legionella. This is a real threat to the workforce, even with PPM in place. As part of the water audit the equipment in situ would be checked together with the PPM. This is not just limited to buildings that have been shut down but is applicable to operational buildings as well.
Our specialist team has over 35 years of experience ensuring that clients are being charged correctly and are using water efficiently. We can help get control of your bills and implement a water management strategy that will improve your consumption and cost for the long term.
Have a question?
