Water to be the next 'energy' crisis?

London – Water usage has long taken a back seat to energy efficiency in terms of companies’ cost management efforts. However, this could be about to change, according to organisers and speakers at a press event to mark the UK’s first ever Water Saving Week – a series of events to raises awareness of the value of water.

Some 16 out of the 22 water regions in England are now classified as ‘water stressed’, while, the UK has less water available per person than almost any other EU country, event organiser, Shawn Coles said at the conference in London. This, he said, is likely to lead to significantly higher costs for water as well as government measures to encourage water efficiency and reduce wasteful usage.

“Energy efficiency has, since 2001 when the UK government's Climate Change programme was launched, taken centre stage in respect of climate change,” said Coles. “Yet any good energy consultant will tell you that the first area you should look at, when trying to reduce your utility consumption, is water.

“It is relatively cost effective to reduce your water consumption making payback periods attractive, plus with the aid of enhanced capital allowances purchasing from the Water Technology List makes the case of water saving financially sound.”

Much of the conference focused on domestic usage of water - apparently people use 130 litres/day of expensively treated, drinking-quality water, but all bar 3 litres of this goes straight down drains and sewers. However, there were also some strong messages for industry, not least from Envirowise.

Businesses could reduce their water bills by as much as a third if they were to take steps to manage their water use more effectively, Simon Drury, Envirowise strategic partnerships director, told delegates. UK companies, he added, are collectively missing out on combined cost savings of as much as £10 million per day by failing to maximise the potential of water efficiency.

According to Drury, businesses should take a step back and consider ways to become more water efficient and take advantage of support programmes such as Rippleffect – a national initiative offering businesses online advice to help them monitor their water use, identify simple water saving steps and then measure the cost savings they have made.

The Rippleffect is a free initiative delivered in three online modules over a six-month period to help businesses in England to improve their water efficiency. Envirowise estimates that companies can save around 30% on their water and effluent bills by joining the Rippleffect and taking action to reduce their water use.

Minimising water consumption can also help businesses to reduce the carbon footprint of their business, for example, for every 1 m3 of water saved, approximately 1 kg of CO2 equivalent can also be saved, according to Envirowise.

The Rippleffect was first launched in 2008 and around 500 businesses registered. New features for 2009 include access to sector-specific information for meat & poultry processing and fruit & vegetable processing, as well as to water efficiency advice in areas such as rainwater harvesting and boiler & cooling tower operation.

Mike Norton, chair of UK Rainwater Harvesting Association (UKRHA), urged greater uptake rainwater harvesting, which he described as a simple technique of collecting rainfall from roof tops and reusing it for non drinking water applications. Among a series of examples, he described how a commercial rainwater harvesting system for a fish processing plant in Grimsby paid for itself in four months.

The UKRHA is also seeking to increase confidence in RWH among water utilities, where, suggested Norton, widespread takeup of the technology could save 37% of demand from infrastructure water treatment works.