At The Energy Desk, we love finding ways of helping businesses, large or small, get low-cost consumption on all resources. When it comes to water, you take it for granted, and you only might consider the usage of your water when it comes to paying for it. TED have found four easy ways to check if your business is pouring water (and money) literally down the drain. Apart from the obvious burst pipes, there are other reasons why your business could be wasting water and end up paying for it.
Check your commercial water bills
If your water bill has come in higher than the same time last year, check the water rates for your business haven’t increased and that your last bill wasn’t on an estimated reading that could have been too low. If they aren’t the reason, think about anything new or different you might be doing throughout your day-to-day work routine which could be using more water and increasing your water consumption.
Look for water leaks in your business
You may notice small water faults and not even realise it. Dripping taps are often overlooked and can waste thousands of litres per year. You should also check urinals aren’t constantly running and that overflow pipes outside aren’t dripping water. Lastly, check new toilet cisterns for internal overflow, which is usually harder to spot than older cisterns which overflow externally.
Check water consumption at the meter
Your business water meter will usually be a good indicator of how much water you’re using and if there’s a water leak. When your business isn’t using water (after the day is done for example), take a meter reading, then don’t use any water for an hour (or longer if possible, such as overnight) and if there is a change in the water usage, there may be a leak somewhere.
Is it the water supply pipe?
The water supply pipe is the pipe that connects your business’ water to the public water mains. The pipe if legally owned by your or your business and you are responsible for it’s maintenance. You can check it by turning off your internal stop tap, and then check your meter. If your meter is still turning you could well have a leak.
Contact TED for more information on water deregulation
As water deregulation comes to England in 2017, it’s important to start monitoring your usage and ironing out any problems you may have such as leaks which can increase water consumption. If all these efforts haven’t paid off and you still think there might be a problem, get in touch with TED and we can help your business with conserving water usage and supply more information on water deregulation.
You can contact us on 08453 389 830 or we’ll get back to you as soon as we can when fill in your details on our contact us page.