Awards to inspire creative water saving

From dual flush toilets to smart manufacturing technology, the awards aim to inform and inspire, but also help businesses cut costs.

With a drought looming over southeast England, the EA is stressing the money savings in store for businesses that save water. While businesses use 14,000m litres of water a day, most could save 30% or more of their water costs through simple measures like dual-flush toilets and rainwater harvesting, it points out.

The EA’s director of water management Dr David King said: “As the south east of England faces possibly the worst drought in the last 100 years, we all have to play a part in saving water – including businesses. Now’s the time for businesses to show customers how aware of the environment they are and save money at the same time.”

Categories cover the construction, agriculture and tourism industries, organisations promoting water efficiency through research and education, as well as the public sector.

“Our use of water in all aspects of our lives has a direct impact on the rivers and wetlands of England and Wales. … We cannot expect our environment to provide a constantly increasing supply of water,” said Dr King.

An organic farm that installed an integrated system to save and recycle water from its agricultural activities, conference centre and visitors’ cottages took the top prize at last year’s awards.

A system that uses reed-beds to treat wastewater was among Sheepdrove organic farm’s “new and creative” water saving measures, which overall saved it £200,000 a year since they were put in, paying off installation costs within 18 months.

More information on the 2007 Water Efficiency Awards can be accessed here.

Goska Romanowicz