Save water at work
Many of us spend at least eight hours of the day in the workplace – it makes sense to be careful with water there as well as at home.
Raise awareness
Being careful with water can reduce costs, benefit the environment and improve the way a business is perceived. It starts with helping employees understand why saving water is important – use posters, training sessions or discussions to increase awareness.
If you need outside help, consider Waterwise’s Water Literacy Programme or water efficiency training.
Identifying the best way to use less water
Every organisation is different, so you’ll need to think through the ways of saving water that work best for you.
You might want to find and fix leaks, focus on making toilets and kitchens more water efficient, or insulate pipes to protect against bursts in icy weather.
See below for more specific ideas about how to save water.
Measure your impact
You can measure progress by setting targets and measuring what you’ve achieved (in terms of both litres and pounds saved).
Sharing your graphs and figures will help to keep people engaged and motivated.
Don’t let it slip!
Water efficiency is about the long term, so it’s important to maintain your good work by checking in regularly.
You could use a systematic approach, for example with regular water audits or checks for leaky pipes. Add them to your planning calendar to make sure they’re not missed.
4 steps to saving water at work
In bathrooms
Toilets, sinks and showers use a lot of water. You could try:
- Using automatic taps to ensure they’re never left running
- Adding cistern displacement devices to older toilets, reducing the water used per flush (not suitable for push-button toilets)
- Opting for waterless urinals – you can fit these or convert existing ones
- Fitting water-saving aerators to taps and showers, which mix the water with tiny air bubbles so you can wash with less
In kitchens
Whether you have a basic tea station or a full canteen, there are lots of ways to save water.
- Use hot and cold water dispensers to reduce waste and save time (waiting for the kettle, letting the tap run cold) and energy
- Encourage colleagues to use the save mug or glass all day
- Only run dishwashers when they’re full, and using eco-mode
Outside
The external parts of your premises matter too!
- Install a water butt for watering plants, washing company cars, and rinsing off equipment
- When landscaping, go for drought-resistant plants that won’t need regular watering
- If possible, avoid non-permeable parking surfaces like tarmac – porous materials like gravel soak up water and help to reduce flooding risk