Water-saving tips for businesses

"We need to change our attitudes to water use. It is the most fundamental thing needed to ensure a healthy environment but we are taking too much of it and have to work together to manage this precious resource. Industry must innovate and change behaviours in order to reduce demand and cut down on wastage – and we all have a duty to use water more wisely at home. "

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency

Measure, minimise, maintain

We’ve developed a three-step process to help you measure your water use, minimise your waste and maintain the results.

Before you start making long-term savings you need to understand how much water your business is using. The following checks will give you a clear idea on your water use.

Once you’ve worked out how much water your business is using it’s time to identify ways to save.

Here are a few ways we’ve helped other businesses reduce their bills.

Short-term wins are great, however long-term change should always be your goal.

Here are a few top tips to help you cut your business costs and reduce your water use over the long-term.

Making your business water efficient

Average water use in various industries

Examples of how much water various business and service sectors use.

Service sectors	Typical usage per year
Hotels	30m3 per bed space
Offices	0.6m3 per m2
Restaurants	0.05m3 per cover
Retails outlets	0.6m3 per m2
Colleges/universities	0.6m3 per m2

Production sectors	Typical usage per tonne
Paper production	22.5m3
Frozen fruit/veg production	6.0m3