Businesses Asked To Save Water This Summer

Businesses in one part of England are being incentivised to save water this summer. Severn Trent has announced a new trial that will see it offering money back to businesses and other large water users to reduce their consumption during the summer months.

This is the first trial of its kind in the water industry, with the organisation planning to test various approaches in parallel to discover which ones deliver the greatest water savings.

Under the incentivisation plan, Severn Trent will pay 25 pence for every litre of water saved. This will be paid to water retailers who work directly with business customers.

Another of the approaches that Severn Trent intends to use is similar to an approach already used in the electricity sector, where businesses are given advance notice of when usage is expected to be high and are then offered incentive payments to lower their consumption during these peak periods.

Under the Severn Trent trial, it will give retailers 48 hours’ notice of what it deems “high peak” periods, which is when incentive payments will be made available for the businesses that are able to lower their water use.

Director for strategy and regulation at Severn Trent Shane Anderson explained that the company is particularly conscious that more people will stay at home in the UK this summer, with travel being more challenging due to the Covid-19 crisis. As a result, the company anticipates this will have an impact on water usage.

Mr Anderson said that the organisation is “really excited to launch this new water efficiency trial with retailers”.

“Encouraging businesses and other large users to be more water efficient in this way could bring huge environmental benefits too. This approach could help us to reduce our carbon footprint by trying to change behaviour instead,” he added.

The trial, which begins in May, will run for four months and allow Severn Trent to work out the most effective way to encourage businesses to moderate their water consumption.

Even if your business isn’t based in the area that will be covered by the Severn Trent trial, that doesn’t mean you can’t do your part to reduce your water use this summer, and beyond. As well as doing your part for the environment, it will also save your business money.

If you decide you want to change business water supplier, our portal can help you find the right option for your business.

You might even be surprised by how small actions can add up to big savings when it comes to your water use. The Edinburgh Reporter recently offered some advice to organisations that want to reduce their water consumption.

At the top of the list of steps to take is to conduct a water audit, as this will help you identify which areas of your business use the most water, as well as where there might be over-consumption or even leaks within your premises.

Educating your employees is also essential, because often over-consumption of water is down to a lack of understanding about how much water is being wasted performing simple tasks, such as leaving a tap running while washing up. Showing people how they can conserve water while doing their daily tasks could make more of a difference than you might think.