Scottish water retailer Business Stream has helped its customers reduce water consumption by more than 52 billion litres since 2008, the company reported.
Business Stream said that during 2020/21 its customers saved close to £15 million in discounts and £2 million in energy savings, while more than £14 million of water savings were made through its efficiency services. These included the use of digital monitoring solutions to pro-actively monitor water use even at un-manned locations.
Water efficiency in the non-household sector has come into sharper focus this year, with retailers setting water efficiency goals through the trade group Retailer Wholesaler Group (RWG).
The RWG set out an action plan and commitments to improve efficiency by better understanding the way water is used by customers. This was in response to Ofwat and the Environment Agency calling for greater inclusion of non-household water use in management plans.
Working with the Scottish public sector on efficiency, Business Stream helped reduce water consumption by 885 million litres in the first year of a three-year contract. The agreement saw 17,000 sites onboarded during the start of the pandemic including local authorities, NHS Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, Police Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, universities and colleges and Scottish Government.
Chief executive Jo Dow said the company was passionate about reducing water consumption and delivering financial and environmental savings for billpayers.
“This past year has been no different. We have continued to generate savings through discounts and efficiencies that have helped customers to reduce their costs and we’ve implemented solutions designed to save water and energy,” Dow said. “It’s been an unprecedented year as we have continued to meet the needs of all our customers in unique circumstances while providing on-going additional support to those impacted by the pandemic. We are really proud of the savings we’ve delivered and the positive difference we’re making to both our customers and the environment”.