David Lloyd Leisure has become the first health and leisure company to apply for a self-supply water licence from Ofwat.
The leisure centre operator, which has 99 sites in the UK, will partner with Waterscan as managing agents to assume retail functions.
With a self-supply license David Lloyd will have complete control over its water data, consumption and costs as well as having access to wholesale price water and become a voting member of market operator, MOSL.
Neil Pendle, managing director of Waterscan, said David Lloyd are strong advocates of sustainable water management.
Pendle said: “Currently, the leisure sector is under-represented in the water market, so David Lloyd’s participation as a self-supplier will be of huge benefit, not only to their own operations but also to similarly large water-consuming businesses and to Ofwat and MOSL who deeply value this type of customer engagement.”
Last month, Pendle told Utility Week that sustainability agendas were driving companies towards self-supply to better manage and reduce water consumption.
David Lloyd holds Carbon Trust Double Standard accreditation for its carbon and water reduction efforts. Since 2013 the company has reduced the CO2 emissions of individual visits by 34 per cent as part of its environmental commitments.
Sustainability manager at David Lloyd, Lee Manley, said the company has rolled out automated meter reding and water efficiency equipment at its sites, but recognises there is more it can do to reduce its water impacts.
“We recognise the importance of our role and responsibility in contributing to a healthy society and a sustainable environment. As we move forward with our sustainability strategy, we are pleased to be supported by Waterscan, whose approach echoes our own, to build on the success of our water efficiency programmes to date,” Manley said. “We believe that a self-supply license will enable us to accelerate our work on reducing our water consumption, as witnessed in other industries.”
There are currently 14 self-supply licences held by operators in hospitality, brewing, retail sectors as well as local authorities. The most recent was appointed to supermarket chain Sainsbury’s in July.