Business water is a significant cost for educational institutions, yet it is often overlooked up until the point the bill arrives.

However, proper college business water management presents significant saving opportunities, and more specialist opportunities are becoming available.

These water saving practices can save thousands of litres of water, resulting in lower water and wastewater costs.

From taking the reins on water usage to getting wastewater properly organised, here are some of the ways colleges are able to reduce water bills on campus and reduce overheads.

Get everyone on board

A large amount of water is lost through simple and often honest mistakes, from a tap that has not been switched off fully to a leaky toilet that has gone unnoticed.

These are issues that can be fixed through simple staff training and informational documents for students added throughout bathrooms and accommodation.

Simply making people aware of what water waste looks like can help you reduce any unneeded overconsumption. 

Find and fix leaks

If you operate a site with multiple buildings, or multiple sites, you may think one leak is hardly an issue but that is not the case.

A single leaky toilet can waste up to 400 litres of water per day, according to the CCW.

If there are several leaky toilets in a student accommodation with dozens, or in some cases hundreds of toilets, there are potentially tens of thousands of litres leaking away.

That directly impacts your college water bill, and is an easily avoided issue with a regular maintenance plan which you can get through quality plumbing services.

This goes for leaky taps and pipes as well, and also reduces the risk of any costs incurred by a water outage which could occur if a leak isn’t addressed.

Make wastewater an afterthought

From consents to different treatment solutions, colleges are likely to have significant wastewater requirements.

The main area of concern for educational institutions is getting the right permits and consents.

While treatment, and in some cases storage in a septic tank and transport, can be costly, it is significantly less so than failing to meet compliance standards and facing a fine.

Find the right supplier

From leak detection and repair to wastewater consent application, as well as providing educational and training resources, a good supplier can handle a lot of what has been covered in this guide.

It’s worth seeking out a supplier like Castle Water, who provide specialist college business water services. It is also recommended to go with an independent supplier as they will be able to shop around to get you a good rate, rather than only being tied in with any one wholesaler. 

Insight is key

Another upgrade for your educational institution is automatic metering which will give you regular insight into consumption.

This can also help with the above issues as you’ll be able to spot abnormalities which could help you pinpoint leaks, to find the buildings or sites with the highest consumption which can help with your training and student water usage education efforts.

It also means that bills won’t come as a surprise, so you won’t have a shock at the end of the month (or year depending on how you are billed).

Control your water and avoid surprise bills

Taking control of your water consumption and your wastewater processes is remarkably easy, but many will fail to do this.

For colleges, they could be leaving thousands on the table—in terms of both water and money.