This water efficiency calculator is aimed at helping sites from a range of business sectors
understand their water use and to identify how much they could potentially save through
simple actions to reduce consumption. It will also provide an indication of how well your
site is performing against other sites within your sector and the potential room for
improvement.
After selecting your sector you will be asked to complete a set of initial questions about
your site. This information will be used to calculate your consumption and potential water,
energy and cost savings. The initial output page will provide a high level summary of your
consumption based on the answers you provide. From here click the "Continue" button at the
bottom of the page to establish a more detailed picture of your water consumption and the
potential savings that could be achieved. The Key Performance Indicator bar will
illustrate your current and potential performance based on what you have told us. The
dashboard page will build as you work through each of the areas of water use in your
site.
On the dashboard page:
‘Your annual water use’ is the volume of water you have told us you
consume each year.
‘Calculated water use’ is an estimate of water use established from the
data and
information you have entered for each area of water use within your site.
‘Calculated energy use’ is an estimate of the energy used for hot water
on your site.
‘Potential water savings’ is an estimate of the water that could be
saved through
implementing your top water saving actions.
‘Potential water cost savings’ is an estimate of the water cost savings
that could be
achieved through implementing your top water saving actions. This is based on single
standard supply and wastewater tariffs and on a 95% return to sewer rate.
‘Potential energy cost savings’ is an estimate of the financial savings
that could be
achieved through reduced energy consumption related to your water saving actions. This
is based on a single set of tariffs related to how you heat your water.
The actions tab will list and quantify your top water saving actions. On completion a bespoke
‘Report’ based on your responses and calculated savings can be downloaded.
You can use the tool in many different ways. You can focus on a specific area(s) of interest
(for example, customer washrooms) or you can go through all the water using areas you have
on your site.
Help
The tool is based on a number of assumptions relating to water use within different
building types. Based on the information you provide it provides an estimate of your
current water and energy consumption and of the potential water and associated cost
savings that could be made at your site.
The calculated water use may not match with the actual amount of water you use on site
(as stated on your bill). Any variances should be further investigated.
Questions must be completed for the tool to provide an estimate of the potential
savings. The more detail you can provide the more accurate the outputs from the tool.
Where questions are left unanswered the tool may provide a default answer based on
industry standards.
The outputs from the tool should be used to highlight potential areas for action which
may require further investigation.
Where the tool asks for a % value (for example, what percentage of WCs are….) please
provide a rough estimate. If ‘Don’t know’ is selected an estimate of water use in WCs
will be calculated based on the age of the building.
1M³ is equivalent to 1,000 litres of water.
The tool may not cover every area of use on your site or may not reflect the different
ways in which you use water on your site. Areas not covered by the tool should be
considered separately.