Case Study: How to stay afloat with water-saving devices

Newhaven based retail equipment manufacturer Cash Bases (trading as APG Cash Drawer UK) halved their water bills by installing innovative water saving devices and implemented other measures to save energy and money.

Water consumption has been reduced by 80 cubic metres per month – the equivalent of 1040 baths, saving the business £3,360 per year!

Autoflush Sensors and Smaller Capacity Cisterns

Chief Engineer Graham Hillier attended a UTILISE Utility Management training course run by the Sustainable Business Partnership CIC and went on to receive an energy audit. He explained:

“We replaced eight uncontrolled urinals with three troughs with Autoflush sensors and fitted our toilets with smaller capacity cisterns saving around 7.6 litres of water per flush. Our average water usage has dropped from 162.6 cubic metres per month to 82.5 cubic metres per month, which should save £3,360 a year!

The Autoflush PIR sensors ensure that the urinal cistern only fills up when occupancy is detected, flushing 20 minutes later and avoiding water being wasted overnight and at weekends when the toilets aren’t in use.

Did you know?

An uncontrolled 6 litre urinal cistern flushing every 30 minutes, 365 days a year uses around 105m³ of water per year, costing around £300. A sensor or valve may cost around £200 installed but could pay this back in water savings in under a year.

Sensor Controlled Taps

16 new sinks with PIR sensor controlled taps were also fitted. The taps are fed by a hot water re-circulation system, meaning that hot water arrives almost instantly, avoiding the need to run off water that has cooled in the pipes.  Hot water tanks were also upgraded to new models with high levels of insulation.

 

 

Energy Efficiency

Graham also shared how the business had already taken actions to reduce their electricity bills before deciding to focus on water:

“APG Cash Drawer have also made efforts to save on other utilities with various actions such as replacing all factory and office lighting with LEDs. Our monthly usage has dropped from roughly 15,000 kWh in 2008 to 7,000 kWh in 2016.”

 

 

 

If you’re interested in implementing water and energy saving measures at your organisation, contact the Sustainable Business Partnership CIC on: info@sustainablebusiness.org.uk or 01273 964239.