no cost/easy actions
- Put up signs and reminders about how to conserve water
- Don’t leave taps running and adjust water flow rates to the minimum required for the operation
- Only run the dishwasher when there is a full load
- Drink tap water rather than buying bottled water(as per link in individual actions)
- Put a brick in the toilet cistern if it isn’t dual flush
- Take shorter showers
- Ensure your cleaner knows about and follows your water use reduction policies
- Limit the use of water for cleaning – where possible use brooms and microfibre mops instead of hoses
- Read meters regularly to check water use and identify potential leaks
- Report and repair leaking taps, cisterns, pipes etc immediately
- Wash vehicles on lawns – car shampoos pollute waterways but fertilise grass!
- Turn off automatic irrigation and only water when necessary
- Contact the Council’s Eco Building Design Advisor about designing buildings/renovations to conserve water
- Have a suggestions box for reducing water usage
some cost/medium effort actions
- Review water use by cleaners and check if it can be reduced
- Measure & audit water use to identify savings possibilities
- Install sub-metering & monitoring to track water use
- Control water flows with timers, stopcocks and manual costs
- Install water saving nozzles on taps, showers, hoses etc
- Collect rainwater for appliance cleaning, cooling system top up and flushing toilets
- Harvest rainwater for office lawns and gardens
- Reuse cooling or boiler water for site processes
- In your washing bay use low volume high velocity hoses fitted with trigger guns
- Use visual charts & graphs to highlight water saving successes to staff
- Reward staff for best water saving ideas and outcomes
more cost/more effort actions
- Benchmark water use (litres per m2 or per unit of production) against a similar business
- Install at least 3-star WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme) rated flow restrictors in taps and showers
- Replace high pressure with low pressure water wherever possible
- Replace conventional taps with tempered spray taps
- Install self-closing taps where possible
- Install backflow prevention devices
- Install dual flush toilets
- Choose appliances with high WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme) rating
- Reuse discharge water wherever possible
- Install a wash bay and reuse water
- Install greywater systems for garden irrigation
- Replace lawns and thirsty exotics with drought resistant natives to conserve water
- Link water and other conservation efforts to staff performance reviews