Your Guide To Business Water Audits

It’s well known that switching suppliers is an effective way of reducing your business’ water costs. But it isn’t the only way and a less spoke-about route to lower business water bills is a water audit.

Keeping energy costs down is understandably a big deal for businesses, and this often means focus is shifted away from limiting their water usage. This is where a business water audit can make the difference, offsetting rising costs elsewhere in the business.

In this guide, we’re going to walk you through a business water audit step-by-step, and outline how you can save money by switching providers.

What is a Business Water Audit?

An effective business water audit should show you where and how you can use water more efficiently across your business.

The water audit process can be as simple as an keeping your eyes peeled on a walk-around, but you can get a more in-depth view with a report from a professional who specialises in areas like drainage and infrastructure.

Regardless of how thorough you go, the goal of a business water audit is the same: find ways to improve efficiency and reduce how much you spend on water bills.

Why you need a Business Water Audit?

Businesses are constantly faced with rising utility costs, and a water audit is often viewed as a quick win and an easy way to save money.

Switching business water suppliers is the best way to dilute your water spend, yet many businesses remain unaware that it’s even an option. If you’re one of those businesses that has never switched water suppliers before, you probably stand to enjoy the biggest savings.

What are the Benefits of a Business Water Audit?

• Find easy and efficient ways to reduce water bills
• Discover any leaks and wastage
• See how much water you’re using and what’s driving up your water bill

If your water audit uncovers any leakage or damage, you could claim a rebate backdated to when a site survey was completed.

How a Comprehensive Water Audit Works

Opting for a thorough professional water audit unlocks a strategic view on how your company uses water.

A typical water audit will consist of an expert arriving on site to conduct a site survey and at the end, they’ll present you with a report outlining ways you can reduce your water bill.

These steps will be grouped based on how difficult they are to implement and the average savings on your water supply.

This effectively provides you with a roadmap to reducing your business’ water usage. Business water audits will include:

• Sanitary checks
• Water usage and efficiency checks
• Wastewater analysis
• Water meter checks

We provide a free business water audit for companies spending more than £1,000 a year on their water bills. Click here to switch business water providers.

How to do your Own Business Water Audit

Conducting your own business water audit can provide huge benefits to overall margins and achieve additional water cost savings.

On average, businesses that switch water suppliers with us save 12% on their annual water bills. With this in mind, becoming more water efficient with a simple walkthrough checklist only increases these savings.

Here's how to conduct your business water audit:

1. Check your business water bills – Get a view on what you're currently paying. This way, you’ll be able to clearly see if anything you implement during your water audit has an impact.
2. Note where water is used throughout your business - Bathrooms, communal kitchen areas, outside water supply and any other fixtures or equipment that uses water; jot them all down.
3. Locate your water meter - You’ll need this to take a reading, again helping you identify potential savings and anything that could be added to your water bill.
4. Walk through your building - During your water audits, pay particular attention to any drips, leaks and anything water irregularities. Sometimes, the answer can be as simple as introducing water-saving devices to your workplace.
5. Implement changes – There's only so much you can check when you're conducting your own water audit. So you’ll most likely be limited to what’s visible at surface level, things that can be quickly changed. If you found any potential leaks on your walkaround, you should have these fixed as soon as possible.
6. Check your water bill – Four weeks after the audit, you should take another meter reading and check your bill to see if anything you implemented has cut back any water use. As an extra measure, you may want to get some helpful team members involved to change the mindset in the workplace.

Should I Switch Business Water Suppliers?

Switching business water providers is the quickest and easiest way to reduce utility bills.

If you’ve ever switched energy supplier, it’s a similar process. You'll receive the relevant documentation from your new business water supplier, and a final bill from your old supplier.