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Water works
You can't avoid hearing about the water crisis Australia is facing these days, but what does this mean for your business? Gayle Bryant reports.
The current water restrictions in each state mean businesses have to be more vigilant than ever about water usage and wastage. Businesses are now implementing water policies to ensure they are complying with restrictions and doing all they can to save water.
For example, certain parts of New South Wales, including Sydney, currently operate under Stage 3 mandatory water restrictions. Other states and territories have their own restrictions which can be checked on their respective websites (see box below).
As part of the Stage 3 restrictions, businesses and residents can only carry out hand-held hosing of lawns and gardens on Wednesdays and Sundays, and no hosing of hard surfaces including vehicles is allowed at any time. There are some exemptions, which can be checked with local water authorities.
To encourage compliance with the restrictions, a business faces a fine of $550 for each breach. Fines for water theft – such as tampering with meters – have risen to $2,200.
If Stage 4 water restrictions are enacted, one of the major changes is that all outside watering at all times will be banned.
Incentives to save water
There are a number of tangible benefits to saving water including lower water bills, lower energy bills – due to decreased pumping, heating, cooling and treatment requirements – and of course the benefits that accrue to the environment from using less water.
According to Brendan Elliott, Sydney Water spokesman, it is in the best interests of businesses to conserve water. "Water bills are reduced and there are the resulting benefits to the environment," he says. "As companies become more interested in sustainable practices, we find more are seeking ways to conserve water."
Sydney Water's flagship program is the EDC (Every Drop Counts) program. When an organisation signs up to it, a water audit is carried out onsite and advice on where water can be saved is given. This service is free to participants.
"We now have 352 organisations who have signed up and the cumulative water savings is 28.3 million litres a day," Elliott says.
The NSW Government has also launched the Water Savings Fund which provides funding to businesses for water saving and recycling projects. Details are found on the Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability website. An example of a recent project funded by the Water Savings Fund is $798,000 given to National Foods Australia to convert juice waste into recycled water. This project aims to recover 95% of the waste water normally discharged to the sewer, and will save 50 million litres of drinking water a year.
Simple changes can have a big impact
A not-for-profit organisation set up in Victoria in 2004 but operating nationally – the Savewater alliance – aims to accelerate water conservation. It has compiled water saving tips on its website (www.savewater.com.au) to help businesses find ways to cut water usage and encourage staff to make more effective use of their business' water.
There are a number of very simple ways to conserve water within your business. Some of these include:
- Fixing leaking taps. Taps can waste up to 200 litres of water each day. To reduce leaks, turn your taps off properly and replace washers as soon as they begin to leak.
- Check for leaks in taps, pipes and hoses. One leaking tap can waste more than 2,000 litres a month.
- Lever or mixer taps (with a single lever or knob) let you find the right water temperature quickly. This means staff won't waste water trying to get the balance right.
- When cleaning, get staff to use a bucket to wash and rinse where possible, instead of running the taps or hose.
- Provide incentives for staff to save water by linking water conservation to staff performance reviews.
- Think about installing your own waste water treatment system to recycle water and cut down on water bills.
- AAA-rated low-flow taps are more efficient than ordinary taps and reduce splashing.
- Consider dual-flush toilets as they use half as much water as conventional models.
Water bodies
The following Government water authorities run several projects aimed at making our water use more efficient. More information can be found on their websites:
Sydney Water: www.sydneywater.com.au
Melbourne Water: www.melbournewater.com.au
South Australia Water: www.sawater.com.au
Western Australia: www.wrc.wa.gov.au
Northern Territory: www.nt.gov.au
Queensland: www.waterforever.com.au
Tasmania: www.dpiw.tas.gov.au
David Tonkin co-founded the first Flight Centre in Sydney, was CEO of travel.com.au and is now a director of travelwithkidz.com.au