Agenda item

Witnesses

To assist Members with the review Emma Grigson, Head of Corporate Affairs, Affinity Water; Nicolas Gilbert, Environment and Education Services Manager, Affinity Water; and David Haygarth, Energy Manager were present to provide evidence.

A summary of the evidence provided to the Committee is set out below.

Affinity Water

Witnesses advised that Affinity Water was currently producing its Water Resource Management Plan for consideration by Ofwat – the industry’s economic regulator. The plan sought to ensure there were enough supplies of water over a 25 year planning horizon and set out how the challenges of increasing demand and reduced water extraction would be addressed. Members were informed that water companies had a statutory duty to promote the efficient use of water under the Water Industry Act 1991.

As the Council’s water supplier, Affinity was eager to engage the Council and residents in water saving and increasing efficiency across the Borough. Witnesses welcomed the opportunity to attend this event and provide evidence and practical advice on how to achieve savings.

Witnesses advised that the most effective way to realise water efficiencies was through water saving products and behavioural changes. Examples of possible measures were noted as below:

• Gray water could be captured and used as an alternative water supply. However, it was advised that retrofitting buildings for this purpose was an expensive option.
• Depending on the age of toilet facilities, Hippos or Save-a-Flush could be used in cisterns to reduce the amount of water used by 1 litre per flush.
• Taps could be fitted with aerators to reduce flow especially where they were being fed by a high pressured system.
• Conducting a water audit to ascertain water usage where there were no meters in place.
• Where buildings were being built or upgraded, new and more efficient water-using facilities could be introduced.

Witnesses noted that a cheap and effective way to begin to improve water efficiency was through measuring current water usage. The Council had a large and diverse building stock and so it was important to get comprehensive data on which buildings were using the most water and address the most inefficient areas.

Witnesses advised that another way to increase water efficiency was through educating water users on how to reduce their usage. It was noted that there was training provided by the Horticultural Trades Association that may be useful for ground staff in green spaces. The training focused on how to design and maintain gardens and lawns in a water efficient manner. Information on this would be circulated to Members in due course.

Affinity also provided training in schools and at events that gave information on how efficiencies could be made.

Members asked whether Affinity Water was a statutory consultee on proposed housing developments within the Borough.

Witnesses advised that the company was a statutory provider but not a statutory consultee.

Energy Manager

The Energy Manager advised that the Council’s estimated current usage was 225,000 cubic metres per year. Water was used in all general fund services as well as within its operational buildings and green spaces. It was noted that water was managed locally with 70 officers administering the 420 purchase orders that were raised in 2012/13. The total spend for that year was approximately £367,000 but this figure did not include the Borough’s schools or the Housing Revenue Account. Members were informed that the Council currently had 200 properties that were metered.

It was noted that the Council had already implemented a number of water saving measures at the Civic Centre as a result of a previous review. This had led to better control of use and, as a result, a reduction in overall consumption. Further work was currently being undertaken to identify targets and benchmarking and there was an ongoing programme of maintenance, leak detection and repair.

Work was currently being progressed with Affinity to reduce the admin and process costs through the consolidation of bills. This would involve the Council being provided with detailed data – including historic data – on water usage across all of its properties. This could be input into a computer programme that would enable individual building’s water performance to be monitored and allow officers to set targets for reduction. This would allow the main offenders to be identified and it would also assist in the detection of leaks.

The proposed next stage of work would involve establishing the potential for water savings by undertaking a survey of buildings and open spaces to assess their current usage. This would assist with identifying the most appropriate water saving measures for each site. It was noted that this could be implemented through capital expenditure or through a shared savings scheme. Possible measures that could be deployed both in green spaces and across the corporate estate could include:

• Smart metering which could notify officers of leakages almost immediately.
• Rain water harvesting which would use underground water storage for use during dry seasons.
• Urinal / toilet / tap / shower controls could be used to reduce usage.

The Energy Manager advised that he would investigate the design of toilets in the Civic Centre to ascertain whether Hippos or Save-a-Flush devices would be effective in reducing water use. It was noted that fitting toilets with these devices could be counter productive and increase water usage if they caused toilets not to flush through fully.

Members asked whether the Borough’s swimming pools’ water usage was monitored by the Council.

Officers advised that the swimming pools were not managed by the Council and would have their own energy managers to monitor at water efficiency. As they had a commercial interest in reducing costs, swimming pools were not considered to be an area where significant efficiencies could be made.

RESOLVED: That:

1.      Information on the Horticultural Trades Association’s training be circulated to Members in due course.

2.      The Energy Manager investigate the design of toilets in the Civic Centre to assess whether Hippos or Save-a-Flush would work effectively to conserve water.