Water efficiency for businesses
Non-household water consumption takes up approximately 25% of our total water demand. Our region is classed as water stressed by the government - we need to conserve the water we have now, so there's enough to go around in the future.
Embracing water efficiency is good for all of us. It helps save on water and energy bills and helps protect the local environment.
Businesses
Did you know that most businesses can save up to 30% on their water bills, through low or no cost measures? You'll probably save on your energy bills too. Our business water calculator can show areas where you could make big savings, and help you compare your efficiency with other businesses in your sector.
Smarter Business Visits
Our Smarter Business Visits (SBV), in partnership with the environmental charity Groundwork London, is now the largest non-household water efficiency programme in the UK sector.
A qualified plumber will review the domestic fittings in the business premises, like taps, toilets, showers and urinals.
Where possible, water efficiency devices will be installed to reduce the amount of water used without reducing performance.
Plumbers will also fix internal leaks, such as dripping taps and leaking toilets. One leaking toilet can potentially add an average of £300 a year to a water bill. So the possibility to save money is huge.
Visits are free of charge - including any water efficiency devices installed and leak fixes.
SBVs are location based, which means we target by postcode. Because of this, we might not be able to get to your business right away, but please reach out if you think you may benefit from one of our SBVs, and we can let you know if we're currently in your area.
Contact details for Groundwork London: London.sbv@groundwork.org.uk or 0203 638 4321
Contact details for Thames Water Demand Reduction team: waterefficiency@thameswater.co.uk
Testimonial from a SBV school visit
"Thames Water reached our to me and offered free remedial works at our schools in Greenwich. We were having some issues with continuous water flow, and this was evident in our bills.
"Thames Water arrived onsite and diligently carried out tap, optimiser, valve and other replacements. They did all this for free and to a very high standard.
"As we are a school we requested enhanced DBS certificates prior to arrival, Thames Water immediately provided all the relevant documentation and always conducted themselves in line with our policies.
"Money is hard to come by in schools and even harder to hold onto. Thames Water having provided us with these free remedial woks have enabled us to save a substantial amount of money on our annual water charges.
"This money can now be redirected into the acquisition of resources which will have a massive benefit on the children and staff within our schools.
"We really appreciate Thames Water for all their hard work and efforts, and we couldn't thank them enough.
"Stuart was exemplary and always represented the company excellently. Ultimately, we had a great experience, and we would happily work with Thames Water again in the future."
Regional Estates Manager
Retail providers
We want to help you and your customers to use water efficiently and save it where possible.
We'll work with you to select sites where efficiency can be improved based on consumption levels, and where we believe there is potential to reduce demand.
Our water efficiency team can then offer two programmes of work - continuous flow analysis, notification and data sharing, and Smarter Business Visits.
Continuous flow
We use the smart meter data we collect to check for instances of continuous flow. This is where the meter shows a reading of one litre per hour or more, ever hour, for 14 consecutive days or longer.
Our smart meter data shows that between 25 and 30% of business water use is continuous flow. This could be a leak, internal wastage and sometimes genuine usage.
We notify all retailers on a monthly basis of meters that are showing continuous flow, and what the volume is. Retailers can also access this information directly through our digital data service.
We'll be working with retailers to notify the business of the continuous flow, and how it could be fixed, therefore improving their water consumption and how much their bill costs.