24 July 20            


Despite recent rainfall, some parts of Scotland remain under alert, with water resources used for irrigation at risk of becoming limited. There are a number of small actions that your business can take to reduce its water needs, benefiting the environment and your pocket!

The top three tips to reduce your water consumption:

  • Plan, monitor and record your water use

Know your water demand, when the best time to use water is and monitor your use. Make sure you follow conditions in your abstraction permit. If you are located in Scotland, check SEPA’s weekly water scarcity situation report. If you are located in Northern Ireland, check what is happening in your area.

Regular monitoring will enable you to quickly spot if something is not right and react e.g. a pipe is leaking.

This will also enable you to have a baseline and can be a useful reference to compare with, for example, to check the effectiveness of any efficiency measures you put in place.

  • Raise staff awareness and get them involved

Training your staff to use water efficiently is important for your business. Staff awareness of the benefits of reducing water consumption, will enable them to identify actions to be more efficient and raise the alarm when leakages occur.

Having someone responsible to check pipes for leakages or creating a Green Team, which can annually review your water uses and identify actions, can also be very beneficial.  

  • Identify possible changes in your processes

Have a look at your business as a whole to see where water is used and identify if anything actions to reduce the water consumed or reuse water.

When irrigating land, check your equipment is not leaking, do not over spray, and use trickle irrigation where appropriate.

Other things you could consider: Could you harvest rainwater (see our video) to use onsite? Could you use greywater for parts of your business where non-drinking water is required? Can you fit water-efficient controls?  Could you consider treating your wastewater to reuse it for industrial uses? 

For more information, visit our Water use and efficiency guidance, SEPA’s Water scarcity guidance and Northern Ireland Water Why save water in your business or organisation guidance