CorpComms Magazine

Water scarcity is the biggest environmental concern for business, a new survey reveals. Ninety-nine per cent of respondents predict water-related issues will become an increasing priority for businesses over the next five to ten years, according to the study Unlocking the profit in water savings by corporate responsibility consultants Ethical Corporation.

More than half of businesses rank water stewardship as among their top five corporate responsibility focuses. Global water scarcity is increasingly featuring alongside global warming in businesses' evaluation of the most pressing environmental threats they face. 
The efforts of companies such as retailer J Sainsbury, food and beverage corporations Kraft and Coca-Cola and oil company Shell have shown that the initial outlay on water management initiatives is more than repaid with the resultant efficiency savings.

Sainsbury's has saved £1.6 million with a programme of fixing leaks, installing sensors on urinals and reducing the capacity of toilet cisterns.

The UK's biggest restaurant and hotel company Whitbread initially paid out £93,000 and £80,000 annually on a programme of water recycling and installing technologies to monitor water use, but has already made savings of £350,000. The organisation last week announced a target to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in water consumption against a set baseline across its hotel and restaurant chains by 2020.

Chris George, head of energy and environment at Whitbread, said: 'We always look for innovative opportunities to reduce our water and carbon footprint. We are working to be water efficient in many ways such as monitoring and measurement of real time water consumption and the use of water saving products and technologies such as aerated showers and taps, dual flush toilets and water efficient kitchen measures all of which are being incorporated into our existing portfolio. 
 


'This is in conjunction with our work to improve the water efficiency of new build hotels and restaurants, for example with the fitting of greywater and rainwater systems [recycling waste water from rainfall and activities such as bathing and clothes-washing].'

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