Guide to water use
This guide provides an introduction to why water conservation is a key area for consumption reduction, and outlines the different ways you can get to know how much you’re using and how to reduce it.
Often, the environmental sustainability considerations afforded to energy and travel issues are omitted when it comes to considering water, partly due to the fact that Scotland has so much of it. However, it is an equally valuable resource, deserving of equal attention and with major cost and regulatory implications.
This guide aims to explain the water hierarchy, the reasons for water conservation and the various methods by which arts organisations can achieve this.
It provides advice on a variety of water issues and actions, including:
Why do we need to reduce our water consumption?
At present, the majority of household water costs in Scotland are included in local authority council tax. Compared with the other essential amenities such as gas and electricity, we are often much less aware of the infrastructural costs of processing and delivering clean water and removing waste water from our homes and buildings and even in the streets around us. Dealing with waste water and supplying clean water for the whole of the UK uses a large amount of energy and infrastructure with a significant carbon footprint – estimated by the Environment Agency in 2008 (opens a PDF) to be around 0.8% of total carbon footprint of the UK. For business organisations, the increasing cost of water, the accompanying energy needs and associated costs and the pressure to reduce one’s environmental impact and carbon footprint is encouraging many to attempt to reduce their consumption of this natural resource.
For arts organisations, water use is likely to take place around catering (water for cooking and drinking), hygiene (toilets, hand basins and showers) and cleaning, on increasing scales as audience numbers and building or site size increases.
There is lots of legislation that aims to minimise water consumption whilst increasing the quality of water across Scotland, which covers water discharge, abstraction and pollution (including the Water Resources (Scotland) Act 2013). Organisations have to abide by the water bylaws (opens a PDF), which require premise owners’ compliance when making changes to plumbing systems. It is likely that as water security and quality continue to rise on the national agenda, so too will water costs and legislation.
Improving your water management can reduce your bills and increase the overall sustainability of your organisation. Additional benefits may result from enhanced organisational knowledge in this area (as you may be able to identify other areas for streamlining processes simultaneously) and a greater awareness of your green activities amongst your staff and audiences for your efforts, boosting engagement and your reputation.
How to understand your water bills
A growing number of non-domestic premises in Scotland have water meters but some may still pay a fixed charge based on rateable value. You should check whether your building is metered and whether you receive a separate bill for water usage. Monitoring your water bill regularly, knowing where your water meter is and noticing patterns and changes is a key way to understanding your consumption.
For those who do have a meter, the bill can seem quite complicated at first, with three separate charges shown:
- Water supply charge per cubic metre (m3) based on the volume supplied.
- Waste water treatment per m3 based on about 70% of the volume supplied.
- An additional smaller charge based on the Rateable value for runoff (ie treatment of rainwater from the roof).
Reducing your water use will have a direct effect on your bills and can bring very significant savings in the running costs of your buildings as well as reducing your overall carbon footprint.
Some tenants of larger buildings will be able to see their water bills directly, but for many it is included in rental rates and this can be more difficult to investigate. For small offices and those without a meter, it may be possible to roughly estimate daily water use and the associated emissions through the Scottish Water Calculator, which uses standard water usage amounts for common activities.
For non-domestic buildings without a meter, charging is similar to domestic arrangements and is set at a fixed amount based on rateable value and collected through Council Tax.
How to take action on your water consumption
There are lots of ways you can reduce your water resource use. This diagram below displays the ‘water hierarchy’ which outlines the best approach to water use.

The most favourable option is to eliminate using water entirely (shown at the top of the inverted triangle), with successive layers prioritising water conservation and re-use – offset potable water, reduce, recyle, disposal – the last of which is the least favourable option.
It is also important to engage your employees with water use, even when you don’t pay directly for water use. Educating your employees about the importance and methods of using less water is essential for reducing your overall consumption. You could:
- Highlight the placement of your water meter, that you are charged by volume and how these costs fluctuate.
- Encourage efficiency behaviours by rewarding staff who report water leakage or come up with efficiency solutions or making resource efficiency part of job descriptions or performance reviews. For example, avoiding overfilling kettles is a great no-cost way to save both water and energy.
- Increasing awareness around the need to conserve water (financially and environmentally) through education. Consider how hotel chains remind customers to conserve water through re-using towels – is there a equivalent signage or direction your organisation can offer?
Another action you could take is carrying out a site survey. Setting aside some time to survey your building to identify opportunities for water conservation is a good way to establish areas for improvement. Simple things like adjusting water pressure to prevent splashing from taps can reduce your water usage. Alternatively, if you have access to your water meter, you could do a ‘shut-down’ survey over a period when the building is closed (eg overnight or over a weekend). Turning off all automatic water used (eg timed urinal flushing) and taking meter readings before and after this shutdown time would allow you to check for leaks that may not be obvious during normal activity, and significant costs occurring when no-one is using the building.
There are also a variety of water-saving devices that can be fitted to reduce your water consumption, often at a very low cost and thatcan be fitted to existing systems. These generally work by reducing the amount of flow of water to make its is use more efficient and include – tap aerators, shower timers and ‘Hippo’ cistern bags. These volume reducers can save around 30% of the water that would otherwise be wasted. If undertaking a larger equipment upgrade, always choose the most water-efficient option (ie the industry recommends 4.5 litres-per-flush toilets, rather than models from 2000, which use 6 litres more).
For further actions an ideas, contact your water supplier for direct advice. You can also find lots of information on the website of Business Energy Scotland.