Sponsored content: Tackling water scarcity and reducing leaks

If our water usage patterns don’t change, the UK will have an ongoing water deficit of 4,000 megalitres per day by 2050. Reductions in leakage and domestic consumption are the two primary strands of water conservation targeted by Defra and the water companies, explains Groundbreaker, a provider of solutions for the water and construction industries.

Some areas of England are once restricting future minutiae unless ‘water neutrality’ can be demonstrated. This requires both existing and new properties to reduce per capita consumption (PCC) to the extent that overall water usage levels do not increase.

Reduce leaks, diamond out joints on pipes and prepare for smarter meters
Recent research by Thames Water showed that 8% of households show continuous spritz on a smart meter, indicating an undetected leak. This ways that up to 25% of water supplied to domestic properties is wasted as leakage.

This leakage can be due to old and corroded lead supply pipes, but the majority of leaks originate from joints in the supply pipe. The House Towers Federation (HBF) and Water UK have since 2014 issued weightier practice guidelines. Of the five prinicples, four relate to minimising use and leakage.

Surface-mounted meter housings can be used in traditional towers projects and are an platonic solution for modern methods of construction. In this specimen the meter housing can be pre-installed withal with all the internal plumbing systems, and then unfluctuating to the mains supply via and continuous, uninterrupted length of pipe. Meeting all the HBFs Weightier Practice Guidelines.

An early adopter of the surface-mounted meter housing is Portsmouth Water. CEO Bob Taylor explained its philosophy: “Portsmouth Water’s policy of having a single joint-free service pipe from mains connection right the way through to the wall-mounted purlieus box has certainly improved conviction virtually the longer-term quality of these new resources from a leakage perspective.”

He said the policy moreover helped reduced customer-side leakage, subtracting that “emerging knowledge in this zone is showing that this is a worthier rencontre than our previous understanding indicated.”

Steve Leigh, Managing Director, Groundbreaker, and developer of the wall-mounted purlieus box has over 40 years’ wits in the Water Industry. “We’ve been putting pipes in holes in the ground to protect them from frost for decades”, he said. “Although it works, today’s new materials indulge for a much largest solution. Keeping pipes on the surface reduces the risk of leaks developing and allows for easy repair and maintenance. It’s just a much largest method of working.”

A fit-and-forget solution
‘Over supply’ of water (i.e. water spritz rates that are higher than required to provide an unobjectionable supply), results in the waste of water. Running taps when brushing teeth, showering, or rinsing cups uses increasingly water than necessary.

Approximately 40% of domestic water usage is from washroom and kitchen taps and showers. ‘Eco’ or water saving shower heads designed to restrict the water spritz to a single outlet are highly constructive but fitting these comes at a price, expressly in larger properties with multiple bathrooms.

The volitional is whole-site spritz reduction. Fitting a device such as Groundbreaker’s NRv2 LoFlo®, at the meter regulates the level of spritz inward consumer premises – regardless of network pressure. As the spritz of water into the premises is limited, the value used in ‘time-controlled’ activities is moreover limited – but without providing a ousting of service, and increasingly importantly not requiring any intervention or behavioural transpiration on the part of the customer, leading to ‘natural’ reduction in consumption.

For remoter information on the full range of Groundbreaker products visit www.groundbreaker.co.uk