How to monitor water use in your business

The first step to creating your water balance is to form a broad-brush picture of your water use and disposal. You should find that there is plenty of information available, as well as observations by people who work in your business. You can:

• gather information about your water use from sources such as water meters, bills from Northern Ireland Water, data from flow-meters (if you use them) and machine data
• tell your colleagues, departmental managers and employees what you are doing, and find out their views on current practices
• try to fill in any gaps in your analysis - an overnight or weekend test using your water meters might show that you have a hidden water leak

The amount of detail you need will depend to some extent on your business - for example if you manufacture products that use a lot of water, you'll need more detail. However, even if your business uses relatively little water you will benefit from a detailed analysis of use and disposal.