At Ecoprod, saving water is at the heart of everything we do. As we come up to the end of the year (and indeed of the decade) I wanted to take a look back at some of our water saving highlights of the last year and to think about how we can further move things forward in 2020.

You could argue that 2019 has been the year that the importance of water saving made its way properly into public consciousness. Back in March the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Sir James Bevan, warned that England is set to run short of water within the next 25 years. The country is now facing the so-called “jaws of death” – the point at which demand for water outstrips supply. Demand is ever-growing due to the country’s growing population, whilst supply is falling due to climate change.

In August, the World Resources Institute warned that we’re facing a global water crisis, with quarter of the world’s population across 17 countries living in regions of extremely high water stress. Stress on water supplies threatens the supply of food, poses risks for water-dependent industries and can exacerbate conflict and migration.

Saving water in your business

Given all of this, it’s hard to overstate the importance of water saving. We all have a responsibility to reduce our water usage wherever we can, both personally and in our businesses. With that in mind, we produced the Ecoprod Guide to Saving Water in your Business earlier this year – a practical guide to the myriad of different ways that organisations can cut their water use across all areas of their operation.

The Ecoprod Ecosummit

Later in the year we held our first Ecoprod Ecosummit, where delegates gathered from across the sports and venue management sectors to learn more about how the very latest technologies could help them to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. Our own area of particular interest was on saving water, but we were also joined by partners from many other environmentally responsible suppliers who spoke about cutting energy use and lowering the carbon footprint of events.

Innovative new products

During the year we’ve worked closely with partners such as Conti+ and Aqualytics, both of whom place as much significance on water saving as we do. Conti’s range of sensor taps cut water usage by up to 70% and this year we’ve added their innovative water saving showers to our portfolio. We’ve also had lots of interest in the Aqualytics Flowless intelligent water management system which automates leak detection in buildings as well as helping building managers to understand how water is being used in their organisation to identify further opportunities for reduction.

Water saving certifications and awards

In October we were delighted to be awarded PlanetMark certification for the fifth year running, one of a select group of organisations to achieve this recognition. Our Green Washroom Guide was also shortlisted for a PlanetMark award for the most successful environmental campaign of the year. Our URIMAT waterless urinals were also shortlisted for an Energy Managers Association technology award and we’ve just been awarded Innovation Partner status by Wates Sustainable Technology Services for the same product.

In short, it’s been a good year for us but, as the research from the Environment Agency and World Resources Institute makes clear, there’s so much more that needs to be done. Looking forward to 2020, we’ll be on the lookout for more water saving opportunities wherever we find them.