ASK THE EXPERT
Address ‘leaky loos’ to improve water efficiency
Richard Braid, managing director of Cistermiser, explains why it’s essential to address ‘leaky loos’ in workplace washrooms and discusses the solutions available
Why do the owners and managers of commercial and public sector buildings need to prioritise water efficiency? Our water resources are under pressure from climate change, population growth and rising water use. It has been estimated that our country will need an additional 4,000 million litres of water a day by 2050 to avoid shortages, and over half of this requirement will need to come from reducing the demand for water. Approximately 30 per cent of UK public water supplies are used in commercial and public sector buildings – by decreasing the amount of water used in their facilities and operations, organisations will be making a considerable contribution towards protecting precious water reserves. The additional benefit is that water efficiency also reduces water bills. Most non-domestic premises have a water meter to measure consumption, on which water bills are based. Consuming unnecessary volumes of water results in higher water bills (which may not be budgeted for) and will undoubtedly have an impact on an organisation’s financial position. Minimising hot water wastage will also lower energy costs. Water efficiency reduces carbon emissions too; around five to six per cent of UK greenhouse gas emissions derive from our use of water.
Where is water predominantly wasted in commercial and public sector buildings? In commercial and public sector buildings, water supplies are primarily used to serve toilets, urinals, taps and showers (in an average office-based business, toilet and urinal flushing accounts for 43 and 20 per cent of water use respectively and washing accounts for 27 per cent). Therefore, water wastage is commonplace in workplace washrooms – yet it can be easily prevented. Cistermiser provides a wide range of solutions that intelligently control the volume of water used by toilets, urinals, taps and showers.
What are the worst culprits for water wastage in washrooms? Without a doubt, ‘leaky loos’ are a major issue, and preventing this is a key objective for our business. According to Waterwise, between five and eight per cent of UK toilets are leaking, wasting as much as 400 million litres of clean, fresh water every day. Many of these toilets are found in commercial or public sector settings – and are financially draining organisations of
between £218 and £405 (approximately) per toilet, per year. Dual flush toilets are particularly susceptible of developing into ‘leaky loos’.
Weren’t dual flush toilets designed to be water efficient? Dual flush toilets were designed to help reduce water consumption in line with the requirements of the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, which restrict the amount of water that flushing devices are permitted to use. In theory, the smaller, part flush should use four litres of water and the larger, full flush should use six litres. However, not all dual flush toilets are water efficient – some models will unfortunately develop a leak over time.
The valves traditionally used in dual flush toilets
– drop flush valves – are now recognised to leak. Fortunately, the issue can be quickly and cost effectively resolved by replacing the flush valve. EasyflushEVO is a siphonic flushing valve, specifically engineered to prevent leaks in dual flush toilets. It can be easily retrofitted or installed in new facilities.
Each EasyflushEVO can save up to 146,000
litres of water per toilet per year. To put that into perspective, that’s around 912,500 cups of tea. A return on investment can be achieved in just seven months. Furthermore, just 25 units of EasyflushEVO dual flush valves could offset over 1.5 tonnes of carbon annually.
How does EasyflushEVO achieve these water savings?
The flush seal on a drop flush valve, typically found in dual flush toilets, will naturally degrade over time – this is because the seal tends to be situated below the cistern’s water line, and limescale deposits and debris (commonly found in cistern water) can cause degradation, as can chemicals if they are also present in the water. EasyflushEVO resolves this issue, as it does not have a flush seal below the water line, thereby preventing leaks.
EasyflushEVO has WRAS and Kiwa UK Regulation 4 product approvals, has won multiple industry awards and is installed in some prestigious projects across the UK.
Are there alternative solutions to address leaks from dual flush toilets?
No. EasyflushEVO’s unique patented design means no other solution on the market can address water wastage from leaking toilets in the same way. Degraded flush seals can be replaced – but this is likely to prove false economy. While seals are inexpensive, they too are likely to degrade over time, resulting in further leaks.
How else can water efficiency be improved in washrooms? Modernising urinal flushing systems can significantly reduce water wastage. Uncontrolled urinals, where intermittent flushing continues throughout the day despite whether they are in use or not, remain extremely common. Upgrading to either a mains-flushing sensor-controlled valve or an infrared or hydraulic control valve (in cases where a cistern is installed) can achieve water savings of up to 75-80 per cent, but savings can be greater. For example, a controlled trial of our Direct Flush Discreet (DFD) flushing valve commissioned by a leading hotel chain demonstrated that water wastage can be reduced by up to 84 per cent. The water efficiency of taps and showers can usually be improved too. A tap dripping at one drop per second can waste 4,750 litres of water a year, and an astronomical volume of water can be wasted if taps aren’t turned off when not in use (which can happen accidently or even deliberately). According to our calculations, a conventional manually operated mixer tap uses seven litres of water per day (if used for 35 seconds, 32 times). Simply replacing this type of tap with a non-touch, sensor-activated solution, such as our Vecta+, can reduce water usage by up to 79 per cent. Meanwhile, a traditional shower uses 70 litres of water per five-minute shower – whereas a sensor-activated model can use just 40 litres. Replacing 10 traditional showers with our Vecta+ shower panels could also offset over one tonne of carbon per year. For more information, please visit
www.cistermiser.co.uk.
22 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MARCH 2024
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