LSE calculates big savings
February 10th 2006 When the London School of Economics first saw Water Solutions’product it was interested but a little sceptical. Now having trialled it they are enthusiastic and more than that they are thousands of pounds per year better off.
Water Solution’s claims of being able to dramatically reduce water usage and therefore water costs first aroused our interest at a trade exhibition in 1999.
The professional presentation by company director, David Robertson, was indeed persuasive, but as I’m sure other facilities managers can empathise with we had our reservations regarding water free urinal systems having trialled other different systems that made similar claims in the past to no avail.
On reflection of the potential benefits of the product we decided to trial the system in our student bar and restaurant. This area experiences extremely high usage and unfortunately is also subject to some abuse by its users. Trialling in this area we felt would provide the system with a rigorous test and one, which would certainly identify any potential weaknesses.
The initial installation was extremely smooth with minimal disturbance to the facility and with the system retro fitting into the existing urinal, this meant that our investment was indeed very small in relation to potential savings.
As the trial period progressed it soon became apparent that our previously held concerns based on our use of other water free urinal systems were unfounded. Indeed we didn’t experience any problems during the trial period other than the occasional knock on my door to tell me about the nice smell that the new toilets emitted We calculated that with our annual water expenditure being around £65 000 that we could save in excess of £16 000 based on a saving on water of around 20%. Such a saving would alone have been enough to tempt us to employ the system throughout our organisation, but the trial had also identified to us other benefits.
A water free urinal requires no flush control and consequently instantly further savings are made. With no PIR breakdown or replacement costs for cistermisers or solenoid valves, we projected further savings based on a figure of £20-£30 per urinal of around £3000 per year. Additionally we had noticed that our washrooms had become more fragrant and appeared generally more welcoming.
The environmental impact of excessive water usage was also a primary concern to an organisation such as ours and reduction in usage was thus a further benefit offered by the implementation of Water Solutions system.
Subsequently we decided to install water free urinals throughout our site. This meant the installation of one hundred and forty six urinals, a potentially difficult and disruptive operation. We needn’t have been concerned.
The management of the project was extremely well controlled by Water Solutions and the quality of the work by their engineers was exemplary.
We have now been operating the system for a number of years and it has exceeded all of our expectations. Indeed with water costs continually rising it has probably been the best financially significant installation we have ever undertaken. Blockages have all but been eliminated and maintenance costs have remained low.
The school has recently put forward its water free urinal system as an entry in the Green Gown Award. This is an award made to higher education institutions that make savings on water costs and contribute to the care of the environment.
We are extremely happy with the service provided by Water Solutions throughout all levels of the organisation. We would not hesitate in recommending their product. Indeed I may even question why organisations such as ours aren’t already employing it! More articles from Water Solutions (GB) Ltd: | 
