Water Utility Management
Want to improve your Business Water Efficiency?
Our Specialist Water Consultants can help you squeeze efficiency from every last drop. We’ll find out exactly what you’re paying for, check to see if there are inefficiencies in use and disposal and put measures in place to improve things and reduce your cost.
Our Approach to Water Solutions
We take a unique approach to your business’s water use, focusing on all four types of water and understanding how your site works to provide a bespoke water management plan.
This means analysing your use of clean water, waste water, drainage and trade effluent to give you a point by point breakdown of where you’re spending money.
Once we know this information, we’re able to provide you with solutions for each type of water on each site. This approach has allowed us to deliver up to 20% savings on the cost of water for our clients.
Water Utility Management
Smart meters, by their very name, are pretty damn clever. They can give one-minute or half-hourly data of your usage so that we can pinpoint areas of waste, spot leaks and identify potential opportunities.
That’s why we aim to install them for every customer we work with.
The data that can be gleaned from smart meters is worth its weight in gold. It gives us almost-instant access to understanding your business’s water use, giving clear examples of your baseline and volume. This then lets us make effective changes as quickly as possible in order to maximise returns for your company.
Find out more about our water service
Want to know how you can benefit from our water efficiency plans and strategies? Get in touch with us today, we can act as both an advisory service or deliver the project from start to finish.
Why Water Management Matters for Your Business
Water is often the forgotten utility. Businesses scrutinise electricity and gas bills line by line, yet water slips through unnoticed—both literally and financially. In the UK, water and sewerage charges have risen consistently above inflation for the past decade, and with the retail water market now open for competition, there are more opportunities than ever to reduce costs and improve efficiency. But without the right data and expertise, most organisations continue to overpay and waste a resource that is becoming increasingly precious.
Effective water management is not just about cost. It is about resilience, compliance and corporate responsibility. Water scarcity is a growing risk for many regions, and businesses that fail to monitor and manage their consumption may face supply interruptions, reputational damage or stricter environmental regulations. By taking control of your water use, you can protect your operations, demonstrate sustainability leadership and unlock savings that go straight to the bottom line.
The Four Water Streams: A Holistic View
Most businesses think of water as a single incoming supply. In reality, every site interacts with water in four distinct ways, and each carries its own costs and opportunities:
- Clean water – the potable supply you purchase from a wholesaler. This is the most visible cost and the easiest to benchmark.
- Waste water – the volume that leaves your site as sewage. Charges are typically based on the volume of clean water supplied, but if you can demonstrate that a significant portion does not return to the sewer (e.g. evaporation, irrigation, product content), you may be entitled to a reduction.
- Drainage – surface water and highway drainage charges. These are often overlooked and can be reduced if your site has sustainable drainage systems or if you can prove that rainwater does not enter the public sewer.
- Trade effluent – any water discharged from a business process that is not domestic sewage. Trade effluent consent is required, and charges depend on volume and strength. Optimising pre-treatment and flow can yield major savings.
Our consultants audit each of these streams separately, because a saving in one area often reveals opportunities in another. For example, reducing clean water use may lower waste water charges automatically, but if the reduction comes from a process that also reduces trade effluent strength, the financial benefit can be multiplied.
How Smart Metering Transforms Water Management
You cannot manage what you do not measure. Traditional water meters are read manually, often quarterly or even annually, which means anomalies go unnoticed for months. Smart meters change the game by providing continuous, granular data on your consumption patterns. With readings every minute or half-hour, we can build a detailed profile of your site's water use and spot issues as they happen.
One of the most immediate benefits is leak detection. A small, constant flow during non-operational hours—perhaps a dripping tap, a faulty ball valve or an underground pipe leak—can waste thousands of litres and hundreds of pounds each year. Smart meter data reveals these patterns instantly, allowing you to fix the problem before it escalates. In many cases, the cost of the meter and the repair is recovered within weeks.
Beyond leaks, smart metering enables precise benchmarking. We can compare your consumption against industry norms, identify seasonal variations and isolate the water intensity of specific processes or shifts. This data-driven approach means that any efficiency measures we recommend are based on evidence, not guesswork, and their impact can be verified in real time.
Our Water Management Process: From Audit to Action
Every engagement begins with a thorough water audit. We collect historical bills, review existing meter infrastructure and, where necessary, install smart meters to establish a baseline. We then map your entire water footprint, from incoming supply to final discharge, and identify all points of use and cost.
Once the audit is complete, we deliver a prioritised action plan. This may include:
- Tariff optimisation – ensuring you are on the most cost-effective water and sewerage tariffs for your usage profile.
- Leak repair and prevention – fixing identified leaks and recommending ongoing monitoring solutions.
- Efficiency upgrades – installing water-saving devices such as low-flow fixtures, sensor taps, rainwater harvesting or greywater recycling systems.
- Trade effluent management – reviewing consent conditions, optimising treatment processes and reducing the volume and strength of effluent discharged.
- Employee engagement – implementing behavioural change programmes to encourage water-conscious practices across your workforce.
We do not just hand over a report and leave. Our team can manage the entire implementation, from sourcing contractors to verifying savings. We act as your dedicated water management partner, ensuring that every recommendation is executed effectively and that the benefits are sustained over time.
Integrating Water with Your Wider Energy Strategy
Water and energy are deeply interconnected. Pumping, heating, cooling and treating water all consume energy, so reducing water use often reduces energy bills as well. For example, a site that cuts hot water consumption by 20% will see a corresponding drop in gas or electricity used for heating. Similarly, fixing leaks in compressed air systems that use water-cooled compressors can save both water and electricity.
Our water service is designed to complement our broader energy management offerings. By combining water efficiency with engineering energy efficiency and data analytics for utilities, we can identify cross-utility savings that would be missed by a siloed approach. For businesses with multiple sites, we also provide business energy benchmarking to compare water performance across your portfolio and highlight best practice.
Furthermore, our energy bureau service can include water data monitoring, giving you a single dashboard for all your utility consumption. This integrated view makes it easier to track progress, allocate costs and report on sustainability targets.
Case Study: How Smart Data Delivered 18% Water Savings
“We had no idea we were losing so much water. The smart meter data showed a constant flow of 2.3 cubic metres per hour during the night, which turned out to be a leak in a rarely used part of the facility. Once fixed, our water bill dropped by over £4,000 a year. The team at amber energy® also renegotiated our tariff and installed flow restrictors on all washbasins. In total, we saved 18% on our annual water costs.”
This is a typical outcome. By combining smart metering, leak detection and simple efficiency measures, most businesses can achieve savings of 10–20% with minimal capital investment. The key is having the right data and the expertise to act on it.
Getting Started with Water Utility Management
Whether you are a small business with a single site or a large multi-site organisation, the first step is the same: understand your current water use. Our team will conduct a free initial assessment to determine whether a full water audit is likely to yield significant savings. If so, we will propose a tailored plan that fits your budget and operational constraints.
Water management is not a one-off project; it is an ongoing discipline. With smart meters in place and our monitoring services, you can maintain control and continuously improve. The water market may be complex, but with the right partner, the savings are clear. Contact us today to start your journey towards water efficiency.