West Sussex council water savings help people in Nepal

A water saving scheme introduced by West Sussex County Council has reduced usage by 24 per cent, saved the council more than £140,000 while helping transform lives abroad.

In the two years since the authority signed up to AquaFund, it’s slashed its water bill by 50 per cent, installed countless water efficiency saving measures across 142 different buildings and saved 57,930m3 of water.

As well as reducing the Council’s water bills, one per cent of the AquaFund savings have also been donated to Water Aid to enable communities in poor countries to have access to clean, safe water.

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This year, AquaFund donated towards the 2013/14 Nepalese Project. This project is working to ensure that just under 7,000 people will have access to safe water and more than 10,000 people will have access to improved sanitation.

Michael Brown, West Sussex County Council’s cabinet member for finance, said: “This is a win win situation for us. Not only are we saving money off our water bills and reducing water consumption but we’re helping give people in Nepal access to clean water and improved sanitation.

“We are one of the largest employers in West Sussex and constantly looking at what we can do to reduce our energy use and carbon footprint. It’s something we feel very strongly about and I am delighted by these figures and the fact that the changes we are making in West Sussex are transforming lives in Nepal.”

Water efficiency measures installed include infrared urinal controls to reduce the amount of unnecessary flushing and displacement bags in all suitable cisterns to reduce each flush by one litre.

Ten leaks were also identified which have been fixed quickly and the council is looking at installing further water saving measures across council buildings.