This page is designed to help you understand the essentials of a water efficiency plan and simple water audit. By investing a little time and money in implementing a simple water management plan, your organisation could reduce its water consumption, releasing money to be invested in other parts of your business.

1. For your plan to work effectively you must have the support of management and staff. Create a simple water efficiency policy to keep the plan on track.

Full management support is essential to any successful water management plan, as without adequate time and financial commitment savings will be minimal. However, the active support of all staff is key to the success of the programme and they should be involved in the planning process.

2. You will need to find out how much the water you use is costing you. Check your water bills, you should be able to identify your standing charges, water consumption and wastewater charges. Look out for unexplained increases in consumption - this may indicate a leak.

Understanding the true cost of water is crucial in managing water usage. Often, costs are unknown and mistakenly perceived to be too low to be of concern. It is important to identify how much water is costing you. A metered water bill is made up of four separate costs:

• Standing charge for water supply     
• Charge per m³ for the amount of water used         
• Standing charge for disposal (sewerage) costs      
• Charge per m³ for the amount of water discharged to the sewer

In addition to these direct costs, there can be other associated costs (depending on the organisation) which include:

• Energy costs for heating, pumping and treating water       
• Costs for treating contaminated water prior to discharge  
• Maintenance costs for pumps, flow meters and corrosion of pipes and equipment

3. Identify your water use, how, where and why water is being used.

The next step is to carry out a water use survey to determine how, where and why water is being used. The easiest way is to draw up an inventory of all the water-using items in the building, noting the number, location, flow rates and operating times. An example of a water use inventory may be found with the Environment Agency's Waterwise booklet.

4. Re-assess your water use.

Consider whether the quantity of water currently being used is actually necessary. It may be useful to determine whether your actual water consumption is in line with the manufacturer's specifications for the equipment you are using, and whether equipment is operating needlessly (e.g. do urinals flush at the weekends?).

Now you know how much water your organisation is using and you have identified all water uses on the premises, you need to re-evaluate the necessity for this use. This will help you focus your actions for improving water efficiency. Consider whether the quantity of water currently being used for a particular task is actually necessary and assess whether the task could be altered to use less water. It is important at this stage to talk to staff who use or operate the water using appliances, as they may have a better understanding of the processes or have suggestions for improvements.

5. The next step is to identify and evaluate potential water efficiency measures, aimed at reducing water consumption and cutting costs. They can also help make savings on sewerage costs.

Having identified your organisation's use of water, the next step is to evaluate water efficiency measures for their potential to reduce water consumption and cut costs. Don't forget the 'good housekeeping' activities, such as ensuring that water-using appliances are turned off when not in use and fixing dripping taps promptly. These measures can save significant amounts of water at virtually no cost.

6. Implement these measures and keep monitoring your water use!

Once your management plan is approved and in place, it is essential that everyone in the organisation is fully aware of the plan and their own responsibilities.