Colne firm helps school flush away water bills

A BLACKBURN school has flushed away the bulk of its water bills thanks to a Colne firm.

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School has saved around £18,000 in the last 18 months with the help of Harvey Environmental Services.

Brian Sheard, the school's facilities manager, realised there was no water saving measure in place when he started at QEGs.

It isn’t normally a concern for domestic users, however, QEGS had nine toilets that were each flushing a cistern containing 10 litres of water, five times per hour, 365 days a year.

He felt this was not only an expensive over use of water but also, at a time when water is becoming an expensive and scarce commodity, a complete waste of a valuable resource.

Brian then consulted Harvey Environmental who were able to find an immediate solution to the problem.

With the help of a small device called a Sensaflush attached above every urinal cistern, an instant saving in water was noticed, not just in consumption but monetary terms.

Brian said: “I wholeheartedly recommend Harvey Environmental. The advice that I received has been excellent and there are good financial and moral reasons why we all need to keep water use to a minimum."

Martin Harvey, managing director of Harvey Environmental Services, said “QEGS are just one of our many happy customers who have been able to not only do their bit for the environment but make really big money savings.

"It’s a great example of what we are able to achieve with these water saving devices and something that every business should consider installing.”

Comments(6)

commonsenseplease says...
11:00am Sat 7 Jul 12

With all that savings they won't need to charge as much per term...? No didn't think so!

golazzo says...
11:43am Sat 7 Jul 12

Water a scarce commodity. Bizzare comment

Big Martin says...
1:43pm Sat 7 Jul 12

golazzo wrote:
Water a scarce commodity. Bizzare comment
not at all a bizarre comment - they've been saying that water is the next oil for years. if we believe in global warming then "usable" drinking water will be more and more scarce and therefore more expensive

2 for 5p says...
1:49pm Sat 7 Jul 12

Quote

n then consulted Harvey Environmental who were able to find an immediate solution to the problem

Could you not work that one out yourselves, you could of made that a project for the kids to do, well why not there always banging on about what a excellent school it is.

Your ferret stinks says...
4:32pm Sat 7 Jul 12

2 for 5p wrote:
Quote

n then consulted Harvey Environmental who were able to find an immediate solution to the problem

Could you not work that one out yourselves, you could of made that a project for the kids to do, well why not there always banging on about what a excellent school it is.
Great post!
£18,000 could be a drop in the ocean and a good place to start now they have gained confidence on the savings to be made.
Why not get a project up and running regarding the consumption of electricity, there are many software packages on the market that you can buy off the self and monitor power used on different circuits around the school, they are wi fi and monitor 24/7 were you can plot, trend and produce graphs giving you documentry evidence in order to secure the capex funding showing your ROI (return on investment).
Lighting is the biggest waster of power in schools and can be halved by using intellegent light fittings which not only turn off when theres no movement but also have daylight compensation which reduce light output/power usage when there is natural incoming daylight at no detriment to personnel.
It is educational with a practical purpose and a saving to be made along with showing that you are not just paying lip service to your Carbon reduction commitment.
Remember if it's not monitored it is not managed.
Good luck and hope you do it.

mother earth says...
7:39pm Sat 7 Jul 12

Good post indeed - what a great project for the kids to get involved in - energy reduction and saving our wonderful planet's precious (and dwindling) resources should be pretty near the top of the agenda in my view and involving our youngsters in this endeavour would be fantastic.

Unlike some I don't have a problem with what school it is that's taken the initiative and got stuck in on this project (private or not) - this should be something that all schools should surely do - after all, aren't they closed for the best part of a quarter of a year ? - if water is being used when there's no-one there then that should be stopped shouldn't it ?

I like "ferret's" electricity saving ideas - sounds great and from when i used to be in commerce i totally agree that if it's not monitored then it's not managed - well said !

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree