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Water efficiency: Saving water = saving money - fact sheet 8

Straightforward advice to help vehicle repairers get ahead in today’s business environment

Water consumption and trade waste charges can be expensive. So how do you know if you can save money by improving your water management?

You can reduce your water supply and wastewater disposal bills by looking at:

  • water conservation to reduce water demand from the reticulated supply
  • rainwater use to further reduce your water bills
  • wastewater recycling by treatment and re-use of wash waters
  • renegotiating your trade waste permit

Water conservation

It is easy to reduce water demand from the reticulated supply (and your water bills):

  • don’t leave taps or hoses running or dripping
  • where possible, use dry cleaning options such as sweeping or vacuuming for cleaning workshop floors and external areas. Collect all hosedown water you do generate and put it through an approved trade waste system
  • install low-volume, high-velocity hose fittings to save more water and money
  • periodically replace hose fittings to prevent leaks
  • install dual flush toilets or put a brick in the cistern to displace water volume

Rainwater use

Further reduce your water bills by catching rainwater:

  • ask your water provider about their requirements
  • work out where drinking-quality water is needed and where you could use roof water instead for things like toilet flushing, wet cleaning and gardens
  • install a rainwater tank – your local provider will be able to tell you how big a tank you need for your roof area
  • ask your local provider about a first-flush diversion system so that contaminated roof runoff does not get into the rainwater tank

Wastewater recycling

You can reduce your trade waste volumes by installing a wash bay and reusing the water. Look at ‘Wash bays and washdown’ in fact sheet 2, ‘Managing stormwater and trade wastewater’, for more information. Also see the Vehicle and equipment washing fact sheet at www.arc.govt.nz/arc/environment/pollution/factsheets/.

Renegotiate your trade waste permit

If you have identified ways of reducing your water use and trade waste discharge, see if you can renegotiate your trade waste permit to get a lower annual fee – note that if your water use has gone down but you have not installed any pre-treatment systems, concentrations of pollutants – and your fee – may go up.

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Acknowledgements

IAG NZ gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry for the Environment and the use of information from the New South Wales Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW) and Auckland Panel and Paint in tailoring this fact sheet for use in New Zealand.