We all know our country is currently undergoing a major water crisis which is affecting businesses and people in general.
Water restrictions: How you can save water as a small business owner
Business owners in South Africa can play an important part in conserving water resources while reducing their utility bills by embracing water efficiency as a way of life.
In doing so, they can play a valuable role in assisting the country to manage the effects of a prolonged drought.
Mr van Heerden offers some tips for Small & Medium Businesses on how they can improve their water efficiency into the future:
Be creative
Many South African entrepreneurs who are the business builders of the country are finding creative ways to work around the water crisis, for instance, we are starting to see waterless car wash franchises emerge. This reduces the amount of water wasted from using unnecessary hose pipes and installed washers.
Water efficiency in the kitchen and canteen
Clean without wasting water
Many South African businesses waste water when washing floors, cars and walls. Rather use a bucket and a cloth, mop or a broom to clean.
Detect leaks and plug them
Keep an eye on your water bill. If it’s unexpectedly large, you might have a leaking pipe or dripping tap. If you notice a pipe or tap is leaking, fix it immediately.
Make sure your bathrooms are water-wise
Consider using water-efficient bathroom fittings – for example, taps with an aerator or flow restrictor to use less water as well as water-efficient urinals.
- Go for drought-tolerant, indigenous plants rather than thirstier alien plants.
- If you have an irrigation system, make sure it is properly maintained and configured. Switch it off completely if there’s rain. A more affordable option to consider is a grey-water system.
- Install a rainwater tank and use that for watering your plants.
These options can be very useful especially for companies involved in the agriculture sector where most of their fresh produce comes from farms which require constant maintenance.
Be sceptical of silver bullets
Ask for customer references and find out about a supplier’s track record before you buy its water-efficient taps or kitchen equipment. Get quotes from multiple suppliers before you commit. Alarm bells should be ringing when a quote is much higher or lower than the average among the competition.
Educate employees
To ensure that your efforts to conserve water are successful, you may need to change behaviour among your employees. Educate them on how they can avoid water waste by not leaving taps running when they wash their hands or their lunch dishes.
You could also put water saving tips up near kitchen and bathroom taps to remind team members of the importance of saving water.
“The business community needs to step up and play a role in safeguarding our precious water resources urgently, and we all need to accept that water scarcity is likely to become a way of life into the future,” concluded Mr van Heerden.