Part 4: Useful Templates from the Leaner & Greener Water Workbook

Use this template to note your 2022 baseline and benchmark consumption and then to measure and monitor monthly going forward.

This template helps you get clear on how much water it takes to run your business and how much that water costs. It allows you to monitor your water consumption year-on-year and month-on-month.

You only need to complete the cells shaded in green:

• 2022 Total m3 - Get this data from your 2022 bills
• 2022 Total Cost - Get this data from your 2022 bills
• Estimated 3/m3 2023 - Check the price per cubic metre on your most  recent bill and use this as an estimate
• Benchmark Measure - Insert a unit of activity against which you will benchmark e.g., number of customers / covers / tickets / transactions / rooms / square metres. Select the benchmark activity that is most appropriate for your business. This allows you to work out how much water is used per customer, per ticket, per transaction, per room, per square metre.
• Consumption m3 - Insert the consumption per month using readings from your water meter. If you do not have readings, insert the average for the last year based on your water bill. Note anything that happened in this month that may have affected water use.
• Comments - This will be useful when comparing year-on-year.
  
  

Use this table to note your observations during a Walkaround Water Audit

• Set aside time to walk around your business and focus exclusively on water consumption.
• Just observe how things are done in your business on a day-to-day basis.
• Ask yourself ‘Where are we wasting water?’
• Consider where changes in equipment, behaviour or standard practice could lead to significant savings.
• Simply write down what you observe and where you believe improvements could be made.
• Try not to blame or judge – during the audit phase, you are just gathering information.

This template allows you to document a practical Action Plan to reduce water consumption and reduce costs.

This creates a single document where all actions that you can commit to are listed. It establishes priorities and responsibilities within the team, as well as timelines for action.

• Action: State the Action you will take
• Responsibility: Clearly identify who is responsible for delivering on this action.
• Deadline: Set a specific date when this action is targeted for completion.
• Notes: Add any information here that is relevant to the particular action e.g., additional resources required. (The first line in the template is filled in as an example)