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WATER pipes all have a shelf life, dependent on how aggressive the soil is, pipe material and other factors, but out of sight is often out of mind.

There can be serious leaks lurking below ground in a complex maze of distribution pipes. The fact they can’t be seen makes the problem easier to ignore which means leaks often go undetected for years.

Drinking Water Services (DWS) specialise in the location and subsequent repair of leaking pipes, some of which have saved our clients six figure sums on their annual water bills. Brushing leakage under the carpet is not only a phenomenal waste of a precious resource but costs the business dearly by flushing profit straight into the ground.

With today’s technology pinpointing leaks is inexpensive when weighed against the savings which can be achieved by reducing leakage as part of structured routine housekeeping.

We interviewed a Kent company about how they cut their overheads on water in a project which DWS carried out recently.

George Dorling facilities manager at Marley Floors Limited, in Dickley Lane, Lenham, near Maidstone, Kent.

Tell us about your business?

Marley Floors Limited was established in Lenham in the 1940s and occupies a 60 acre site. The company is a leading supplier of resilient vinyl flooring for hospitals,schools,shops and other commercial environments. We export our products to a worldwide market, employ 320 staff and have an annual turnover of £43 million.

What do you use water for?

Water is one of our biggest overheads and it is essential to the success of our business. We use water throughout our production process lines, supplying it around the machinery as a coolant.

How old is your water infrastructure?

Our water network has developed and expanded as the business has grown over the last 60 years. There is a mixture of cast iron, steel and plastic pipes, both the older black pipes and the more modern blue, on our site which vary in age according to when each facility was built.

How did you know you had a leak?

Desk studies of consumptionand analysing of bills confirmed costs steadily increasing over the last three years. In 2000 we spent about £8,000 per year on water but by 2003 this increased to £15,000.

Initial consideration was given to our sprinkler tanks, where cracks in the base were known to exist. The tanks were relined last summer and our consumption fell but not significantly. It was obvious there was another underlying problem. We then decided to look seriously at the water use on the site.

What did you do about it?

I contacted our water supplier and they put me in touch with Mike Cole who manages the water audit service within their subsidiary “Drinking Water Services”, a business that specialises in water network site surveys and leak repairs. A technician was assigned to survey the site and within a few hours had found a large leak on a plastic pipe which wasn’t visible from the surface. They had located a major problem straight away.

Did that resolve the situation?

No. DWS advised that there was almost certainly a second leak on the site but they couldn’t locate it as it was being masked by the first one. Three weeks later water started coming up through the ground. This time it was on a cast iron pipe and a complete section had to be replaced.

What impact did the repairs have?

We were using 700 litres per minute before the two leaks were fixed, today this is down to 110 litres per minute. That is a six-fold reduction in the amount of water used. Looking ahead we anticipate that these repairs will result in substantial savings on our next water bill.

One unforeseen result of the repairs was the increase in pressure on site. This aspect is currently being monitored at present and other measures may be necessary in order to protect the infrastructure.

What lessons did you learn?

 We are now looking at the cost of all our utilities very carefully. Every month we take a reading of the volume of water we use from all our meters over a period of one minute. If the consumption deviates from the norm then this will indicate a potential problem.

Data logging now enables us to see exactly how much water we have used every half hour of the day. Shortly we will be able to download our consumption profiles from our water supplier via their website.

Would you work with Drinking Water Services again?

The technicians from DWS were very helpful. They found the problems very swiftly and carried out the repairs in a professional manner. We are delighted with the savings we’re making from their work.

What advice would you give others in your position?

I would encourage them to investigate their water systems, invest in appropriate expertise to understand them and regularly monitor usage against baseline consumption.

Creation of watertight assets should be the goal as it’s all about preserving a valuable resource whilst at the same time maintainingbottom line profits.

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