Portsmouth's Lakeside North Harbour halves daily water usage thanks to new system

Portsmouth business campus Lakeside North Harbour (LNH) revealed it has halved its daily water consumption thanks to installing a new water system.

LNH collaborated with the company H2OiQ on the new technology, which was installed in August, and has reduced daily average usage to 12,370 litres from 24,850 litres since then.

READ MORE: Effective Energy Group secures Lakeside North Harbour space

The project is set to save 4,558,000 litres per year and is estimated to result in annual savings of over £12,000, benefiting both Lakeside and its occupants through the return on investment.

Portsmouth Water played an integral part by helping towards funding the scheme, which is also estimated to also have reduced 4.74 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

Jim Barker, head of water resources at Portsmouth Water, said: "With pressures coming from climate change and population growth, water is a resource that is under more stress than ever before.

"As part of our commitment to the environment and to developing sustainable water supplies for the future, we were happy to support this initiative – and have been impressed by the results. This project clearly demonstrates that consciously managing water use is not only good for the environment, but also makes solid economic sense."

Richard Butler, business director at H2OiQ, added: "This project was a great example of working together to achieve what most would think impossible, achieving a 50% reduction in water consumption with a rapid 11 month payback.

"The importance of preserving our precious resource is now being recognised and we are proud to showcase what is achievable. There are literally 100s of thousands of water inefficient buildings out there that need to action water consumption reduction."

Simon Bateman, asset manager at Lakeside North Harbour, said: "We have recently invested in another initiative on campus that conserves water while reducing our carbon footprint showcasing our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility as a business.

"The water efficient technologies installed will benefit all of us in the long run and is a crucial step towards a more sustainable future."

The project included aerated flow restrictors for wash hand basins and dual flow outlets for kitchen sinks, which has reduced water consumption from an average of 7.3 litres per minute to 3.5 litres per minute.

Air gap valves also feature a delayed filling mechanism, which ensures only the required amount of water is used for each flush and has proven to save nearly 3 litres per flush.

LNH is an award-winning 130-acre business campus in Portsmouth and is home to a variety of international and local companies, including Babcock, Wiggle, Lead Forensics, Markerstudy, Virgin Media and Handelsbanken. Office suites range from 1,000 to 70,000 sq ft.

Visit Hampshire Biz News for bright, upbeat and positive business news from the county