Council turns savings tap on with water innovation

Nottingham will become the first council to run its own water services in-house next month, saving it an estimated £64,000 a year.

Changes in the water industry allow businesses and organisations to choose how they receive water supply and wastewater services, and the Nottingham City Council has chosen to become its own supplier to council-run buildings.

The new arrangement will see the council’s Energy Services team taking over responsibility for the council’s water services from August 14, when the official switchover happens. The main aim is to reduce operating costs and increase resource efficiency.

The council’s deputy leader, Cllr Sally Longford, said: “Becoming a water self-supplier is an exciting next step for us as we seek to further reduce costs through innovative resource efficiency across our own estate.

“As a large consumer of water, we are looking forward to having more control over this vital resource and will be looking for ways to use water more efficiency to lower costs and improve our environmental performance. We can streamline the service, cut out the margin that goes to others in the supply chain and plough the savings back into further resource efficiency projects.”

The Water Self-Supply Licence allows the council to buy water directly from the wholesaler Severn Trent Water – removing the retailer aspect – in order to manage its own water payments.