Businesses in Yorkshire are being encouraged to sign up to Yorkshire Water’s ‘Water Saving Promise’ during Water Saving Week.

Yorkshire Water launched the Water Saving promise last year, and has seen manufacturers and businesses across Yorkshire pledge to do their bit. Business usage accounts for almost a third of all water demand in England – by signing up to the promise, businesses receive advice, posters and support on ways that they can reduce their water usage.

Laundry detergent and chemical manufacturer, Christeyns UK, is based in Bradford and signed up for the pledge last year.

Operations director of Christeyns UK, Justin Kerslake, said:

“At Christeyns, we're constantly striving to cut down on water usage in order to make this necessary part of our working function as eco-friendly as possible. That’s why we signed up to the Yorkshire Water’s Water Saving Promise. It’s a great way to educate businesses on ways that they and their staff can save water.

“Sustainability is one of our core values, and we are always working to operate with minimal effect on the environment, so we’re proud to have our Water Saving Promise plaque on the wall of our reception to further demonstrate our commitment.”

Businesses are not held to a particular target by the water company, but by signing up to the Water Saving Promise they do promise to review their usage and make efficiencies where they can.

Christeyns is aware of the amount of water used across the laundry industry, from the growing of cotton for linens to the washing and pressing of these everyday items.

Saving water is crucial for the future of the planet – and also for the laundry industry in being able to continue to provide high standards of service whilst keeping utility costs low. It also means that by using less water and reusing as much as possible, less effluent will end up being deposited in the environment.

In 2014 Christeyns launched Cool Chemistry. A patented innovation that combines equipment and chemistry, Cool Chemistry delivers improved whiteness and increased disinfection, using detergent chemistry that operates at a neutral pH in place of traditional highly alkaline chemicals.

This allows less water to be used for rinsing, and the neutral pH reduces chemical damage to textiles to provide extended useable life, which in turn, means less use of new cotton. According to the WWF 20,000 litres of water are required to grow just one kilogramme of cotton.

Technological advances over the past decade have made a huge difference to the amount of water used in commercial laundries and Christeyns has played a leading role in developing water-saving equipment and monitoring systems that enable customers to achieve their sustainability targets.

With the right systems in place the typical tunnel wash process, which 15 years ago used on average a water consumption of 8-10L/kg, now with a modern or modified wash process can be reduced to as low as 2L/kg.

Water can be captured from the main wash and then filtered and redirected to be used in pre-wash and washer extractors. At the same time, clean press water is recovered and recycled for rinsing, where previously this water would generally have gone down the drain.

Mitchell Yeoman-Boldry, market relationship manager at Yorkshire Water, said:

“We launched the Water Saving Promise as a way of providing advice and support to businesses looking to save water.

“Many businesses overlook the little things – such as leaky loos or dripping taps – that can make a huge difference to water usage and the impact on the planet, as well as costs to the business.

“By signing up to the Water Saving Promise, businesses will get a suite of useful reminders and posters, as well as a plaque to hang in their workplace which demonstrates to staff and visitors that they are taking water saving and their impact on the environment seriously.”