How to Cut Property Costs with a Water Efficiency Strategy

Managing a real-estate portfolio comes with a lot of expenses. Utilities, regular upkeep and maintenance, but also unforeseen problems like leaks. Water is one of the biggest costs in property management, but one you can easily bring down. With a clear water efficiency strategy, you can save water, time, and money – while continuing to ensure the comfort and convenience of your tenants. Here’s how.

Sending out maintenance personnel to record readings on every property’s water meter, manually entering the data into the water company’s system, dealing with leaks and water damage – it all costs time and money. When creating a clear water efficiency strategy, you look at your whole system: from consumption and waste to the state of equipment, and the way in which it’s all managed. By implementing your water efficiency strategy, you’ll be able to cut costs on more than just your water bill.

Decreasing Manual Work

With Smartvatten’s remote monitoring solution, simple devices are placed on the water meters of your properties. They track and record your water-consumption in real-time and upload your data to our cloud-based software. You no longer have to send your maintenance team on cross-country road trips to record meter readings when it’s all right there in our portal, freeing up their time for more important tasks.

Digitalizing Processes

Our software analyzes your data without delay. Any deviations to the property’s normal consumption trigger an alert, helping you to quickly respond to leaks and prevent serious damage – and avoid the costs of cleanup, repairs, and lost income. And because of our simple API-integration, our system easily integrates with yours. We can even automatically share your data with your water company.

Adjusting Pressure & Flow Rates

The water pressure in pipelines is typically set too high, which means that the system operates under higher pressure and the equipment is under more stress than necessary. Lowering the pressure puts less strain on your water system and installations, meaning their service life is extended, the costs of upkeep go down, and your tenants continue to enjoy comfortable pressure levels.

Similarly, flow rates are typically twice as high as they need to be. Even in new buildings, flow rates on taps and showers can be 15-20 liters per minute, while a level of 6-9 liters per minute is already good. By adjusting individual taps with aerators and showers by installing water-saving showerheads, this is easily remedied.

Save Water, Save Energy

Reducing unnecessary consumption, preventing leaks, and optimizing your system all lead to significant reductions on your water bill. But becoming more water efficient also means reducing your energy consumption: transporting, treating, and heating water all cost energy. In an average residential building, reducing water consumption by 20% also means a 5% reduction on your energy bill. That means creating and implementing a clear water efficiency strategy helps you contribute to a sustainable future in more than one way – including the sustainability of your organization.

Want to find out how a water efficiency strategy can help you cut property costs for your portfolio? Contact us at info@smartvatten.com!