Promote Efficient Water Usage within Sustainable Business Practice
Overview
This standard is about developing policies and guidelines that will improve the efficient use of water for an organisation. It also includes being able to determine levels of water usage, identifying opportunities for improving water usage efficiency, and promoting programmes to improve water usage efficiency within an organisation. The standard promotes the efficient use of water recycling and reuse.
This standard would be appropriate for:
1 A manager with responsibility for water usage
2 An owner/manager of a business seeking to improve the efficiency of water usage for the organisation
3 An individual with a specific brief to reduce water usage
4 A consultant providing advice on water usage and efficiency
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
P1 identify the legal requirements that control the extraction, use and discharge of water
P2 establish current levels of water usage for activities undertaken by the organisation
P3 benchmark organisational water usage to determine effectiveness
P4 specify efficiency targets for each area of water usage
P5 identify potential barriers that may limit water efficiency
P6 advise on the design of processes and products to help minimise or eliminate water usage
P7 promote and support the implementation of water efficiency and recycling measures for activities undertaken by the organisation
P8 define and allocate individual and team roles and responsibilities to support measures to improve water efficiency
P9 establish training needs and organise training to those responsible for improving water efficiency
P10 develop and implement strategies to overcome barriers that limit the impact of water efficiency measures
P11 establish methods to evaluate the impact of measures to improve water efficiency
P12 support the implementation of monitoring and control procedures in support of water efficiency
P13 evaluate impact of measures to improve water efficiency
P14 specify environmental impact and benefits achieved through efficiency measures
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
K1 the legal requirements that control water extraction, consumption, treatment and discharge
K2 government targets for sustainable water usage
K3 the impact of water usage on the environment and sustainability
K4 how water usage impacts on environmental issues such as climate change
K5 the benefits of efficient water usage to the organisation
K6 water usage as part of organisational activities including embedded water
K7 water supply availability; treatment methods and quality
K8 how to establish current levels of water usage in respect to all organisational activities
K9 how to analyse organisational water usage data
K10 the value of water metering and monitoring
K11 the principles of benchmarking as a method of identifying opportunities for improving efficient water usage
K12 the processes used to support water extraction, treatment, recycling, reuse and discharge control
K13 the factors that limit organisational water recycling and reuse
K14 water discharge, including treatment methods and quality specifications
K15 the potential causes/sources of water pollution and its associated implications
K16 the opportunities available for reducing water usage and improving water efficiency
K17 the barriers that can limit water efficiency and how these barriers can be overcome
K18 how process and product design can impact on efficient water usage
K19 how effective process control and quality assurance can support efficient water usage
K20 how to assess the impact of water usage on the organisation
K21 methods of promoting efficient water usage
K22 how to monitor and control water usage
K23 how to define and allocate roles/responsibilities for all those involved in improving efficient water usage
K24 how to establish training needs and organise staff training to support efficient water usage
Scope/range
Barriers can be economic, practical, social or legal compliance
Activities incorporate for example: purchasing, supply, production, storage, packaging, transport and all aspects of business support
Benefits can be social, economic and environmental
Benchmark – a comparative measure of an organisation against industry best practice.
Legal requirements: Local, National and European