A scientist in a laboratory
Use of recirculating coolant instead of flowing water helps to reduce water consumption in laboratories across the College.

 Aim

To ensure the responsible management of water resources, reducing our consumption and preventing pollution of the natural environment.

We will…

  • work to reduce total and per person water consumption and continue to use the UK government’s Aquafund framework to carry out detailed audits of our water use;
  • install water control devices and more automated meters to better understand trends in water usage and to enable benchmarking, monitoring and target-setting;
  • work with laboratory managers to promote the use of the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) to reduce water consumption;
  • trial alternative equipment that does not rely on water in laboratories, for example waterless condensers;
  • increase the use of recirculating coolant systems in laboratories and enhance building infrastructure to enable water savings to be made;
  • install gray water and rainwater harvesting systems where possible.

Measures of progress

  • Reduction in total College use of water (m3 per year);
  • Reduction in water usage per person (m3 per year).