Warrington schools knock pounds off their water bills thanks to water saving visits

Warrington schools who take part in a water saving scheme offered by United Utilities are knocking an average of £6 a day or £2,190* a year off their water bills.

The North West water company has joined forces with Warrington Council to carry out free water saving visits to schools to find and fix leaks and install water saving devices.

In March 2024, 91 schools were contacted and offered a free water saving visit. So far 37 school visits have been completed. An average of seven leaks per school have been located and fixed and 90 water saving devices such as save-a flush bags, urinal controls and tap inserts have been installed.

It’s estimated that fixing the leaks has saved each school an average of 1,345 litres of water being wasted every day while the water saving devices are saving another 527 litres a day. *Based on wholesale water charges, reducing water use by 1,872 litres a day could save around £6 a day in water charges or £2,190 a year.

Louise Atkin, Head of Service – Quality Education at Warrington Borough Council said: “We want to encourage as many schools as possible to take up this free offer to check their water efficiency.”

United Utilities’ Area Engagement Lead, Emma Birch, added: “We are really pleased to be helping schools to save water and money, the Water Saving Visits are free of charge and usually completed outside school hours.”

The scheme has proved so successful United Utilities has now announced it is extending it to all businesses across Cheshire.

To book your free water saving visit

• Complete the simple form at groundwork.org.uk/gm-water-savings and Groundwork will contact you to arrange your free water saving visit

Or simply call Groundwork on 0161 785 7410 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) or email anytime GM.Watersaving@groundwork.org.uk