EnviroStats!

The source of this office statistic is British so I am limiting the statistic to the British office worker. I don’t know about the North American or mainland European worker but I would venture to guess it would not be too different, although you make the call on whether you’d want to extend it. However, leaving it as is to give people an idea of what magnitude we’re talking about here, without claiming to extend to other countries, should be just fine.

The jump in water use for the citizen would be due to showers, possibly gardening, more flushing during the twice as long non-working day, some cooking, etc. that generally consume large amounts of water relative to a little drinking and flushing at the office.

Below are some options from the article for water management with toilets, as are Stats 0446, 0211, 0142 and 0074.

Despite the common perception that this country has excessive rainfall, there are predicted to be water shortages in five out of the 10 UK water regions by the year 2009 if present usage patterns continue.

Different loos have different cistern capacities. Understanding what type of toilets your office has will determine the appropriate water-saving device that you opt for. Loos installed before 1991 have a 9L cistern, those before 2001 have a 7.5L and those after a 6L. A Hippo - a simple plastic bag that displaces up to three litres of water in a cistern, is suitable for 9l toilets, while a save-a-flush device or Hog, which contains super-absorbent polymer and silica sand, can save a litre a flush in 7.5L WCs.

Worried about convincing your boss? Talk to your local water company - they will often supply both for free, though neither is recommended for 6L loos. Boss not a problem? The more expensive option is to have dual-flush toilets fitted. They use two to three litres for liquid waste and four to six for solid waste.

Urinals can also be water-hungry, accounting for 20% of office water use. The law requires urinals to use no more than 7.5L a bowl an hour, and to have a device fitted to inhibit flushing when the building is unused. However, many lack such controls, flushing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For an office with a 40-hour working week, this means that 76% of flushing occurs when the building is unoccupied, says the Environment Agency.

Hooking up to a greywater system is an excellent way of making loos and urinals greener. This takes recycled water from showers, hand basins and even rainwater butts, and pumps it into the cisterns, making your office greener, and your enviro-conscience cleaner.

- Envirowise, a British government-funded group that advises businesses on sustainability, via The Guardian, Nov 19 2007