09 Jul 2010
Partnership work in Tile Hill and Canley helps residents save water, electricity, gas and money
A major national water and energy saving project – Tap into Savings – was launched today at St. Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry. Over the next six months the project will visit 2,000 homes in Tile Hill, Canley and surrounding areas, helping households save around 15% of their water use - at zero cost to the householder. Collectively that’s 94,000 litres of water a day - enough to supply over 700 people in Coventry with their daily water needs or fill the Coventry sports centre swimming pool every four weeks. In addition, Coventry residents are being invited to come along to EcoTeam meetings to learn how to save even more water plus gas, electricity and how to recycle more.
Residents of Whitefriars Housing Group properties, as well as other properties in the areas will be offered a range of free products including a device to convert a single flush toilet into dual flush, a showerhead that mixes water with air, tap inserts, and a shower timer. Residents also will be offered an E.ON TV PowerDown to eliminate standby and a thermometer card that indicates whether a room is too hot or too cold.
Residents coming along to an EcoTeam meeting will meet new friends and neighbours, getting together for an hour once a month for five months to discuss the home visits they’ve had, how to save more water, gas and electricity, plus how to recycle more. Tap into Savings will provide the venue, refreshments and freebies to take home and try.
The project is delivered in partnership with Waterwise, Global Action Plan, Whitefriars Housing Group, Severn Trent Water, Coventry City Council and the Environment Agency.
‘We are very pleased to bring Tap into Savings to Coventry to help residents save water and energy, which will help reduce household bills and protect local water supplies, plants and wildlife for the future. The project shows how easy it is to make big savings and I encourage everyone to get involved’ said Kate Hunter, the local project facilitator for Tap into Savings.
Officially launching Tap into Savings at St Mary’s Guildhall (today) Jim Cunningham MP said: ‘This is a forward-thinking initiative that has obvious benefits to our everyday lives and I urge eligible residents to support Tap into Savings by signing up for a home visit and/or coming along to an EcoTeam meeting, making worthwhile savings for everyone’.
The rollout of Tap into Savings in Coventry follows on from its success in the South East of England. Tap into Savings, funded in part by Defra’s Greener Living Fund (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), is a two year national programme that aims to help people save water, energy and money. Across England it will jointly involve over 10,000 people. It is one of the biggest water and energy saving programmes in the UK. In addition to Coventry and the South East, the programme will also be delivered in Braintree, Essex.
For more information visit www.tapintosavings.org
Main contacts for media inquiries:
Victoria Higgins (for project lead, Waterwise)
vhiggins@waterwise.org.uk or 0207 344 1883
NOTES TO EDITORS
Tap into Savings is funded in part by the Greener Living Fund, which is sponsored by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (www.defra.gov.uk). Defra’s Third Sector Strategy, launched in November 2008, shows the Department’s commitment to working with the third sector (which includes voluntary and community organisations, charities, NGOs, co-operatives and social enterprises). The Greener Living Fund had a total budget of £6m to award in a two year funding period and contributes to the Government’s work towards a sustainable, low carbon and resource efficient economy.
Tap into Savings partners:
Coventry City Council
www.coventry.gov.uk
Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
www.defra.gov.uk
Environment Agency
www.environment-agency.gov.uk
Global Action Plan
www.globalactionplan.org.uk
Severn Trent Water
www.stwater.co.uk
Waterwise
www.waterwise.org.uk
Whitefriars Housing Group
www.whitefriarshousing.co.uk
Calculations used
Each household has an average of 2.4 people using 133 litres per day, totalling 319 litres
Each retro-fitted household can save 15 percent of total water use (15 percent of 319 litres is 47 litres)
47 litres x 2000 retro-fitted homes = 94,000 litres saved a day across Coventry
94000 litres saved per day equates to 706 peoples’ collective use of water
Volume of a 50 metre Swimming pool = 2,465,000 litres of water