St Monica Trust

St Monica Trust was founded as a charity in 1925 by Henry and Monica Wills. The Trust has five sites in Bristol and North Somerset and provides high quality care, support and accommodation for older people.

This includes village accommodation, care homes, specialist short term care facilities and dedicated dementia facilities designed to promote independence, dignity and fulfilment for all residents.

The four villages include; Cote Lane, Westbury Fields and Monica Wills House in Bristol and Sandford Station in North Somerset.

The charity views itself as a vibrant, innovative organisation, providing high quality care, facilities and support for older people. Part of their innovative approach is to find new and better ways to be responsive to residents' needs. They aim to provide sustainable, efficient and responsive estates, infrastructures and technology.

The challenge

Proactive account management from the water2business team, which included the completion of data logging for the majority of the Trust's water supply meters, a pressure survey and water efficiency audits, identified that water consumption was increasing across all the Trust's sites. Excessive water use meant there was a real opportunity to save significantly and become more sustainable.

The solution

Business account manager, Neil Mullins, visited the Trust regularly to identify potential areas for savings. He completed water efficiency audits and installed data loggers on all logable meters. Automatic Meter Reading technology was used to identify leaks at an early stage and these were repaired quickly to reduce water loss. Alarms were also put in place on the water2business data logging platform to highlight excessive water use at an earlier stage and this resulted in quicker action being taken to minimise losses.

The results

A reduction of water consumption by 44%.

As a result of the water efficiency audits the Trust has installed water saving devices across its sites during refurbishment programmes. These small steps will add up to substantial savings for the charity.

Leakage repairs at Cote Lane have resulted in a reduction in water consumption from 50,342m3 in 2011/12 to 20,060m3, a reduction of 44%. The introduction of data logging and the ability to monitor water consumption on a regular basis will aid the charity in reducing water consumption at Cote Lane by a further 5,000m3.

St Monica Wills House daily average water use has reduced by a further 3.7m3 per day since January 2017. The site's daily average water usage is the lowest it's been in the last 6 years.

These savings have been even more impressive given that resident numbers have increased.