Improved water heater pump efficiency for city high rise

Tenants at the Sydney CBD high rise apartment building, “Windsor Plaza” have seen significant water and costs savings following the completion of Sydney Water’s new WaterFix Strata Service program. The program has also improved water heater pump efficiency and maintenance requirements.

The 154 Windsor Plaza apartment block in Sussex St was originally built in 1987 and recently won the Strata Community Environmental and Engagement Award at the Strata Community Associations 2017 CHU Strata Community Awards.

Sydney Water Senior Project Officer, Tony Robinson, said that the WaterFix program helps reduce customers’ water bills through the repair and replacement of leaking taps and toilets.

“The service, for eligible strata buildings, comes with the added incentive of a performance guarantee, where customers pay for the service with the savings that are achieved.

“This means that the customer pays nothing up front for the service, but continues to pay their water bill at the same historical rate until the service is paid for.

“After this time, which normally takes around three years, the Body Corporate will see significant reductions in their water bills,” said Mr Robinson.

Andrew Whittaker, Head of the Windsor Plaza Strata Committee, said that initial reports showed that tenants were using 575 litres per bedroom per day on average across the 154 apartments. Typical use is between 200-300 litres.

“Early results are showing a 34 per cent reduction in total water usage which will save the Body Corporate at Windsor Plaza around $44,000 a year in water usage charges plus there will be a significant reduction in hot water gas bills for apartment owners and tenants.

“The initial inspection by Sydney Water saw dripping taps and leaking toilets – which accounted for 28 per cent of the total water consumption of the building.

“Total average water consumption before the WaterFix program was progressively increasing – there was a 10 per cent rise from 1 January to 1 May this year. The total water consumption dropped from an average total daily usage of 184 kL to 115 kL per day,” Mr Whittaker said.

“The cost of water use has dropped by about a third which is fantastic. Individual consumption of hot water has dropped significantly for people who had leaking hot water taps, and they are already seeing a reduction in their hot water gas bills.

“There is also less wear and tear on our pumps to pump water up to the pump to the header tanks and to the water heaters on the roof of the building.”

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