Business Stream, the commercial arm of Scottish Water, says it saved the country’s public sector a record £2.85 million last year, taking total savings over three years to £6.4m.

NHS Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, Police Scotland and the Scottish Government are among those to have benefited from greater leak detection, water efficiency and smart monitoring services.

As a result of the retailer’s activities, the sector has also saved more than 1.365 billion litres of water over the past year, equivalent to the volume of 546 Olympic swimming pools. 

This in turn has removed 574,778 kg of carbon – comparable to 438 single passenger flights from Edinburgh to New York. 

Jo Dow, chief executive of Business Stream, said: “We’re really pleased to have delivered significant savings for Scotland’s public sector again this year. 

“Our experience in working with the sector has allowed us to develop a suite of services and solutions that are helping the sector to reduce costs, save time and generate environmental efficiencies.  We’re looking forward to delivering further savings in the year ahead”. 

Through constantly striving to improve efficiency and service, the 350-strong water retailer has increased public sector savings year-on-year, from £1.4 million in 2021 to £2.2 million in 2022.

As one of the largest water retailers in the UK, Business Stream was awarded the Scottish Government Public Sector Water and Waste Water Framework contract in early 2020.

The contract, worth around £200 million over three years, also includes the Scottish Prison Service, universities and colleges and local authorities. In 2022, the contract was extended for 12 months.

The savings success comes after Business Stream recently halved its carbon emissions in just one year, exceeding the retailer’s pledge to cut emissions by 20% over the same period.

Business Stream has its HQ in Edinburgh, as well as a presence in Worthing, West Sussex and in Bradford, West Yorkshire.