Since its introduction in 2008, the ecoBETA Siphon retrofit now saves over 1 billion litres of water per year in the UK. To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of 2.7 million litres per day, or 113,000 litres per hour – that’s the same as an Olympic sized swimming pool of fresh water every hour of every day!

Not only is the ecoBETA Siphon retrofit saving water but also energy - 750,000 kg of CO2 per year would be required to supply, distribute and clean this amount of water.

As of the 13th October, OFWAT have split the retrofit allowances into 2 categories – dual-flush and interruptible. ecoBETA welcomes this clarification and the resultant increase in allowance for the ecoBETA Siphon Retrofit to 47 litres/household/day.

Whereas previously, all retrofits were considered dual-flush devices, OFWAT now differentiates between set-volume dual-flushes and Interruptible flushes. The ecoBETA Siphons unique design allowing the minimum flush to be set at the absolute minimum required to dispose of liquid waste whereas the flushing volume required to dispose of any larger waste can be modulated by the user by releasing the flushing handle as and when required, thereby interrupting the Siphonic flushing action, meaning that only the minimum amount of water is used for any given flushing requirement. This functionality firmly establishes the ecoBETA Siphon retrofit as an interruptible device.

However, the dual-functionality of the ecoBETA Siphon means that it can still be used as a standard dual-flush should that be necessary.

The LDA's Homes Energy Efficiency Programme (HEEP) is an ambitious programme of retrofitting existing houses in order to reduce carbon emissions as well as water consumption. Thames Water are supplying ecoBETA Siphon retrofits to help reduce water consumption in these homes by up to 50 litres per day. HEEP is a joint initiative between the Mayor of London, the London Development Agency, London Councils, and the capital's 33 boroughs.

The program will be operated by London's borough councils and will aim to provide improvements on an area basis. Housing Sub-regions and boroughs will be given full support from the LDA, GLA, London Councils and senior management as well as support from the HEEP team and the Energy Saving Trust.

The ecoBETA Siphon has been included in the Water Technology List, managed by DEFRA and HM Revenues and customs. The Water Technology List (WTL) is central to the scheme for 100% Enhanced First-Year Capital Allowances for water efficient technologies. The Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) Scheme enables businesses to claim 100% first year capital allowances on investments in technologies and products that encourage sustainable water use. Businesses are now able to write off the whole cost of their investment against their taxable profits of the period during which they make the investment.

The Raven Housing Group, who conducted the Preston Water Efficiency Initiative alongside Sutton and East Surrey Water, Reigate & Banstead Borough Council and Waterwise, have declared that the ecoBETA Siphon Retrofit is the most efficient pound-for-pound means of saving water they have tested.

The ecoBETA retrofit was largely responsible for the 14% reduction in total water use, or 51 litres/day reduction in household consumption.

The Ministry of Defence has installed 650 ecoBETA Siphon retrofits into RAF Odiham. The installations were carried out by Rentokil-Initial, one of ecoBETAs installation partners in the UK. It is hoped that the retrofits will reduce waste water by up to 20% in the coming years.

ecoBETA are pleased to announce a partnership with Rentokil Initial Enviro-Fresh to install their retrofit flushing devices across Rentokil Initials client base. With large multinational corporate clients, Rentokil Initial are perfectly placed to provide an installed solution using the ecoBETA Siphon insert.

The Enviro-Fresh network of 11 service centres across the UK with over 200 specially trained, highly skilled technicians will allow for the rapid rollout of ecoBETA products.

Essex and Suffolk Water have released provisional results in their latest large scale ecoBETA test. Over 1,000 ecoBETA Siphon inserts were installed across a sample of 500 homes across Chelmsford. The resultant savings were measured atan average of 31.4 litres per day per household or more than 11,000 litres per annum.

The test formed part of the H2eco project designed to initiate water savings,
measure the sustainability of these savings and increase take-up rates
and cost-effectiveness.

The ecoBETA insert was also shown to be the preferred retrofit device on
the market, being the cheapest to buy, install and the retrofit most preferred by customers.

During his keynote speech at the Waterwise 2008 conference, Christopher Loughlin, CEO of South West Water, announced that South West water are intending to install 54,000+ ecoBETAs per annum as part of their PR09 budget.

South West Water services 1.6m customers in the south west of England and holds the responsibility to maintain and improve the region's environment and bathing waters, while making sure that all their customers have reliable round the clock access to high quality drinking water and waste water facilities.

The ecoBETA Siphon will enable South West Water to deliver on their commitment to minimising water consumption and waste.

ecoBETA will be sponsoring the 2008 Waterwise Conference at Keble College, Oxford University. ecoBETA will have a full working display of their UK offering at the conference and will have staff available to demonstrate their solutions and discuss any upcoming projects.

The conference forms part of UNECO’s World Water Day activities and is the UK’s only event dedicated to water efficiency. With speakers from major water authorities, utilities and environmental organisations around the world, including the UK’s Environment Minister, the day promises to be the largest gathering of water experts in Europe.

ecoBETA is honoured to be awarded the Waterwisemarque. The Marque is awarded annually to products that reduce water wastage or raise the awareness of water efficiency. With a total of only 15 products qualifying for this prestigious award in 2007, ecoBETA is proud to be included among the UK’s leading organisations promoting the conservation of our precious water resources.

Waterwise is a UK NGO focused on decreasing water consumption in the UK by 2010 and building the evidence base for large scale water efficiency. They are the leading authority on water efficiency in the UK. Waterwise is an independent, not for profit organisation that receives funding from the UK water industry and from sponsorship and consultancy work.

ecoBETA are pleased to announced that they have been granted full WRAS
(Water Regulatory Approval Scheme) approval for use of their Siphon retrofit
insert within the UK. Upon gaining the full WRAS approval, the ecoBETA insert is now fully available for use across the UK.

The WRAS assesses water fittings products to ensure that they do not waste, misuse, unduly consume or contaminate the water supply in accordance with UK Government regulations.

During the last two years we have installed ecoBETA dual flush converters for toilets in several Swedish hotels. In those hotels also equipped with Energy Guard Automatic Meter Reading, we have been able to measure the water consumption before and after ecoBETA installation.

The results are:
• 42 % average saving on water consumption measured directly on toilets.
• 15 – 25 % savings on total water consumption measured on main water gauge.
• 20 – 30 % savings on total water consumption when ecoBETA is combined with water saving equipments also on showers (10 l/min) and wash basin (4 l/min).

During refurbishment of one hotel we have also been able to compare the difference in water saving between installing ecoBETA in existing toilets and substituting existing toilets with new toilets with double flush controlled by double buttons. The result measured directly on the toilets where that savings with ecoBETA were 42% but savings with new double flush toilets were only 18 %. This difference is due to the fact that hotel guests tend to use the large flush always on the new toilets with double buttons. But on the toilets equipped with ecoBETA most flushes where small (pull or push button and let go).

We often hear arguments from skeptical hotel technicians that the lower water consumption from ecoBETA could cause blocked sewage pipes, but we have had no such problems reported from any of the hotels where ecoBETA have been installed.

All hotels where we have installed ecoBETA have been able to meet requirements regarding maximum water consumption per guest night from the Nordic eco label SVANEN.

Based on our experiences with ecoBETA we recommend all hotels to convert their existing toilets with ecoBETA instead of changing to new toilets with double flush.

Yours sincerely,
Lennart Hägglund, energyLogic
Gamlegård, 235 94 Vellinge, Sweden

ecoBETA vinder Waterwise Award

ecoBETA er beæret over at få tildelt en miljøpris fra Waterwise. En pris, der uddeles til de produkter, som reducerer vandspild eller bevidstgør andre om vandforbrug. Der blev kun udvalgt 15 produkter, som modtager denne prestigefyldte pris i 2007. ecoBETA er stolt over at skulle indgå i de britiske førende organisationer, der arbejder for bevarelse af vores dyrebare vandressourcer.

Waterwise er en britisk NGO, fokuseret på faldende vandforbrug i UK og opbygning af en vidensbase for storstilet vandeffektivisering. De er den førende autoritet på vandeffektivitet i UK. Waterwise er en uafhængig, non-profit organisationen, som modtager støtte fra den britiske vand-industri, fra sponsorering og konsulentarbejde.