Knight Frank
Business Stream’s emergency response saves Knight Frank from unnecessary water costs
24 September 2024 Reading time: 3 minutes
“Business Stream’s quick emergency response and effective problem solving gives us the reassurance we need from our water services provider. We’re delighted to have avoided unnecessary water costs due to the reliability of automated meter reading too. Thank you, Business Stream.”
Background
Knight Frank, one of the world’s leading independent real estate consultancies, is committed to enhancing people’s lives and environments by providing innovative property solutions for clients that add tangible value across property sectors and services.
Business Stream has been providing water and waste water services, including water efficiency support to Knight Frank sites across the UK since 2020.
The challenge
One of Knight Frank’s sites in Renfrew Glasgow (Westway) had been experiencing multiple leaks on their extensive water network as a result of both degradation of the water pipes and pipe damage due to excavating for specific grounds projects.
The leaks were identified both by site contractors where accidental pipe damage had occurred and by automated meter readers that Business Stream had installed to monitor the site’s water usage.
Automated meter readers (AMR) are small devices that send meter readings in 15-minute intervals to a centralised point via either a wired or wireless connection to provide almost real-time data.
AMRs don't need physical intervention from the customer, and the data can be accessed 24/7, 365 days of the year which means businesses, and their water retailers, can remotely monitor water use on site and identify any issues that arise.
The solution
Since installing the AMRs, our expert team have continued to track water use across Knight Frank’s sites and as a result have been able to quickly identify any spikes in consumption. On each occasion, Business Stream were able to deploy a team within 24 hours for emergency repair work at the site to conduct a leakage survey and carry out repair work.
Due to the cost and extensive work required to replace all the pipework on the site, the best solution has been to manage any of the site’s leaks through a process of surveying and targeting areas of pipework such as replacing a collar. This approach has helped to limit costs and avoid having to replace the entire infrastructure.
Results
Through AMR solutions and reactive problem solving, Business Stream have helped Knight Frank avoid unnecessary costs, and unnecessary water wastage.
As an example, one of the 11 leaks fixed resulted in Knight Frank making water savings of 7,800m3, which is the same as two and a half Olympic sized swimming pools of water per year.