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Tapworks – Officially The First Carbon Neutral Water Softener Manufacturer In The Uk
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Tapworks, the leading UK water softener manufacturer, has been independently assessed as the first carbon neutral water softener manufacturer in the UK – and it’s believed to be the first popular household appliance manufacturer of any kind to be able to claim carbon neutral status or better.
The forward thinking company – the UK arm of the world’s leading water softener company – called in an accredited EU Emissions Trading Scheme Verifier to assess every aspect of the work it undertakes with a view to confirming what it had been working towards over the last twelve months – that it was categorically, performing in a carbon neutral manner.
The assessor measured and evaluated every aspect of the UK operation from the product’s arrival in the UK, transportation, the operations of the company’s HQ in Stokenchurch, other UK transport issues including the use of company owned vehicles and the end use operational energy costs – the energy used by the water softeners after they had been installed in customers homes. An annual tonnage of carbon dioxide generated for each of these areas was calculated to assess the required savings that needed to be available to set against the emissions to achieve a carbon neutral status – or better.
Tests were carried out on Tapworks water softener models to establish the electrical power drawn to operate the products and these averaged out at 7 watts per unit. The assessor then used verifiable figures from a US study on the energy savings that can be attributed to a Tapworks water softener – savings that can be attributed to the reduction of scale formation on boiler heat exchangers, in radiators and pipework, in valves, pumps and taps, leading to vastly improved thermal transfer from a standard domestic heating system along with the reduced energy required in the home – and in fact the figures were reduced for UK operation from the between 22 and 30% measured in the USA to just 20% here in the UK to give a generous margin for error – the independent assessor confirms the findings that “it is likely that the annual emissions created in the US manufacture of the UK sold units are covered by the annual emissions saving created by the softener use. It is therefore safe to state categorically that the UK operation of Tapworks has a beneficial impact on the environment.”
Tapworks managing director Mike Pickavance is understandably delighted with the report and being named the first UK appliance manufacturer to be able to categorically state that his operation is carbon neutral or better: “This is an aim we have had for a while and to get this report is excellent news for the business – but even better news for our growing customer base who can buy install and use their Tapworks water softener knowing that it is not only not contributing to the CO2 emissions problem, it’s actually helping it! To be able to claim that as a business you are carbon neutral is no easy task – ask Marks and Spencer – and can only be achieved by quantifying the actual energy employed at all stages of the business’s activity and transparently accounting for the compensatory measures we employ to offset the impact of the environmental emissions we all cause to a greater or lesser extent.
“This report highlights that by installing a water softener, if you live in a hard water area of the UK – which is about 60% of the country – you will not only be installing a carbon neutral appliance, you will also be saving up to 20% a year on your energy bills because of the reduced demand on electrical energy supply from a power station or gas combusted in the water heating equipment.”
It could even be argued that the Government should legislate for every home in a hard water area in the UK to have a Tapworks water softener installed to contribute towards it achieving its emissions reduction targets!
Whilst this is all excellent news the report still singled out areas where the operation could improve still further: “We’re delighted, but not resting on our laurels,” says Mike Pickavance. “We are now aware of areas where in return for minimal additional effort we can improve these figures still further and as a business that’s what we want to do. It makes huge sense to the business as not only will we further reduce emissions we will see benefits in operational costs that will add to our bottom line. It’s a strange thing that people still see making an effort to reduce emissions as an additional cost. Entered into sensibly, it’s quite the opposite. Being more energy efficient and energy conscious saves money and can add to your profit.”
