BT Adastral Park signs PHS Waterlogic for improved drinking water supply

Drinking water expert, PHS Waterlogic, has just completed a project to transform drinking water delivery at BT’s global innovation and development centre; Adastral Park. Mains-fed water coolers now deliver drinking water to over 4000 staff on the site, saving money, time and space, whilst significantly reducing environmental impact.

Adastral Park is recognised as one of the leading centres of technical innovation in the communication world.  It is a high-tech hub for future-facing technologies and here BT undertakes pioneering work in fields such as optical technologies and digital switching, plus advanced software techniques and protocols.  Along with BT, another 30 ICT companies share the park, near Ipswich in Suffolk.

Until 2010, BT supplied drinking water for its entire Adastral workforce with bottled water coolers.  This had proven a costly approach and one that required constant attention if continuous availability was to be achieved.  Beyond these practical issues, BT is committed to being a responsible business, to being a progressive employer and to minimising its impact on the environment.  These essential aims were all part of the need to re-evaluate how drinking water could best be supplied at Adastral Park.

With these aims in mind, sustainability champion Andrew Cassy initiated a project to review and improve upon the drinking water provision at Adastral Park, as he explains; “Problems included running out of water, the demand for space that this approach to provision required and manual handling implications associated with continual replacement of heavy bottles.  However, the real headline issues were the high cost of this method of drinking water delivery and the high carbon footprint that this approach creates.”

Focusing on the priorities for drinking water delivery at BT Adastral Park, the shortlist of requirements was drawn up and included UV filtration technology, energy efficiency, quality and consideration of whole life running cost.

Having considered all the options and alternative methods appropriate to drinking water provision at Adastral Park, Andrew Cassy made a case for a switch to mains-fed water coolers, selecting PHS Waterlogic to supply units across the entire site.  The Waterlogic water coolers chosen were WL2500 and Waterlogic 4, both used in freestanding and table top format.   According to Andrew, these units now provide a much better service to employees, at a lower cost and with a lower carbon footprint.

The initial installation work was conducted in just under a week, with the minimum of fuss and disturbance.  Since then the PHS Waterlogic water coolers have been in continual demand, with heavy usage across the entire park and in particular in the high traffic areas, such as the restaurant.

Focusing on environmental advantage, PHS Waterlogic has proven that mains-fed water coolers offer up to a 72 per cent* saving on Absolute Carbon Footprint over five years (kgCo2e), when compared with bottled water on sites of high water consumption (280 litres per month).  Adding to this advantage, PHS Waterlogic advocates a reuse and recycling approach to routine servicing and filter replacement, to further enhance opportunities to reduce carbon footprint by swapping to mains-fed.

“There has been excellent support from PHS Waterlogic throughout this project,” said Andrew Cassy.  “From concept to survey, through installation and subsequent in-life maintenance, every step has been proactive.  With PHS Waterlogic, the standard of service very much matches the professional, well-built and technically appealing standard of the water coolers themselves.”

Summarising the benefits at BT Adastral Park, Andrew lists the advantages as saving money, saving time, saving space and improving the look of the office − all whilst reducing environmental impact and maintaining high standards of drinking water provision.

*Based on a WL2000 vs a standard bottled water cooler.