At a big retail establishment in the US, Sloan installed usage monitors on all plumbing fixtures, as well as a traffic counter on the main ladies’ restroom with a view to correlating fixture use to restroom traffic and enabling prediction of usage patterns.

“Usage was measured at 300 per day, which was a 50% increase in estimated traffic and nearly double the original estimate for all restrooms in the store,” Nortier says.

“This monitoring exercise showed variations in usage patterns and indicated that demand on the plumbing system and restroom consumables was substantially underestimated.”

Agile Waves in the US has developed the Resource Monitor, a web-based system that monitors electricity, gas and water usage in real time, while automatically calculating the carbon footprint.

Vice-president of business development Collin Breakstone says the system is designed to help home and business owners track and manage resource consumption, reduce environmental effects and save money.

“This system closes the loop between feedback and control and is capable of enabling water, gas and electricity usage to be reduced by 20% or more,” he says.

“Real-time alerts are provided on-screen or via text or email in relation to events such as water leakage or excessive energy use. Utility costs can be monitored and information is provided on how much is being used and where in the building.

“This is an advanced system that can give usage details by floor, room, appliance, circuit, or utility and also provides trend analysis and historical comparisons.”

On offer from GE Security in the US is the GE SmartCommand home security and automation system, which now incorporates SmartCommand Enviro Monitor.

An interactive wall panel provides current and historical feedback on electricity use and water consumption, as well as serving as the home’s programmable thermostat and security system interface. Other options include control of whole-home lighting, intercom and home audio.

The company’s Steve Hill says the system is designed to help home-owners achieve at least a 20% reduction in household energy and water consumption.

“This system is designed to help residential builders and developers construct homes that release fewer household emissions, as well as helping home-owners to track their current and historical energy and water usage,” Hill says.

In the UK, Franke Sissons head of sales and marketing Paul Markwell says developments in new technology are having a huge effect on hygiene, cleanliness, water conservation and monitoring in the washroom sector.

“The sanitaryware industry has made huge progress with the advent of ‘no touch’ self-closing technology, which forms a key element of complete washroom water management systems,” he says.

“Many building designers and facility managers are finding that incorporating water management systems is an effective way of increasing hygiene standards in washrooms.

“This applies particularly to those with a high level of usage, such as hospitals, schools and public buildings, which can now benefit from sophisticated systems that control the automated functions of all WCs, basins, faucets and showers from one central point.

“Other benefits are better monitoring of usage, the identification of faults and lower maintenance.

“Intelligent water management systems can be divided into two levels – the water fittings, and networking those fittings so they can communicate with each other via standardized data technology.

“At the fittings level, an intelligent electronic module provides a wide range of control functions, including time-scheduled hygiene flushing, thermal disinfections, peak load optimization and saving of system settings.

“By combining the system with the newly developed ECC (Ethernet Can Coupler) function controller, additional functions can be achieved.