'Staggering' cleaning savings

Almost 700,000 litres of water were saved over a year by using disposable rather than laundered mops, as well as financial economies of more than £55,000 at a major NHS hospital in trials carried out by Jigsaw Cleaning Systems. The company used 17 wards at the hospital to compare the costs over various timescales.

The bottom-line results 'staggered' the hospital, with savings from using disposable mops of £154 per day, £4,633 per month and £55,000 per year. The efficiencies in water also surprised the hospital, with three litres of water needed as opposed to the 60 currently used on an average current shift, 102l used compared to 2,040l on a current day shift, and 36,720l instead of the current 734,400l a year.

'Using a lot less water means less chemicals, so savings are made all the way down the line,' says James Blackhurst, Jigsaw MD.