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Every home is different and everyone has different water volume needs, but everyone deserves the safest highest quality water, and it is important to understand the approximate cost and carbon savings you can expect if you swap to a Novus purifier.
This depends on how and when you produce your water - the easiest way to estimate how much it will cost to use your Novus is to find out how much water you typically use each year and then to match that to the following graph.
We have compared the costs for both bottled water and traditional purifiers so you can see how much a Novus purifier would cost you in comparison.
Bottled Water:Not everyone relies on bottled water, but if your water quality isn’t drinkable, the cost can add up. Average water prices in the UK are £0.26/Litre when bought in 5L containers of standard water. City livers may be surprised to know that smaller 500ml bottles are more expensive at £0.58/litre when bought in multipacks. Average water consumption for a male is 3.7L/day and women 2.7L/day.
Consumable purifiers:We have used Reverse Osmosis (RO) as an example in this chart. Makes and models differ, but we have chosen technology that claims to be able to remove the contaminants needed in rural areas. Rural purification systems require membranes that cost upwards of £500, and can need to be replaced several times a year depending on conditions of use. Additional costs of replacement UV bulbs, technician call outs and energy costs have not been calculated on this graph.
For the Bottled Water comparisons, we have used: Highland Spring Still Bottled Water 500ml multipack bottles and a Tesco Ashbeck 5L bottle at £1.30. We have not accounted for the additional cost of transporting this water to your premises. These are necessarily averages over the year, are also subject to change and were true as of August 2022.
For the Reverse Osmosis comparisons, we have used: an average of the top 5 rural water purifiers coming in at an average £2000 in membrane maintenance per year. We have not included traditional filters, fridge filters or pitcher filters, as they have been proven to not remove many contaminants found in rural water supplies. We also have not accounted for the additional cost of transporting components to your premises. These are necessarily averages over the year, are also subject to change and were true as of August 2022.
We expect that future tariffs and greater supply of renewable generation on the UK system, that the running costs of a Novus will fall significantly over time.
The graph above uses Octopus GO as an example tariff. The ‘off-peak’ electricity rate is 7.5p/kwh and the ‘on-peak’ rate is40.13p/kwh. These rates are subject to change and were true as of August 2022.
If you use 5 liters a day (1,825 a year) for cooking and drinking and you purchase this in plastic bottles, your carbon impact is the equivalent of 196 kg of CO2 every year, which is equivalent to 1,784 miles of driving in an efficient car…
Plastic production is important and we should be recycling everything we get our hands on, however often little is discussed about the overall carbon impact of bottled water which is driven up by the raw materials, manufacturing processes, transportation and recycling.
Traditional purifiers that rely on consumable filters and membranes also have a relatively hidden carbon footprint. 94% of filters and membranes used world wide are produced in Asia. The materials used often include activated charcoal, a material produced by burning coconut shells. The process releases xxx tonnes of CO2 per year.
Novus uses electricity to evaporate and then compress water vapour which leads to its 22X energy efficiency improvement over traditional distillation technology. If you are on a renewable tariff from your energy supplier then they will be buying certificates for renewable generation to match the amount of electricity you use. Sadly however this is only half the story. They don’t buy certificates for when you actually use your electricity - so the electricity coming into your home could still be from a high carbon source.
This is where the Novus comes in. By operating at night and producing the majority of the water you need for the day, we are able to buy electricity when it’s cheaper andgreener.
Emissions from electricity generation are far lower than transportation and manufacturing of replacement components or bottled because of the hidden cost of the supply chain required to bring you plastic bottles of water or replacement disposable membranes.
If you were in Scotland instead of London your emissions would be far lower because of the sizable onshore wind capacity located there. This is what the rest of the UK will look like over the next 10 years or so - the government has committed to converting the electricity supply to zero carbon by 2035.
If you have rooftop solar PV a Novus purifier can automatically use the excess energy to purify and produce fresh water for your reservoir so you don’t run out of fresh water on a hot day.
Below is REAL data from an actual Novus purifier which is actually in someone's home right now!
This customer is on the Octopus GO tariff so their cheap electricity period is fixed from 00.30-04.30 in the morning at 7p/kWh. You can see that the Novus purifier is prioritising morning purification (blue bars) and the water level sensor is then calling for more productionas water levels decrease throughout the day.
Standard usage:
Water used = 10L
Energy used = 3.7 kWh
Daily energy cost = £2.06*
* base on day rates of 0.55p / kWh
Energy Saver Plus usage:
Water used = 10
Energy used = 2.25 kWh
Daily energy cost = £0.15* (£695 saving over on demand)
* base on over economy 7 rates of 0.07p / kWh