Rapid ROI and major water savings across co‑living homes
Learn how OX Living is improving water management across it’s portfolio by introducing clearer insights and more effective monitoring.
894,000
894,000
litres of water saved across nine properties in just four months
9+ tonnes
9+ tonnes
of COâ‚‚e emissions avoided during the analysed period
<2 months
<2 months
to recover the full hardware investment through water bill savings
The challenge
OX Living manages hundreds of professional house shares across Oxfordshire, providing high‑quality homes while keeping costs predictable for residents and the business.
Like all co-living and HMO operators, OX Living faced three common challenges:
•
Hidden leaks and inefficiencies that are difficult to detect in shared living environments
•
Rising water costs with limited visibility at property level
•
The risk of escape of water incidents that can disrupt residents and damage assets
The company wanted a solution that would reduce leak risk, improve operational oversight, and deliver measurable financial and environmental benefits, without disrupting resident experience.
The solution
OX Living partnered with Watergate to deploy smart water management across nine properties.
Watergate Sonic devices were installed on the incoming water supply at each site, creating a consistent monitoring layer across all locations.
The system gave OX Living’s operations team continuous insight into how water was being used across each property, enabling faster response times and a shift from reactive to proactive maintenance.
•
Real-time water usage monitoring
Continuous, high-resolution visibility into how water is being used across each building, making unusual patterns easier to spot and understand.
•
Early detection of leaks and abnormal consumption
Potential issues are identified at an early stage, allowing teams to respond before leaks escalate into property damage, disruption or unnecessary water waste.
•
Portfolio-level visibility via the Watergate platform
All sites can be monitored from a single platform, enabling clearer comparisons, better prioritisation and more informed operational decisions across the estate.
The results
The impact was immediate and clearly measurable. Across nine co-living spaces, Watergate helped save 894,000 litres of water in just four months, avoid over 9 tonnes of COâ‚‚e, and reduce operating costs, with water bill savings alone repaying the full hardware investment in under two months.
Installation also revealed that around 30 percent of properties had pre-existing leaks on the incoming water supply, highlighting how common hidden water waste and damage risk can be in shared living environments without continuous monitoring.
How the savings were achieved
Watergate gave Ox Living continuous visibility into water use through 24/7 monitoring of incoming water flow.
Abnormal usage was identified in real time and presented with clear context, enabling faster investigation, better prioritisation and early resolution before issues escalated.
The issues uncovered
Long-flow events
Water running continuously at low flow for extended periods, often caused by leaking toilets, faulty valves, or taps left slightly open. These issues can waste significant volumes of water over time without triggering obvious signs on site.
High-volume events
Sudden spikes in water use that indicate burst pipes or major leaks, requiring immediate attention to prevent damage and disruption. They can also be an indication of more people living at the property than the operator is aware of.
A proactive approach to water management
In addition to leak detection, the Watergate dashboard gave OX Living a clear view of baseline water use at each property. This helped identify persistently high consumption, separate behavioural usage from genuine faults, and highlight further opportunities to reduce waste over time.
Together, real-time alerts and portfolio-level visibility enabled OX Living to move from reactive maintenance to proactive water management.
Monitored 16 weeks
of real-time water use to build a clear performance baseline
Prevented 22,000 l/day
of potential water loss by identifying a developing leak early
Alerted 130+ events
highlighting abnormal water use and leak‑related risks
Protecting assets and residents
Crucially, the rapid savings were achieved without negatively affecting residents. By identifying issues earlier and reducing the likelihood of major leaks, OX Living experienced:
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Fewer emergency call-outs
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Less unplanned maintenance
•
Reduced disruption to residents
Smart water management enabled OX Living to protect its properties while improving day-to-day operational resilience.
Supporting ambitious water efficiency goals
OX Living has set an ambitious target to reduce average per capita water consumption across its portfolio to 100 litres per person per day, without impacting resident experience.
The pilot demonstrated how smart water management can support this goal by combining early leak detection with ongoing visibility of water use, giving operators the data they need to drive continuous improvement.
A scalable foundation for growth
Following the successful validation of Watergate, OX Living is planning further deployments across its portfolio.
With improved configurations, faster operational response and wider rollout, OX Living is building a scalable, data-driven approach to water efficiency that strengthens asset protection, reduces costs, and supports long-term sustainability.
Watergate gave us visibility we simply didn’t have before. We were able to identify hidden issues early, reduce water consumption significantly and achieve a rapid return on investment, all without disrupting our residents.
Protecting natural resources like water is important to our residents and core to OX Living’s values, which is why we’re deploying innovations like Watergate to drive efficiencies that are good for our residents and good for the planet.
– Aaron Stevens
Brand manager at OX Living
Ready to achieve similar results?
From fast payback to measurable water and carbon savings, Ox Living’s experience highlights what smarter water management can deliver.
Get in touch to see how the same approach could work across your buildings.