Often overlooked are the water and cost savings achievable in the domestic water usage by commercial and industrial facilities. While water efficiency measures should begin with the highest water use operations such as cooling, cleaning, rinsing, heating, etc., many facilities miss the easy improvements that can be made in domestic water devices such as toilets, urinals, sink faucets and showers. Domestic water use at industrial and commercial facilities may range from a few percent at a food processing industry to more than 50 percent in an office setting. Average daily domestic demands in commercial/industrial settings range between 20 and 35 gallons per day per employee, and a savings of 25 to 35 percent in this domestic usage is readily achievable.

Toilets/Urinals

     Code Compliant 1.6 Gallons per Flush Toilet 

     High-Efficiency Toilets 

     Dual Flush Toilets 

     Gravity Flush Toilets 

     Flush Valve (Flushometer) Toilets 

     Pressurized Tanks System Toilets

     High-Efficieny Urinals

     Waterless Urinals 

     Washout and Washdown Urinals

Showerheads  

Faucets

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The use of cooling towers represents the largest use of water in industrial and commercial applications. Cooling towers remove heat from air conditioning systems and from a wide variety of industrial processes that generate excess heat. While all cooling towers continually cycle water in a closed loop, they still can consume 20 to 30 percent, or more, of a facility’s total water use. Optimizing operation and maintenance of cooling tower systems can offer facility managers significant savings in water consumption.

Cooling Tower Design  

     Evaporation 

     Blowdown 

     Drift Losses 

     Make-up Water 

     Water Balance

     Blowdown Optimization

     Controlling Blowdown 

     Recovering Sewer Charges

Cooling Tower Water Treatment

      Alternative Sources of Make-up Water

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All boiler make-up water contains impurities. As clean steam is released from the boiler, impurities build up. The increasing concentration of these impurities, such as dissolved solids, can lead to carryover into the steam, causing damage to piping, steam traps and even process equipment. The increasing concentration of suspended solids impurities in the boiler can form sludge, which impairs boiler efficiency and heat transfer capability.

Heating Design

     Optimizing Blowdown 

     Automatic Blowdown Controls 

     Maximizing Condensate Return 

     Improving External and Internal Water Treatment 

     Blowdown Heat Recovery Units 

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Although commonly overlooked, there are many ways to reduce water usage in the kitchen. Traditionally, saving water has not been a major consideration of commercial food preparers. Many establishments cite the lack of money or employees as reasons for not using water conservation methods. Case histories have shown that water efficiency programs are cost-effective, and most initial costs are retrieved within a two-year period. Participation in municipal water efficiency programs shows that the food preparation sector is interested in striving for high efficiencies in its water use.

Inefficient uses of water in kitchen operations come mainly from two areas: equipment design and behavioral patterns. The main types of water-using equipment found in kitchens are dishwashers, faucets, ice-making machines and garbage disposals. Improved technology has eliminated many of the water issues associated with equipment, as more rigid standards have been created to curtail excessive water use. Water audits of commercial facilities have shown that 60 percent of identified water savings comes from simply installing 2.2 gpm faucet aerators in all kitchen sink outlets. An effective part of water savings in kitchens is attributed to behavioral patterns in facilities. Awareness programs, education, training and job performance measures can influence proper behavioral patterns of staff.

Dishwashers

Kitchen Faucets and Pre-rinse Sprayers

Ice Machines and Garbage Disposals

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Commercial Laundries

Commercial, industrial and institutional facilities include those that wash linens, uniforms and other items for hotels and motels, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, universities and restaurants. Large amounts of water are regularly used in laundering facilities for operations that include the wash and rinse cycles of washing machines, steam-heated dryers, steam-pressing equipment and reclamation of dry solvent.

Traditional washer-extractor machines used by most laundry facilities operate with a rotating drum that agitates the laundry during wash and rinse cycles, then spins it at high speeds to extract water. Washer-extractors and most other traditional large-scale washing machines use fresh water for each wash and rinse cycle. The capacity for washer-extractors ranges from 25 to 400 dry pounds per load and use 2.5 to 3.5 gallons of water per pound of laundry. Water efficient laundering equipment, such as continuous batch washers and water reclamation systems, can reduce water use by as much as 70 percent at commercial, industrial and institutional facilities equipped with traditional washer-extractors.

Water Efficiency Measures

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Cleaning and Rinsing Applications

Most industrial and commercial businesses have a variety of cleaning and rinsing applications that can consume large volumes of water. Water efficiency techniques presented here address general water uses for process change-overs, equipment clean-out, parts rinsing,tank rinsing, line flushing, floor cleaning and other applications. Because this section is generic in nature, the water efficiency concepts presented will need to be individualized for specific business needs and any regulatory cleanliness standards.

Water Efficiency Measures

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Reuse and Reclaimation

 Maximizing utility of in-process water is accomplished by using it more than one time to do work. Water quality characteristics will determine if multi-functional use of in-process water is acceptable for achieving necessary product quality control/assurance. Fortunately, many water treatment technologies can provide cost-effective opportunities to reduce water supply demand and the resultant savings can be used to justify capital costs. Depending on water quality requirements for the stage of use, water may simply be recirculated or require only basic treatment such as solid settling, oil skimming and/or filtration using cartridge, bag, disk, indexing fabric or sand filtration.

Rainwater Harvesting

Rain Gardens

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Landscaping

Landscape irrigation is a watering system that is used to create and maintain lawns, gardens, and custom landscapes. The primary function of a landscape irrigation system is to ensure that water is spread regularly and evenly throughout any given landscape. A handful of places in the world do not require sophisticated landscape irrigation systems, but they are the exception, not the rule. For the rest of the world, especially the earth’s driest climates, lawn irrigation is required almost daily. Whether basic or high-tech, irrigation systems distribute the right amounts of water in the right places, which is essential to lawn care. This section will review ways to plan, plant and maintain a water-efficient landscape.

Landscape Irrigation

Water Efficient Plants

Water Efficient Technologies

     Automatic Irrigation Timers

     Smart Controllers

     Centralized Irrigation Controllers

     PC Software

     Sprinklers

     Flow Control Nozzles

     Sensors

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Pools

Pools are subject to significant water loss through evaporation. In the summer,  evaporation ranges from five to ten inches a month.   In addition to water loss, if a pool is heated, as much as 70% of heat lost is through evaporation; thus, increasing heating costs.  We advise all pool owners to have a  cover for their pool. Using a pool cover eliminates almost all evaporation, reduces the amount of make-up water required by 30-50%, reduces chemical consumption by 35-60%, and cuts cleaning time by keeping dirt and debris out of the pool.

Evaporation Protection

Pool Leaks 

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