The Stateweide Water Conservation Web Site

Water Saving Technologies

CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES:

Click an image to read more about that technology.

Inside:

Hot Water Re-circulating Pumps
Low Flow Fixtures and Appliances
High Efficiency Toilets and Valves

Outside:

ET/Satellite Irrigation Controllers
Rain Sensors
Water Harvesting Technologies
Tips for Washing Your Vehicles
Have a Pool?

Commercial Car Wash:

Water Reuse
Handheld Equipment
Shut-off Valves

Restaurants and Food Processing:

General Water Cooled Equipment
Pre-rinse Spray Valves
Boilerless Steamers
Waterless Woks
Sanitation and Clean up

Medical Facilities and Laboratories:

X-Ray Equipment
Vacuum Pumps
Sterilizers

Evaluation and Cost Benefit Analysis of Municipal Water Conservation Programs (ECoBA):

This study looks at the actual amount of water saved, in acre-feet, by a variety of water conservation programs.

Go To Water Casa's ECoBA

Inside:

		Hot Water Re-circulating Pumps Running water in sinks, showers or tubs to get hot water can waste between 8,000 - 20,000 gallons a year depending on the size of your household. Hot water re-circulating pumps can provide hot water on demand, saving water while saving time. Price range: $150 - $400 depending on the model Vendors: Pluming supply stores, hardware stores, home improvement stores and online vendors.
High Efficiency Toilets Toilets are the main source of water use in a household, representing about 30% of indoor water consumption. Conservation friendly toilets and urinals use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, and are now required under federal law. Newly developed toilet models, marketed as high-efficiency toilets (HETs), use around 1.28 gallons per flush.
	Dual-flush Toilets
		Dual-flush toilets (a type of HET) are quickly becoming more available in the United States. These toilets use 1.6 gallons for solid waste and 0.8-1.2 gallons for liquid waste. Price range: $230 - $700 depending on the make and model Vendors: Plumbing supply stores, hardware stores, home improvement stores and online vendors.
	Urinals
		Urinals are available in low flow and waterless models. Price range: $300 - $500 Vendors: Plumbing supply stores, commercial facility supply stores, and online vendors.
Low Flow Fixtures and Appliances
	Sink Faucets
		For the home: Try installing faucet aerators to reduce water flow while keeping water pressure. Price range: Less than $2 (for the aerator only) to as much as $340 (when a high-end faucet is included) Vendors: Plumbing supply stores, hardware stores, home improvement stores, commercial facility supply stores, and online vendors
		For public restrooms: Consider installing motion sensor controls on the faucets. These sensors detect when hands are under the faucet, saving 10-50 % of water used by manual faucets. Price range: $100 - $400; prices may vary with quantity purchased Vendors: Plumbing supply stores, commercial facility supply stores, and online vendors
		For commercial kitchens: Consider installing hand washing faucets that use 1.0 gallons per minute or less. If none can be found, try using an aerator that has a flow rate of 1.0 gallons per minute or less. This can be a good way to conserve 30-50% of the water used by older models faucets. Price range: Commercial aerators are less than $2 depending on quantity purchased. Hand washing faucets range at $150 - $400 Vendors: Plumbing supply stores, commercial facility supply stores, and online vendors
	Shower Heads
		Low flow doesn't mean low pressure anymore. Install low flow shower heads that use no more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute. You can find shower heads that use as low as 1.2 gallons per minute. Price range: $6 - $90 depending on make, model, and flow rate. Vendors: Plumbing supply stores, hardware stores, home improvement stores, and online vendors

Outside:

ET/Satellite Irrigation Controllers
	Smart Irrigation System Controllers: Studies show a typical outdoor water use savings of 20% - 40% annually. Reducing water usage also saves homeowners and businesses money. Price range: $70 - $460 Vendors: Internet vendors, home and garden improvement stores, irrigation supply stores.
	Vertical Stop Valves: Keep irrigation systems from losing and wasting water caused by broken sprinkler heads. Vertical stop devices can be placed inside of an irrigation rise upon installation. If a sprinkler head is broken off by a mower the device will shut off the riser to prevent geysers when the system is running through the next irrigation cycle. Price range: $3 for ½ inch VS 500 model; $6 for the ¾ inch VS 750 model Vendors: They can be found at www.savewaterinc.com or www.watersav.com
Rain Sensors
These small devices are designed to override automatic irrigation systems when adequate rainfall has fallen. The rain sensors are mounted outside in an open area and wired to the shutoff valve on the common line of the automatic watering system. Rain sensors are good ways to protect our water supply as well as save money. They are easy to install, reduce utility bills and wear on the irrigation systems, and help to prevent over-watering, which leads to disease damages. Price range: $25 - $75 Vendors: Online vendors, irrigation supply stores, and home and garden improvement stores
Water Harvesting Technologies
Rainwater harvesting has been used since the ancient times. With the development of metropolitan areas, and centralized water systems, rainwater harvesting became less popular, but today it’s making a come back. Rainwater is very valuable and has many outdoor and indoor uses. For help, refer to the guide Rainwater Harvesting To order more copies of this guide Click Here Price range: The price depends on how intricate your water harvesting system will be; how many holding barrels, type of materials used, etc.
Have a Pool? Here are some conservation tips…
Install pool covers. This will reduce evaporation while keeping the pool cleaner, reducing the amount of shock treatments and backwashes. If you construct a pool, realize that fountains and waterfalls significantly increase the rate of evaporation, so try to minimize their use. Recover filter backwash water for reuse on landscaping or other beneficial uses Maintaining your pool will allow you to go longer without having to backwash. When you do, remember to monitor the pool filling to prevent overflow.

Commercial Car Washing Facilities:

Water Reuse

Commercial car washes that recycle their water can realize water savings of

50 - 80%!

Handheld Equipment
As a commercial car wash operator consider selecting handheld spray wand equipment, foamy brushes and similar systems that use no more than 3.0 gallons per minute for automobile washing and no more than 3.5 gallons per minute for bus and large truck washes.

Shut off valves
Consider installing positive shutoff valves on handheld spray wands so that water will not run when the equipment in not in use.

Restaurants and Food Processing:

Water Cooled Equipment Many appliances used in food preparation facilities use water cooled equipment such as ice makers, refrigerators, ice cream machines, and others. Instead of using a once-through cooling system, choose a system with a chilled water or cooling tower loop. Not only does this save water, choosing a looped system will keep your water and sewer bills lower than once-through systems.
Pre-Rinse Spray Valves
	New higher pressure nozzles use half as much water as the standard nozzles and clean more effectively. When older nozzles are replaced, restaurants can achieve both water and energy savings. Studies have shown savings for small restaurants averaging 50,000 gallons per year.
Boilerless Steamers These connectionless steamers do not need a water supply or wastewater drains. They are much more efficient, producing a water savings of 80-95% over the less efficient water connection and drain steamers. Boiler based steamers discharge water directly into the sewer which can average a use of 40 gallons per hour.
Water Efficient Ice Machines Flake ice machines use less water than cube ice machines. Water cooled ice machines use significantly more water than air cooled machines that are currently available. The more efficient machines can produce a savings of 15 -50% if replacing an air cooled machine, and 85-90% if replacing a water-cooled machine.
Waterless Wok A wok stove is a multi-functional piece of cooking equipment at the base of most Asian food restaurants, with the majority of woks not water efficient. Waterless woks, however, are air cooled systems. Trials preformed in Sydney, Australia, have show the waterless wok stove has the potential to save 5,000 liters (1,320.86 gallons) of water per day for each wok replaced. The reduction in water waste is up to 90% and it is estimated that the payback period of this type of retrofit is one year.

Medical Facilities and Laboratories:

Large hospitals have a variety of water uses including food service. Therefore, all of the items found in the Restaurant and Food Processing section are applicable to hospital operations. In addition, medical facilities also have unique processes which require the use of water.
X-Ray Equipment
	Large Frame X-Ray: Installing water saver kits on the cooling water loops of the film developers will eliminate continuously flowing cooling water and may produce a water savings of 75 – 95% of the cooling water.
	Digital X-Ray Equipment: These completely eliminate the need for water cooling systems used in film development. It also eliminates the need for backflow preventers, saving money and water.
Vacuum Pumps A dry vacuum system eliminates vacuum pump water use completely and saves energy.
Sterilizers Sterilizers can result in significant water use in medical facilities. Steam sterilizers are probably the most common type and may use a continuous flow of cool water to provide cooling to discharge water in sewer systems. A continuous flow may waste a thousand or more gallons of water per day. New models have been designed to reduce water use.