Liquid Assets

Issue 09 2010

City West Water L I M I TED

Water saving on ball 4 at and Olympic Parks

Akzo Nobel in 6 the water saving sphere

Water recycling 20 Schiavello’s water saviour this issue Spring 2010

4 8 6 10 Water saving Akzo Nobel in Every little drop Brimbank polished on the ball at the water saving counts for on water saving Melbourne and sphere Melbourne Olympic Parks Facilities Management

Efficiency the way to sustainable water use

Looking back over the past year or so, it is staggering to see the difference a year can make. Midway through 2009, Melbourne’s water Anne Barker Managing Director industry was facing one of the most challenging periods in its history. Storage levels reached their lowest point on record at around 26 per cent of capacity, a pattern of record low rainfall had persisted for much of the year, and harsher restrictions seemed all but inevitable.

2 12 16 20 14 18 Olex makes water Instant water Water conservation Fire sprinkler Water filtration saving cool savings in the keeps growing at testing to go Schiavello’s wash for Princes smart water saviour Linen Services University

Efficiency the way to sustainable water use

We are now, thankfully, in a much ensure that water is used efficiently use. You’ll also learn about our better position. While good rainfall and not wasted, and treated as the broadened Cleaner Production over the past 12 months and the precious resource that it is. program – our newly named first flows from the Sugarloaf Pipeline Ultimately, this means a permanent Business Resource Efficiency team have helped boost water storages, shift in how we plan and use our will combine the benefits of our it is by no means licence to undo water resources. We’ve already Water Conservation and Cleaner the phenomenal achievements our made great gains in the area of Production expertise with our customers have notched up in the water reuse, water recycling and growing knowledge of the area of water savings. water efficiency across a whole relationship with energy efficiency. With water and energy consumption As we emerge from restrictions and range of industry sectors. The rising often inextricably linked, this is one enjoy the benefits of a diversified cost of water over the coming years area that we feel we can support water supply, City West Water’s means that our work is far from over our customers most effectively. challenge is to encourage the in this area and is only set to gather more momentum in the future. community to continue to use water Enjoy the read. in an efficient and sustainable In this edition of Liquid Assets you’ll manner. Whether it’s in the home, see how businesses have allowed in public space or in a large scale efficiency to act as a guiding Regards manufacturing facility, our goal is to principle in relation to their water Anne

3 Water saving on the ball at Melbourne and Olympic Parks

Rainwater harvesting has helped one of Melbourne’s premier sporting precincts reduce its water use considerably.

Spanning 40 hectares on the edge four to five years, the Trust has At Hisense Arena, water is captured of the CBD, the Melbourne and looked at numerous methods of from the roof and stored in a series Olympic Parks precinct is one of minimising the use of drinking water of tanks with a 550,000 litre Melbourne’s most recognised and at the site. capacity, which is used for court most visited precincts. Home to washing, stadium washdown and “We looked at a number of options Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena, of nearby landscaped when investigating the best way to the Westpac Centre (formerly the areas. reduce the amount of water used Glass House), and the new AAMI across the entire precinct – nothing At the precinct’s western edge, Park, the precinct plays host to was off the table, but of course it a series of tanks connected to hundreds of events, more than had to make sense from a financial stormwater pits over the site hold a million visitors, and thousands perspective and had to deliver real a further 350,000 litres of water, of sports men and women who use water savings,” Mr Black said. which is used for washing the outer the world-class sporting facilities, courts, general maintenance and every year. “We investigated extracting and garden irrigation. treating water from the Yarra River, With almost seven hectares of but when we realised this may To maximise water use, irrigation playing surfaces that must be impact the river environment, was overhauled. All overhead and maintained at world-class we looked to bore water which spray type irrigation not on playing standards, efficient water use is also proved unviable because of surfaces was converted to drip or high up the list of challenges. a lack of required flow and the risk sub-surface irrigation, and mulching As Melbourne’s rainfall has headed of salinity. was increased to retain moisture downwards over recent years, “At the end of the investigation, levels. Plants that hadn’t survived Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust rainwater harvesting stood head the extreme of drought were (MOPT) have risen to the challenge and shoulders above every other replaced with hardier varieties. and made significant reductions in alternative as a cost-effective way their water use. At the brand new AAMI Park, water to augment our water supplies while sensitive design was built into the MOPT Horticulture Manager, Adrian taking full advantage of the sheer stadium. Water from its expansive Black, explained that over the past size of the precinct.” roof area is captured and stored in

4 200,000 litre tanks and is then used we’ve been able to reduce our • Extensive rainwater for toilet flushing and maintenance. drinking water usage by around 25 harvesting initiatives Existing facilities within the venues per cent which means that millions At a glance also came under review. While it is of litres have stayed in the dams have slashed water use often difficult to retrofit alternative and our water bill has gone down.” water supply to existing buildings, The water conservation story at by 25 per cent a number of measures were the Melbourne and Olympic Parks implemented. Urinals were all precinct is, however, only just • Expansion of rainwater converted to waterless models, flow beginning. restrictors were placed on all taps harvesting is being As part of the $330 million upgrade and all showerheads were swapped to Melbourne Park, a 4.5 million litre developed with a for three-star models. underground tank is being installed capacity of over The initiatives delivered water next to Rod Laver Arena. The tank savings instantly, and despite the will store rainwater captured from its 19 million litres. ongoing growth in events and visitor iconic roof for use in toilet flushing, numbers to the precinct, water use washdown and irrigation. across the entire precinct has And, next to AAMI Park, plans A-League football and hundreds headed downwards. are being finalised for a 13.5 million of other sporting and entertainment litre underground tank to capture “The rainwater capture not only events will ensure the Melbourne stormwater to irrigate Gosh’s reduces the amount of drinking and Olympic Parks precinct will Paddock, which has just undergone water we use, but it enables us to continue to attract hundreds of a playing surface upgrade. Once maintain the facilities to the required thousands of visitors each year. full, these two tanks will store the world-class standard using water The commitment of MOPT to equivalent to seven Olympic sized that would otherwise flow into reduce drinking water use will swimming pools. stormwater drains,” Mr Black said. ensure that those visitors enjoy the “From when we started these The increasing popularity of events world-class facilities where drinking initiatives about five years ago, like the Australian Open tennis, water conservation is a key priority.

5 Akzo Nobel in the water saving sphere For Akzo Nobel it was an innovative, yet simple solution that helped dramatically reduce water use at their chemical manufacturing facility.

Akzo Nobel is the largest global paints and industrial coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals in the world, including well known brands such as Sikkens, International and Eka. The company’s Australian operations in Sunshine, which manufacture 27,000 tonnes of industrial coatings and polymers each year, use a cooling tower and cooling pond to control process water temperature of the manufacturing process. The pond captures heated water used in the polymer manufacturing process and allows it to cool down before being recirculated through the cooling tower again. Measuring four metres deep and 15 metres wide, like any body of water, the pond can lose considerable

6 • Hollow plastic balls form a honeycomb-like cover on top of a cooling pond, covering 91 per cent of the pond surface At a glance

• Evaporation has been cut by 91 per cent.

amounts of water through because we didn’t have millions The remaining nine per cent of evaporation, particularly in the of dollars to spend.” uncovered surface allows light and warmer months. air into the water, minimising the risk With solutions costing tens and of water turning stagnant. And, David Grubits, Environment and possibly hundreds of thousands of unlike permanent or engineered Statutory Compliance Manager, dollars, a site engineer undertook alternatives, the balls are flexible said the company had looked at a some research to investigate more and can be easily removed for number of options to address the cost effective methods to remedy maintenance purposes and without evaporation from the pond but had the evaporation problem. interruption to operations. to ensure the remedy wasn’t cost prohibitive. After doing some research online, “The plastic balls have provided an the site engineer came up with a ideal solution to our evaporation “With a pond that size and the simple yet seemingly ingenious problem, and we’ve been able to potential water savings we could remedy – plastic balls! cut the amount of drinking water achieve, some of the options we needed to keep the cooling towers The cooling pond is now covered looked at such as a roof or operating efficiently. shade cloth canopy would have with approximately 20,000 black required detailed engineering,” plastic balls. Being hollow, the “More importantly though, we’ve Mr Grubits said. balls easily float on the pond been able to achieve the water surface and form a hexagonal saving at 10-15 per cent of the “When you look at it from a honeycomb pattern that covers cost of a conventional engineered pay-back perspective, we had 91 per cent of the surface area, cover,” Mr Grubits said. to look at something that provided dramatically reducing evaporation maximum effect for minimum cost by the same amount.

7 Engaging its tenants Senior Facilities Manager, with new ‘hot taps’, saving Paul Donnellan, said that while hundreds of litres each week. to be part of the implementing water saving initiatives With the help of a reliable plumber, within an existing building does leaking plumbing was fixed and water saving effort present its challenges, there were a program of maintenance was ample reasons to look at ways devised to ensure that the building’s has helped turn a where they could save water. plumbing operated efficiently. thirsty building into “When dealing with an existing From there, the site managers building, there are limitations looked to their tenants, particularly an example of water when it comes to implementing in the food courts where many water conservation measures, commercial style kitchens were conservation. but we found there were plenty operating, some with wok stoves. of sources of inefficient water use Wok stoves can consume vast quantities of water as they require When Exchange Tower was built in that could be easily fixed with a the constant flow of cool water to the 1970s, water conservation was comparably small financial cost,” ensure the surrounding work a long way from the mainstream, Mr Donnellan said. surface does not overheat. let alone an overriding design “We looked at the water saving principle. Nestled amongst the from two perspectives: firstly the “We spoke to the food court Melbourne CBD’s financial district mechanics of the building itself, tenants at great length to encourage on Little Collins Street, Exchange and then, the mix of tenants and them to adopt sensible water use Tower is a 15 storey office complex how they were using water. practices in their kitchens, and I’m that is home to more than 200 pleased to say that they’ve all risen tenants – ranging from small one “Importantly, this involved engaging to the challenge and contributed and two person offices, food court the tenants to get on board with to the building recording a sharp vendors and restauranteurs, to water savings, because at the end drop in water consumption,” tenants that occupy entire floors. of the day, the cost of significant Mr Donnellan said. increases in water usage would Such a diverse tenant mix means eventually flow through to lease “Since our first waterMAP, through that the building is operating, on agreements.” a combination of changes to one floor or another, for the best hardware and responsible water Melbourne Facilities Management part of 16 hours a day. With 15 use by our tenants, we’ve reduced quickly implemented a number of levels of tenants and a busy food our water use by eight per cent, measures that each contributed to court with restaurant-style kitchens, and we’ve come under the 10 reduced water consumption. water usage had surpassed the megalitre threshold which is a Cooling towers underwent 10 megalitres per year threshold fantastic achievement.” extensive analysis and were that legally required a water optimised to minimise water Melbourne Facilities Management management action plan consumption. Existing dual flush has no plans to rest on its laurels. (WaterMAP) to be developed. toilets were adjusted to use even It plans to implement more Site property manager, Melbourne less water, flow restrictors were measures, in the short and long Facilities Management, used their placed on all taps, and term, to continue the water saving waterMAP as a manual to bring showerheads in the on-site gym achievements at the site. And, their water usage down, with a long were replaced with three-star with another 14 properties under term goal of bringing consumption efficient models. Even the older management across Melbourne, under 10 megalitres per year across style urns with continual weeping it plans to roll out the learnings from the site. and ‘dump valves’ were replaced Exchange Tower across its portfolio. Every little drop counts for Melbourne Facilities Management

8 • A multi-faceted approach to saving water across a multi-tenant commercial site

• Water savings have resulted in the site coming in under the 10 megalitre waterMAP threshold.

At a glance

Every little drop counts for Melbourne Facilities Management

9 • A water filtration system that recycles virtually 100 per cent of water used for vehicle washing

At a glance • Depot site is now largely water self-sufficient.

10 Brimbank polished on water saving

A water recycling initiative has helped turn a vehicle depot into an example of sustainable water use.

Each week, across the Brimbank consumption at the depot to Minor water losses attributed to City Council municipality, hundreds a trickle of what it was. treatment and evaporation are of thousands of bins are placed out compensated by the stormwater Tom Razmovski, Manager for collection, and with tonnes of system catching water from the roof Environment, said that with the site refuse whisked from kerbs by a fleet of the depot shed and sending it to consuming considerable volumes of trucks, it’s easy to imagine that the recycled water storage tanks. of water, it was vital that a way be transporting garbage can become found to cut water use. The project, costing approximately a dirty job. $200,000, received an $18,000 At Council’s Keilor Park vehicle “Our fleet of 20 trucks empty grant from City West Water, and will depot, a fleet of trucks stand ready garbage bins all over the result in up to 1.5 million litres of for the next collection, left clean and municipality, and to maintain them water being saved every year. shining from a $200,000 investment for public hygiene means that they The water recycling system has in water recycling that has enabled need to be washed regularly,” been operational since mid 2010, the site to become mostly self- Mr Razmovski said. with the aim of making vehicle sufficient from a water perspective. “We looked at a number of options, washing water self sufficient at The Keilor Park depot held the but the water recycling system the site. And, during routine dubious honour of being Council’s we’ve implemented here stood out maintenance or the unlikely event largest water consuming site, using from the rest, so once we received of system breakdown, the system water to clean garbage trucks and funding from Council and a grant can be switched over to use other service vehicles, including from City West Water we set about drinking water. street and footpath sweepers. getting the project up and running as soon as possible.” With water use now slashed to In 2009, council workers a fraction of prior levels, Brimbank investigated ways to reduce water The water recycling system works residents can look forward to use, and came up with a proposal by collecting water in a drainage pit seeing their fleet of service vehicles for an onsite water recycling facility and then putting it through multiple kept in pristine condition knowing and stormwater connection system filtration processes which treat it to that not one drop of water has that has since helped reduce water Class B standard recycled water. been wasted.

11 Olex makes water saving cool

• Installation of variable speed drives on cooling towers that operate depending on ambient temperature

• The initiative has resulted in considerable At a glance water, electricity and greenhouse gas emission savings per year.

12 Olex makes water saving cool

A slight change to a water cooling system has provided Olex with the dual benefit of reduced water and electricity consumption.

Olex is Australia’s largest On top of consuming nearly 15 Additionally, there has been a manufacturer of electrical cables million litres of drinking water per significant reduction in energy for the energy and infrastructure year, through its lack of variability consumption of 78.1 megawatt sectors. The company’s plant and adaptability, the system also hours of electricity per year. in Tottenham uses a water used a great deal of energy with This energy saving equates to recirculation system to cool water fans often running unnecessarily. greenhouse gas savings of from the various processes involved 95.2 tonnes per year. Olex decided to address this in cable insulating and sheathing. inefficiency and with a $20,000 In addition to slashing the The system operates by using grant from City West Water to consumption of precious drinking large fans to cool water and contribute to the cost, installed water and lessening its carbon then recirculate the cooled variable speed drives that allow the footprint, Olex’s commitment to water back through the system. cooling tower fans to operate at implementing more efficient The fans, measuring 1160mm in optimal speed, depending on the processes has brought the diameter, part of a cooling tower weather conditions and the degree company’s annual operating system, were run at 100 per cent of cooling required at any given time. costs down by almost $13,000. capacity, regardless of the water The results of Olex’s project The energy savings that have temperature or ambient conditions have been outstanding. The resulted from the project are a which can vary the temperature changes have saved 4.8 million bonus towards further improving of the cooled water considerably. litres of drinking water per year Olex’s sustainability. by reducing water losses through cooling tower drift.

13

At a glance

increase utilising

an

that remove anything that’s able to able to that remove anything that’s end up on the linen being washed. From there, the water is sent to a holding tank where it is mixed with fresh water and then sent back to the continuous batch washers to the continuous batch washers for reuse. system

despite

cent

recycling

per

25

water

in volumes of linen being washed. water for a series of filters to treat the laundering process in reuse by • Water consumption has dropped • A Princes Linen to investigate ways to reduce the water they used on site. Princes Linen’s operations revolve around continuous batch washers – large industrial washing machines that wash through the tonnes of linen each day. It was these washers that presented the greatest opportunity to reduce water consumption. After lengthy investigation and analysis, Princes Linen invested in a state-of-the-art onsite water recycling system that enables water to be reused continuously. With the new system in place, once the linen has been washed, the wastewater is sent through a multi-stage recycling system. Using a dedicated drain system, the water is first sent through a heat exchanger to be cooled down. Once cooled, water is then pumped through a series of coarse filters to remove large particles, then through fine filters to remove lint, and finally, through a series of superfine filters

For the tens of thousands of hotel rooms and restaurants around Melbourne, laundry service providers are key suppliers. They make sure that sheets are washed and pressed, napkins starched and table cloths folded. Princes Linen Services plays a big part in keeping the linen of hundreds of eateries and accommodation sites clean. Located in Altona North, Princes’ site processes around 100 tonnes of linen each week. Plant Manager, Matthew Cefai, said that linen from accommodation and hospitality sites from all over Melbourne ends up at Princes Linen’s plant. but over “It varies during the year, the year we wash, dry and prepare up to a staggering 5000 tonnes of linen,” Mr Cefai said. It’s easy to comprehend that washing such large volumes of linen consumes vast quantities of water. It was this water usage that led A state-of-the-art water recycling system system water recycling A state-of-the-art water consumption reduced dramatically for Princes Linen Services.

Princes Linen ServicesLinen Princes Instant water savings in the wash for for wash the in savings water Instant 14 Instant water savings in the wash for Princes Linen Services

Mr Cefai, said the $200,000 litres on its first day of operation “Since the plant went live in October investment, including $46,000 alone,” Mr Cefai said. last year, we have reduced our funding from City West Water, “We take daily readings of our water water use by 25 per cent, even delivered water and cost savings meters which allow us to keep with greater volumes of linen being instantly. detailed records of our water use, washed, which is fantastic.” “The water recycling system cut so we were able to realise benefits water use at the plant by 80,000 straight away.

15 Water conservation keeps growing at Melbourne University

Drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting has underpinned a dramatic reduction in water use at Melbourne University’s Burnley campus.

Melbourne University’s School of was given to managing water systems from overhead sprayers Land and Environment, located at use at the campus. to drip irrigation. the University’s Burnley Campus Secondly, six above-ground on the banks of the Yarra River, “We’ve been monitoring water use for the best part of a decade, and rainwater tanks were installed, is an oasis-like site surrounded by with a combined capacity of arguably some of the most densely even installed sub main check meters at various locations around 173,000 litres. A dedicated water developed areas in metropolitan supply line enabled irrigation to Melbourne. the site to help identify exactly where water was being used and be converted from sprayers to Comprising nine hectares of what it was being used for,” drippers or ‘pressure-compensated’ ornamental gardens just seven Mr Smith said. sub-surface irrigation. kilometres from the CBD, the former A pond that had a clay base was Department of Agriculture site is a “Our monitoring confirmed that relined with concrete to minimise dedicated facility that provides irrigation was the major source seepage, and stormwater runoff is training across most facets of of water consumption, and so it now harvested for reuse in ponds modern horticulture. was the most important area for in the site’s native garden section. ensuring that water is used in Gardens Coordinator Andrew the most effective way.” With irrigation water sourced now Smith, said with approximately mostly from rainwater supplies, 300 students across fields of study The campus’ first move was to focus was shifted inside, with toilets that cover all aspects of horticulture establish which garden areas could upgraded to efficient dual-flush including green roof research and survive without irrigation and then models, and flow restrictors placed bushfire prediction mapping, priority convert necessary irrigation on all taps.

16 Water conservation keeps growing at Melbourne University

• A number of initiatives “With the rainwater harvesting, upgrade of amenities and changes including extensive to the way we use water on site, we’ve been able to reduce our rainwater harvesting for water use by almost 60 per cent irrigation, and upgrades per year since 2006,” Mr Smith said. to water efficient devices “Those water reductions have been across the campus achieved across all aspects of our water use – irrigation of cultivated areas, our nursery and water use • The campus has in the buildings on site.” reduced its water use The upgrade to the site has by 57 per cent. delivered staggering results. A 30 million litre usage figure has been slashed – down to 13 million litres, representing a 57 per cent At a glance reduction in water consumption, equal to almost seven Olympic sized swimming pools.

17 Fire sprinkler testing to go water smart

• Second phase of program aimed at minimising water used for routine fire system testing

• Focus on pressure setting adjustments by providing correct pressure settings tailored to each fire sprinkler system, reducing the incidence of automatic discharge of water. At a glance

18 Fire sprinkler testing to go water smart

An initiative to Since 2008, City West Water has stakeholders to ensure fire been working closely with the protection capability is not make the testing Plumbing Industry Commission compromised in any way by the (PIC), the Building Commission, water efficiency measures. And, of fire sprinkler and the other metropolitan water the PIC is working with local fire retailers to investigate opportunities protection firms and water retailers, services more to reduce water used during fire to provide the expertise to safely sprinkler system testing. implement water-saving ‘engineering tune-up’ pressure projects. efficient is As reported in a previous edition continuing, of Liquid Assets, fire sprinklers Despite this phase of the initiative provide essential protection against being in its early stages, water and delivering fire, but routine maintenance of the savings have already been systems consume millions of litres delivered. of precious drinking water each some significant QV, a retail, commercial and year. The PIC estimates that in residential development occupying Victoria alone, 500 million litres of water savings. an entire city block on Lonsdale drinking water is being discharged Street, undertook an assessment to stormwater drains annually as of their fire sprinkler pressure a result of the procedures and settings with the help of City equipment used for maintaining West Water and a local fire fire sprinkler systems. protection firm. While the first phase of the PIC The assessment led to the led program focused on the system’s pressure settings being development of the Guide to Fire adjusted and minor alterations to Sprinkler System Water Saving the system, costing approximately (identifying water saving $4000. Initial expectations were opportunities and knowledge that the changes would result in a gaps amongst the wider business 44 per cent reduction in water used community), the second phase is for fire sprinkler testing, but the focusing on fire sprinkler systems changes delivered a remarkable with pressure relief valves. This 57 per cent reduction in water use, looks at optimising relief valve which was equal to covering the pressure levels and pump start cost of the upgrade. procedures through engineering tune-ups and workshops aimed City West Water will continue at educating fire sprinkler testers. to advocate for change and communicate the benefits of an Phase two of the program is efficient fire sprinkler system to its offering water assessments to customers. This includes support customers to assess whether a through provision of resources pressure setting adjustment is such as flowmeters for water usage appropriate for efficiency measurements and water quality improvements. testing conducted on a site by While maximising water efficiency is site basis to deliver similar water the main driver behind the initiative, savings. there is a commitment by all

19 Water recycling Schiavello’s water saviour

Investing in a water recycling system has delivered 8 million litres in water savings for Schiavello in a short time.

Schiavello is one of Australia’s significant amounts of water were water before being sent back into leading international designers and being used and sought to see the powder coating facility. manufacturers of furniture products where usage could be reduced. With the system now in operation, and interiors that enhance people’s The site’s largest water user was once water has been through these work environments. Known across processes it is returned and reused the world for their leading quickly revealed – the metal powder coating facility. Considerable in the pre-treatment rinse of the workspace design, it was decided powder coating lines. Some that Schiavello’s sprawling volumes of water are required in the metal powder coating process, additional water is used to make up manufacturing centre in Tullamarine for water lost through evaporation would come in for a water efficiency primarily in the on line pre-treatment of the metal prior to powder caused by the heat of the filtration overhaul aimed at cutting water use process. and its associated costs. coating, where the metal is cleaned by chemicals and rinsed with water. After several months of fine tuning At its 87,000 square metre facility, Investigation revealed that this part and adjustment, Schiavello Schiavello manufactures and installs of the site alone used 10 million gradually expanded the recycling commercial office furniture and litres of water per year. While the facility to service both main powder interiors for customers throughout volume of water required could not coat lines, and the project has Australia and overseas, as well as be reduced, the source could, and delivered phenomenal water upmarket retail outlets, executive so Schiavello decided to invest in a savings – slashing water use by lounges at airports, dealing rooms water recycling system to reuse as 8 million litres per year. On top of and call centres. Housing over much water as possible. these water saving gains, the plant 1100 employees, the Tullamarine has also reduced the volume of Schiavello sought expert advice on site includes manufacturing plants, chemicals used to treat effluent filter and re-generation technology, showrooms, corporate and the volume of trade waste and after a $38,600 grant from City headquarters and sales offices. discharged. West Water contributing to its cost, Schiavello’s adoption of a water recycling system was The rinse water recycling system is environmentally responsible installed in December 2008. regularly monitored by Schiavello business practice is nothing new. operations staff to ensure it Since 1997, Schiavello has led the In order to make water suitable for continues to deliver the required Australian furniture industry in the reuse, it passes through a thorough water savings. With such development of environmental cleansing process. First, a high- successful outcomes and a practices, leading to the formation volume particulate filter removes ‘payback period’ of just over four of its own Environmental Rating solid particles, followed by a carbon years, it’s envisaged that in future, Tool. With water emerging as a filter to remove chlorine. Finally, it additional water saving initiatives will growing overhead for the business, passes through a twin bed de- be implemented to further reduce Schiavello looked at where ioniser to remove impurities in the water use across Schiavello’s site.

20 • A water recycling system that treats and reuses Water recycling water in Schiavello’s metal powder coating facility

• A reduction of 8 million Schiavello’s litres per year in water consumption, or 80 per cent of previous year’s water saviour consumption.

At a glance

21 Cooking up water savings

Restaurants, caterers, cafes, • 6 star WELS rated bars and commercial kitchens pre-rinse spray guns use in City West Water’s service area only one quarter of the are being encouraged to switch water of traditional spray rinse nozzles with no loss over their pre-wash rinse guns of pressure or cleaning to a new super efficient six-star power model that can help slash water and energy use and minimise • Given pre-wash spray rinse guns use hot water, they trade waste. also result in immediate The new pre-rinse spray gun has been designed to energy savings. enable businesses in the food industry and other organisations with large kitchens to save water and cut down on their water, energy and trade waste disposal costs. At a glance Like many businesses, many food preparation businesses have undertaken initiatives to save water, and by converting to the new pre-wash rinse guns, businesses can boost those water savings even further. It’s no secret that food preparation in commercial and restaurant kitchens can use considerable amounts of water. Whether it’s for dishwashing, washing of food, cleaning, or laundry, commercial kitchens can use significant volumes on a variety of fronts, which makes this new pre-wash rinse gun a sensible and cost effective solution. The six-star WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards scheme) rated spray gun only uses about one-third of the hot water of traditional spray guns, with a combination of pressure and innovative spray pattern used to rinse dishes quickly and properly in commercial settings. Most commercial kitchens have a pre-wash rinse sink area designed to remove excess food scraps from soiled plates prior to washing, with some older spray gun models using up to 16 litres of water per minute. The pre-rinse spray gun uses just four litres per minute – up to one-quarter that of traditional rinse guns. Naturally, City West Water recommends these be installed by a licensed plumber, who will ensure correct installation and optimal operation once fitted. Feedback from businesses who have upgraded to new six-star models has been that the new pre-rinse spray gun are an easy way to save water, energy and waste in the kitchen, without any adverse impact on washing efficiency. Businesses interested in upgrading their pre-rinse spray gun should contact Sam Shinwari at City West Water on (03) 9313 8717.

22 Water drops Providing Business Resource Efficiency

To better reflect the changing AIRAH Cooling Tower landscape of non-residential Efficiency Calculator water use, City West Water’s Cleaner Production team has Could your cooling towers be been renamed ‘Business more water and energy efficient? Resource Efficiency.’ When the Cleaner Production team Cooling towers consume up to half the water used in large office buildings, shopping centres and other major commercial facilities. was set up a few years ago, The Victorian Government’s water efficient cooling towers program has assessed the efficiency of cooling towers and examined ways our focus was mostly on helping to reduce water use while maintaining or improving cooling businesses reduce their water performance. use and trade waste discharge. To provide businesses with an ongoing indication of the water efficiency of your cooling tower relative to its operational capabilities, AIRAH (Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air conditioning and Over that time, the team has grown Heating) along with support from a wide range of industry and the needs of our customers stakeholders, water corporations and the Victorian Government have evolved, and we’ve often found an developed a cooling tower water efficiency calculator, which you can inextricable link between water efficiency use as an indicator of cooling tower water efficiency at any time. and other natural resource efficiency, such as energy. Our extensive You should always discuss the calculator findings with your water experience in helping business treatment service provider before taking action to change operational customers to save water practices. To access the calculator, go to AIRAH’s website at http:// has, in many cases, resulted in ctwec.com/. considerable energy savings.

For case studies and information about best practice for cooling Under the Business Resource Efficiency towers, go to www.citywestwater.com.au/business. Program banner, City West Water will be better equipped to help our customers to improve their energy efficiency, while continuing to reduce water use and trade waste volumes. The program will Trade Waste and combine the benefits of our Water Conservation and Cleaner Production expertise with our growing knowledge Resource Efficiency of its relationship to energy efficiency. Seminar 2010 We are not working alone though. To ensure customers get the best resource efficiency advice, City West City West Water held its 17th annual Trade Waste Seminar on 24 Water is working closely with peak March at the Clocktower in Moonee Ponds. More than 200 attendees industry associations, relevant heard from City West Water’s commercial and industrial customers stakeholders and government bodies including Australian Vinyls, Mobil and Moonee Valley Racing Club. to ensure we provide our customers The seminar also included our Service Provider Expo, which with a comprehensive sustainability gave service providers the chance to liaise with our commercial support program. and industrial customers about the services and products that are available to assist with water conservation and resource Learn more by contacting us efficiency projects. Business Resource Efficiency The seminar concluded with a tour of the rainwater harvesting system City West Water Limited at Etihad Stadium and a progress update on the salt reduction plant Ph (03) 9313 8254 at the Altona Treatment Plant, which will produce up to 2.5 billion Fax (03) 9313 8663 litres of Class A recycled water each year when operational. Email: [email protected]

23 Liquid Assets is produced by City West Water Ltd ABN 70066902467 247-251 St Albans Road Sunshine Victoria 3020 Australia Phone 131 691 www.citywestwater.com.au

Please note that City West Water does not endorse any of the products or services offered by the service providers mentioned in this publication. It is strongly recommended that you undertake normal diligence enquiries to select appropriate service providers. Estimates of financial savings in this publication are based on City West Water’s charges as at July 2010 ($1.7125/kL for non-residential water usage and $1.544/kL for non-residential sewer disposal discharge). Savings are indicative only.

Photography by Philip Smith Photography (Photosmith). Design and print production by Edit Media Pty Ltd.

Liquid Assets is printed on 9Lives, a recycled paper which has achieved ISO 14001 environmental accreditation. The stock consists 80 per cent recycled fibre and 20 per cent virgin fibre mill certified FSC Chain of Custody and the bleaching process is totally chlorine-free.