Water Efficiency Manual

WaterWater EfficiencyEfficiency ManualManual for Commercial, Industrial and Institutional Facilities BY: N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Pollution Prevention and Enviornmental Assistance Division of Water Resources Land-of-Sky Regional Council, Waste Reduction Partners Water Efficiency Manual for Commercial, Industrial and Institutional Facilities A joint publication of the Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance and Division of Water Resources of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Land-of-Sky Regional Council. May 2009 The information contained in this publication is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, the application of this information is at the reader’s own risk. Mention of products, services or vendors in the publication does not constitute an endorsement by the state of North Carolina, nor the Land-of-Sky Regional Council. The information contained in this publication may be cited freely. State of North Carolina Beverly Eaves Perdue, Governor Dee Freeman, Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Gary Hunt, Director of the Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance Tom Reeder, Director of the Division of Water Resources When to Use This Guide Now, to determine what you can do to reduce water use, improve efficiency and save money in your operation. As you plan and budget for next year, to determine what programs, equipment and employee participation will be necessary to use water more efficiently. Before you purchase any new water-using domestic fixtures, cooling, heating, processing, landscaping and facility support equipment and service contracts. Before you seek buy-in and support from your management, maintenance and production personnel. They also should read this manual. Before any facility upgrading, new construction, processing expansions and new product manufacturing. During unforeseeable water shortages, drought conditions or voluntary/mandatory water conservation requirements. Contents 1 Reasons for Water Efficiency Efforts........................................................ 5 2 Sound Principles of Water Management ............................................... 10 3 Conducting a Successful Water Efficiency Program .............................. 17 4 Water Management Options .................................................................. 27 Sanitary/Domestic Uses ................................................................................ 27 Cooling and Heating ..................................................................................... 39 Boilers............................................................................................................. 49 Kitchen and Food Preparation ...................................................................... 53 Commercial Laundries .................................................................................. 59 Cleaning, Rinsing and In-process Reuse ....................................................... 61 Reuse and Reclamation ................................................................................. 66 Landscaping ................................................................................................... 70 5 Industry-Specific Processes ..................................................................... 82 Textiles ............................................................................................................ 82 Food & Beverage............................................................................................ 90 Metal Finishing ............................................................................................ 100 6 Auditing Methodology and Tools......................................................... 106 7 Drought Contingency Planning for Facility Managers .........................117 8 Definitions, Resources & References ................................................... 122 Acknowledgments The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources would like to acknowledge the following people and organizations that have contributed to the development, review and printing of this manual. N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance Chris Frazier Sarah Grant Leigh Johnson Keyes McGee Claudia Powell Waste Reduction Partners Terry Albrecht Thomas Edgerton Don Hollister Tom Kimmell N.C. Division of Water Resources Don Rayno Mauri Galey, Nalco, Burlington, North Carolina James Manning, Fluidyne International, Asheville, North Carolina Dr. Charles Peacock, N.C. State University, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Raleigh Dr. John Rushing, N.C. State University, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Raleigh Dr. Brent Smith, N.C. State University, College of Textiles, Raleigh Chapter 1 Reasons for Water 1 Efficiency Efforts Water Issues in North Carolina meet water re- North Carolina source challenges of the future. North Carolina is generally con- Surface sources include reser- sidered to have abundant water resources. voirs, lakes, streams and rivers. According to However, water resources are becoming a the U.S. Geological Survey, 94 percent of wa- major concern in North Carolina. ter withdrawn in North Carolina for all uses is taken from surface sources. The state’s rapidly growing population has increased the demand for water and the As the state’s demand for water has increased, state’s recent drought conditions have caused development of new water supply reservoirs many public water supply systems to experi- has not kept up with the rate of demand ence limited availability of raw water. growth. From 1910 to 1965, reservoir storage was added at the rate of about 1.9 acre-feet From 1990 to 2007, statewide population in- for each new resident. Since 1965, the rate creased by approximately 38 percent from 6.6 has decreased to about 0.19 acre-feet per new million to 9.1 million. This trend is expected resident, or one-tenth the rate from 1910 to to continue with the state’s population pro- 1965. jected to grow to 12 million by 2030. Areas within the state are already facing water Using water more efficiently will be a major supply infrastructure challenges. Some water part of the solution to the state’s water di- systems are experiencing seasonal demand that lemma. By using water more efficiently, ex- approaches the limits of their available raw wa- isting supplies can be used to meet additional ter supply. While some systems are limited by demands. Water efficiency programs will help watershed capacity, especially during low pre- 5 Chapter 1 cipitation periods, others are limited by inad- equate system capacity to meet peak demands. Benefits of In many areas the ability to produce additional Water Efficiency Programs potable water is constrained. The importance of water for the vitality of the Reduced Water Demand state cannot be overstated. All consumers must use water more efficiently in order to main- Generally faster, cheaper and easier tain adequate water availability. Water effi- than supply-side programs. ciency is a means by which an adequate re- serve water supply capacity can be maintained Water and Wastewater in order to make do during cyclical periods of Treatment Saving drought. Reduces costs and defers plant expan- sion. Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Water Use Less Environmental Impact Due to fewer surface and subsurface Non-residential users of publicly-supplied withdrawals. drinking water have a significant impact on public water system demand. Information Sustained Water Quality submitted to the Division of Water Resources Reduces groundwater’s contaminant by more than 520 water systems in the most recent local water supply plans indicates that intrusion and curtails demand for new non-residential users in these systems account supplies that are of lower quality. for about 37 percent of total water use in these systems. These systems provide water to about FIGURE 1-1 6.6 million people or about 73 percent of the population (see Figure 1-1). ICI wa- Municipal Water Use in North Carolina ter demand may make up a larger per- Unaccounted-for centage of total water demand for some Water public water supply systems, depending 8% on their mix of residential and non-resi- System Process Water dential customers. 8% Some ICI facilities withdraw and treat Institutional Use water from privately owned wells and/or 6% surface water intakes to supply their own Residential needs. Self-supplied users can benefit from 47% reduced demand from water efficiency im- provements within their facilities by reduc- Industrial Use ing costs and reducing the uncertainty of 13% raw water availability. Operating a privately- owned water system does not diminish the need for water efficiency within these ICI facilities because raw water availability is Commercial Use linked to other users regardless of the 18% source. Data reported in 2006 and 2007 local water supply plans submitted to the N.C. Division of Water Resources. 6 Chapter 1 Local and State Responses efficiency vs. conservation to Water Supply Issues “Water efficiency” means using improved As a result of increasing water supply demand technologies and practices that deliver equal and the limited quantity of available treatable or better service with less water. For raw water, public water supply systems are example, the use of low-flow faucet aera- implementing water efficiency programs. tors can be more powerful than no aerators These programs range from including

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