Reducing Two Vital Resources in One Swoop

The California drought is a serious problem and it will not fade away even after a season of good rain. Many people don't realize that water has a direct relationship with energy. Water is a critical resource and is needed in many facilities, from drinking water to flushing toilets. It is also a vital resource in order to create energy. And what do you know...since water requires some pumping or treatment before it is able to be used, energy is used to "create" water. Therefore, reducing water consumption also reduces energy consumption. There are three major factors in mitigating water consumption in facilities.

Factor 1: Discovering General Waste

One of the easiest options is to upgrade water fixtures. Most never realize the amount of water toilets and urinals use every time a person flushes. Depending on the age of bathroom fixtures, they could be using up to 80% more water than newer fixtures. I have seen many buildings in which the toilets use up to 3.5 or even 5 gallons of water per flush (gpf). While some might think that urinals are more efficient than toilets, think again. While not as bad as toilets, older urinal fixtures could still upwards of 3 gallons of water. On the bright side, there are now some urinals that use only 1/8 gpf. According to the World Toilet Organization (it really exists!), an average person flushes 6-8 times per day. Imagine if the person was using a bathroom fixture that uses less water, you can guarantee reduced water consumption and energy consumption as well.

Factor 2: Discovering Issues

Even an efficient water fixture that is leaky is still no good. Maintaining regular inspections is a must as depending on the problem, leaks or failed valves and pipes can pose far worse problems. Three words: Catastrophic Water Damage. Water flow metering isn’t the only piece of the puzzle in having a proper water management system. Other related equipment that needs to be monitored/maintained include valves, faucets, etc. Having a proper water management can not only help quickly identify water leaks and water flow rates thereby reducing energy consumption, it could also help avert a potential disaster.

Factor 3: Fixing User Behavior

This factor is a little harder. The usage of water efficient fixtures is the same with energy-efficient appliances. If the user of said energy-efficient appliance leaves it on for 24/7, energy usage has been reduced, but not to its fullest potential. However, the main difference is that water consumption is a role that is driven by occupants. Unlike energy efficiency and energy management, it is difficult to “turn” water off without getting major complaints. Compound the fact that not many occupants are thinking of water unless the area where they live in is going through a water crisis.

The strategy for overcoming user behavior is two-fold: education and testing, in which the latter is easier of the two. Testing can be done in a variety of a ways such as installing new equipment quietly and observing user reaction. Education is the harder part as it covers a wide variety of areas from changing ingrained behaviors to information sharing, such as informing users about how to properly flush dual-flush toilets. Unlike water consumption efficiency where there is little to no attention, there are many champions promoting and supporting energy efficiency programs. As more people are aware of the growing problem of water overuse, fixing user behavior will also reduce water consumption and as a result, further reduce energy consumption.

While I focused on the three factors to reducing water in facilities, these factors can be expanded to include general infrastructure usage. Learning the factors that contribute to water consumption, the relationship it plays with energy consumption, along with actively seeking ways to understand the necessary tasks for predictive/preventive building maintenance is a step in the direction of a move towards a much more sustainable and resilient future.

This post was a rework of the original post. You may see the original post here.