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Water Savings Tips for Business
A recent study showed that 99% of business managers surveyed ranked water conservation as a "top five" priority over the next decade.
Here are a few tips on how you can adjust water use within your business to drastically reduce water costs:
Company Motivation
- Create a suggestion and incentives system at your organization to recognize water-saving ideas.
- Include a water-saving tip in your employee newsletter. Find over 100 tips at the Water Use It Wisely website.
- Implement a water management plan for your facility, then educate employees on good water habits through newsletters and posters.
- Publish your organization’s monthly water use to show progress toward water-saving goals.
- Invite your water utility conservation staff to your organization for Earth Day and other environmental events to help promote water savings.
- Water audit your facility to find out your recommended water use, then monitor your utility bills to gauge your monthly consumption.
- Become or appoint a water ambassador within your organization who creates, implements and maintains your water conservation program.
- Become a proud WaterSense® partner and let all your customers know.
- As part of the WaterSense® Fix-A-Leak Week in March, plan an employee campaign to look for leaks.
- Show your company’s dedication to water conservation through a policy statement. Commit management, staff and resources to the effort.
- Create a goal of how much water your company can save and plan a celebration once that goal is met.
- Ask employees for suggestions on saving water and give prizes for the best ideas. Incentivize it!
- Write feature articles on your employee website that highlight water-saving ideas and successes.
- Test your co-workers or employees on topics like xeriscape, WaterSense®, and high-efficiency toilets. See how water-wise they are.
- Ask your company to support water conservation events and education. ProjectWet hosts local events throughout the country.
Indoors
- Install an instant water heater near your kitchen sink so you don’t have to run the water while it heats up. This also reduces energy costs.
- Upgrade older toilets with water-saving WaterSense® labeled models.
- Install water-saving aerators on all of your faucets.
- Look for WaterSense® labeled toilets, sink faucets, urinals and showerheads.
- Some commercial refrigerators and ice-makers are cooled with water. Upgrade to air-cooled appliances for significant water savings.
- Post a hotline in bathrooms and kitchens to report leaks or water waste to facility managers or maintenance personnel.
- Have maintenance personnel regularly check your facilities for leaks, drips and other water waste.
- If you use processed water in your business or facility, look into water recycling.
- Consider and compare water use when purchasing:
- Coolers and cleaning equipment
- Dishwashers
- Ice makers
- Reverse osmosis units
- Determine how your on-site water is being used by installing sub-meters where feasible, then monitoring for savings.
- Conduct a facility water use inventory and identify water management goals.
- Don’t forget hidden water use costs, like energy for pumping, heating and cooling, chemical treatment, and damage and sewer expenses.
- Shut off water to unused areas of your facility to eliminate waste from leaks or unmonitored use.
- Scrape dishes rather than rinsing them before washing.
- Use water-conserving ice makers.
- If your facility relies on cooling towers, have maintenance maximize cycles of concentration by providing efficient water treatment.
- When buying new appliances, consider those that offer cycle and load size adjustments. They are more water and energy efficient.
- When ice cubes are leftover from your drink, don’t throw them out. Pour them on a plant.
Outdoors
- Saving water on your landscape adds up quickly. Send the person in charge of your landscape to an irrigation workshop.
- Marry the weather with your landscape water use. Water use should decrease during rainy periods and increase during hot, dry periods.
- Be sure your irrigation system is watering only the areas intended, with no water running onto walks, streets or down the gutter.
- While cleaning sidewalks, a hose and nozzle use 8 to 12 gallons of water per minute. A pressurized Waterbroom® uses closer to 3 gallons.
- Inspect your landscape irrigation system regularly for leaks or broken sprinkler heads and adjust pressures to specification.
- Give your landscape proper amounts of irrigation water. Determine water needs, water deeply but infrequently, and adjust to the season.
- Establish a monthly water budget for your landscape based on the water needs of your plants.
- Limit turf areas at your facility. Instead, landscape using xeriscape principles to cut water use in half.
- Put decorative fountains on timers and use only during work or daylight hours. Check for leaks if you have automatic refilling devices.
- Wash company vehicles at commercial car washers that recycle water.
- Wash company vehicles as needed rather than on a schedule. Stretch out the time in between washes.
- Consider turning your high-maintenance water feature/fountain into a low-maintenance art feature or planter.
- Support projects that use reclaimed wastewater for irrigation and industrial uses.