Low-Tech Ideas: Water Conservation Idea File

MnTAP SOURCE, Spring 1997 Issue, Volume 12, Number 2

Know your flow. Monitor water use to establish a baseline. Continued monitoring raises employee awareness about conserving water.

• By monitoring cleanup water use, West Central Turkeys, Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, reduced water use by 23,000 gallons a day.

Cleaning under pressure. Clean equipment and spills by first sweeping or shoveling. When washing, use high-pressure, low-volume cleaning equipment.

• Switching from garden hoses to high-pressure washing equipment, saves Sparta Foods, St. Paul, $1,050 per year by reducing water use by 217,000 gallons annually.

Nozzle up. Reduce flow rates by optimizing the fitting sizes of nozzles. Angle and space nozzles to maximize the contact of the water's spray. Use automatic shut-off nozzles on all hoses.

• By changing nozzles and pumps West Central Turkeys saved 14,000 gallons of water per day.
• By switching to a smaller nozzle size, Schroeder Milk, St. Paul, reduced its water use by 2,880 gallons per day.
• Using an automatic shutoff nozzle on their truck washing hose is saving Marigold Foods, Minneapolis, between 3,000 and 6,000 gallons of water a day.

Valves stop it. Use solenoid valves to stop the flow of water when production stops.

• See Success Stories for examples.  Sparta Foods or Hoffman Industries

Leakers are losers. Repair leaks and implement a preventive maintenance program.

• By repairing one leak in a 3-inch line, Schroeder Milk saved 1,500 gallons of water a day.

Training turns them off. Employees may need to be shown how to use water efficiently.

• By teaching employees to shut off hoses and sinks when not in use, along with minor hardware changes, a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin was able to reduce wastewater by 60,000 gallons per day.

Using carrots/sticks. If you're company has different operating divisions, consider charging water use and treatment costs back to each division. Making divisions financially responsible for their water builds in the incentive to maximize the water they use.

• Using this technique, a bath fixture manufacturer reduced its wastewater discharge by 75 percent.