CHICAGO — Most industrial and institutional laundries keep a close eye on their water usage.
Leaks and inefficient equipment utilization can increase water bills and other energy costs. Not to mention the environmental impact of wasting a precious resource.
But sometimes it can be difficult to see where the problem areas are in a laundry that staff have walked through and seen day after day, maybe year after year.
That’s when hiring an outside firm — with experience, expertise, and fresh eyes — to conduct a water usage audit, also known as a water efficiency study, could be of value.
FINDING AND SELECTING A FIRM
Anna Kanto is business development manager for Ecoblue in Tucson, Arizona, which focuses on facility water conservation.
She says the types of outside firms that conduct water efficiency studies can vary region to region, agreeing that, in many cases, water efficiency studies are conducted by local water utilities. They may also be performed by water management consultants, sustainability firms, or engineering groups that specialize in commercial and industrial water use.
“There is real value in having these studies conducted by a specialist, as they tend to have a deeper understanding of how water is used within an operation,” she says. “Evaluating efficiency usually goes beyond looking at the raw numbers; equipment performance and operational practices can play just as important a role in overall water use.”
Kanto points out that it is helpful to find a firm that has experience with commercial or on-premises laundries, not just general water consulting.
“They should understand common laundry equipment and processes and use benchmarking metrics such as gallons per pound of laundry processed in their evaluations,” she says. “Industry associations, local water-focused nonprofits, utility companies and peer recommendations are often the best ways to identify qualified firms.”
Kirk Stinchcombe, founder and managing director of Econics, a water sustainability specialist located in Victoria, British Columbia, agrees that the selection of an outside firm should focus on finding professionals with niche expertise to ensure they can provide the necessary help.
“Recommendations for finding a firm include word-of-mouth referrals from colleagues, internet searches, and contacting their water service provider,” he says. “Water service providers, particularly those with water conservation programs, often have technicians who assist commercial customers with efficiency and can offer referrals.”
“I think some of what would determine this would be, do you need someone who can come onto your site and be there in person, or is this something that can be done just long distance through the exchange of data and that sort of thing?” says Peter Mayer, principal of Water Demand Management, a Boulder, Colorado, engineering consulting firm focused on demand-side management of water resources. “You’re looking for some kind of firm with experience in consulting and analysis and research.”
Michael Laurie, who owns Watershed LLC, a sustainability consultancy in Vashon, Washington, says that, typically, certain engineering companies, sustainability companies, laundry equipment sales companies, and water consulting companies conduct these studies.
“I would do Google searches for locally based companies of that type and also contact local water utilities to see what they know. Some utilities may have staff or consultants like me that carry out that type of work, sometimes for free.”
“From an equipment provider’s perspective, the main concerns around laundry water usage are excessive fill levels per cycle, incorrect program selection, and poor load matching,” shares Larissa Rezende, marketing manager, business unit professional, for Miele Inc. “These factors often lead to unnecessarily high water consumption.
“Overdosing of detergents can trigger additional rinse cycles, further increasing water use. Low spin efficiency leaves high residual moisture in textiles, indirectly increasing overall resource consumption.
“In addition, a lack of monitoring and transparent documentation makes it difficult for inspectors and operators to assess performance and identify optimization potential.”
“An operator should seek out a firm with deep water-and-laundry-process expertise,” says Nathan Ortmann, RD&E group leader, Ecolab Textile Care North America, “to ensure that all recommendations balance efficiency with product throughput and quality.
“For businesses that operate regionally or globally, engaging a firm with global expertise will yield maximum benefits in terms of consistent execution and experience across an enterprise.”
Click HERE to read part 1 about the benefits and challenges of using an outside water efficiency company.
Check back Tuesday for part 3 with a general overview of the outside inspection firm process.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
