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.
COMMUNICATION, COOPERATION
Improving communication and cooperation hinges on agreeing on desired outcomes and involving all stakeholders at project start.
“They should agree on targets, such as the simple payback period, and should consider accepting a longer payback period (e.g., five or 10 years) to recognize environmental and corporate social responsibility benefits alongside financial returns,” shares Kirk Stinchcombe, founder and managing director of Econics, a water sustainability specialist located in Victoria, British Columbia.
“Highly successful projects often involve a ‘local hero,’ an individual who is keen to drive the change and pushes the initiative forward, regardless of their position in the organizational hierarchy.”
“Have periodic project review meetings to review interim results, identify obstacles and near-term project plans and expectations,” suggests Pio Lombardo, owner of Lombardo Associates Inc. in Newton, Massachusetts, an environmental consulting and engineering firm. “Maintain a list of project deliverables, responsible parties and expected completion date(s).”
One important thing to keep in mind is that water efficiency improvements often deliver operational benefits as well, points out Anna Kanto, business development manager for Ecoblue in Tucson, Arizona, which focuses on facility water conservation.
“Reducing water use in laundry typically lowers water-heating energy, chemical use and cycle times,” she says. “Because laundry is often one of the largest water users in a facility, it can also be one of the quickest places to achieve meaningful and measurable efficiency gains.”
“Make it clear to everyone involved that water efficiency is a high priority,” says Michael Laurie, owner of Watershed LLC, a sustainability consultancy in Vashon, Washington. “Offer bonuses to staff and others for suggestions that lead to actual cost-effective savings.”
“It’s not just about buying a new machine,” points out Peter Mayer, principal of Water Demand Management, a Boulder, Colorado, engineering consulting firm focused on demand-side management of water resources. “It’s often that some of the practices need to change. People need to understand how to operate the new equipment appropriately.
“I think if you’re actually going to make the investment, then it has to be a team effort. You have to bring everybody in so that everybody understands why you’re doing it. You’re not just putting in new equipment because you want to have new equipment. This is a long-term investment in reducing our long-term costs and our operating costs, and that means that we also have to operate this stuff more efficiently.
“Another thing that could happen is that there could be some financial incentives available from the water provider or the electric utility to help pay for this stuff. That could also be part of the communication process to bring in the water utility or the energy utility or other entities that might help give you some additional reason to make a change.”
“Efficient water usage depends not only on technology but also on structured communication and transparent data exchange between stakeholders,” shares Larissa Rezende, marketing manager, business unit professional, for Miele Inc.
“Digital solutions … support this process by providing centralized machine monitoring, consumption data tracking, and easy access to performance reports. This allows operators, inspectors and equipment providers to review key figures — such as cycles run, program selection, water per cycle, rinse counts, and spin speeds — in a clear and structured way.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
“When you hire an outside firm, you need a fair contract that protects both of you — the laundry operator and the outside firm,” says Mayer. “That contract needs to be negotiated ahead of time.
“One of the things that I want is the ability to be able to walk away from it, so both parties have equal ability, if it’s not working out for whatever reason, to just step away from it.”
Nathan Ortmann, RD&E group leader, Ecolab Textile Care North America, says a key consideration would be the impact of water efficiency on energy footprint and wash performance and ensuring that an outside firm has a comprehensive understanding of business objectives when forming recommendations around water utilization.
“Another consideration would be how a firm’s recommendations, once implemented, will be tracked to ensure that efficiency gains are achieved and maintained over time,” he shares.
“Engage those firms with a reputation for creativity and ability to deliver creative solutions that work as proposed,” Lombardo concludes.
Click HERE to read part 1 about the benefits and challenges of using an outside water efficiency company.
Click HERE for part 2 with suggestions for finding and selecting an outside firm.
And HERE to read 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].
