BREWPUB WATER CONSERVATIONBREWPUB WATER CONSERVATIONThe Guide to Water Conservation and

Sustainable Practices in Industrial KitchensThe Guide to Water Conservation and

Sustainable Practices in Industrial Kitchens

What is the purpose of this guide?

The purpose of this guide is to assist new and existing brewpub owners and managers with establishing and maintaining a water conservation program.

WHY CONSERVE WATER?

Water is a significant part of restaurant operations. It is used for cooking, cleaning, food production, customer consumption, and sometimes for landscaping.

Water conservation practices in restaurants are important environmentally, legally & economically.

Why conserve water?

ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS

Between 1950 and 2000, the U.S. demand for water more than tripled.The increased demand for water has put further stress on water supplies, adversely affecting both human health and the environment.

Energy used to both treat and heat water releases carbon emissions into the atmosphere & increases carbon footprint.

Experts predict that by 2013, more than 70 percent of the U.S. states will experience some type of local, regional or state-wide water shortage. By 2025, 4 billion people -- about half the world’s population -- will live in 'severe water stress' conditions.

Why Conserve Water?

LEGAL REASONS

The Great Lakes Compact requires all water-intensive businesses within the watershed to implement water conservation practices.

Why Conserve Water?

ECONOMICAL REASONS

Many water utilities will be increasing fees by 25% or more by next year.

Water consumption can also have a direct relationship to energy consumption. For restaurants, conserving hot water is a smart idea because you trim down two bills: water and the electricity or natural gas used to heat it.

Using less water = spending less money. Saving water saves the bottom line.

Low Cost Solutions

Water & Power Audits

Employee Training

Low Water Landscaping

Regular Maintenance

Garbage Disposal/Compost

WATER & POWER AUDITS

Have your water or public utilities provider conduct an audit of your facility’s water use.

Have your power company audit appliances and equipment that heat water.

EMPLOYEE TRAINING

Increase employee awareness and efficiency.

Educate employees on any measures suggested by the water utilities company as a result of the water audit.

Appoint a “water conservation ambassador.”

Develop a water conservation incentive program.

Train employees to immediately scrape & wipe plates. Compost paper/food scraps.

Use squeegee scrapers, avoid rags which soak up H2O.

Shut off water-cooled air conditioning units when not needed.

EMPLOYEE TRAINING

Turn off preparation faucets that are not in use.

Avoid using running water to thaw or rinse food. Instead, gradually thaw frozen food in a refrigerator. Wash vegetables in ponded water; do not let water run in preparation sink.

Implement a water conservation policy for food servers. Serve water in bars and restaurants only upon request to reduce wash and ice loads.

Soak dirty pots and pans instead of rinsing them in running water. Presoak with sustainable cleansers: use baking soda to pre-soak pots, vinegar to cut grease.

MEASURE soaps. Soap overuse leaves film and uses more water.

LOW WATER LANDSCAPING

Landscape with drought resistant plants. Use ground cover or mulch around landscape plants to prevent evaporation.

Develop a water catchment system and reuse (i.e. rain barrel)

Apply water, fertilizer, or pesticides to landscape only when needed rather than on an automatic schedule.

Be sure all hoses have shut-off nozzles.

Use a broom, rather than a hose, to clear sidewalks, driveways, loading docks and parking lots.

Water early in the morning or in the evening when wind and evaporation are lowest.

REGULAR MAINTENANCE

Learn how to read your water meter. Monitor, record and post rates of restaurant water use. If possible, Read it twice a day for early detection of water consumption spikes that may indicate leaks or other high use problems.

Make repairs or replace equipment when rate changes indicate problems.

Create a checklist for possible “leak areas” (e.g. toilets, faucets etc.) in your facility. Appoint an employee to check those areas regularly.

Review program every 12 months and identify additional opportunities to improve water savings.

***A leaking faucet can waste up to 1000 gallons of water a week - that's over $300 lost per year.***

Garbage Disposal

Disconnect your garbage disposal. Scrape food waste into compost. This saves water and energy.

Set up your own composting system for fruit and vegetable waste. This will save water and energy.

Donate composted food waste to local farms. Compost benefits the soil.

Evaluate reuse of rinse water for garbage disposer or scrapper trough.

INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS

DISH ROOM EQUIPMENT UPGRADES

RESTROOM UPGRADES

REFRIGERATION UPGRADES

MISC UPGRADES

DISH ROOM UPGRADES

Check with manufacturer to see if dishwasher spray heads can be replaced with more efficient heads or if flow regulators can be installed without voiding manufacturer sanitation warranty.

Replace existing spray valves with efficient, high-velocity models.

Reduce the water volume in the dishwasher by use of a pressure regulator. Check to make sure the dishwasher is not using more water than the manufacturer specifies.

DISH ROOM UPGRADES

Install manual triggers on all sink spray hoses so that water is used on demand only.

When manually washing dishes, use the three compartment sink for dipping dishes and equipment, instead of using running water.

In conveyer type washer, ensure that water flow stops when there are no dishes in the washer. Install a sensing arm or ware gate that will detect the presence of dishes and shut off water when there are no dishes on the conveyor.

RESTROOM UPGRADES

Many restroom faucets use 2.5 to 5 gallons per minute. Low-flow faucets are affordable and can reduce the flow to under 1.5 gallons per minute.

Post signs in restrooms/lavatories to remind customers and staff to not dispose any non-flushable items in toilet. Any material other than toilet paper will force the septic tank to use more water to flush the material down the drain.

Replace existing toilets and urinals with plumbing code conforming high efficiency toilet (HET) or ultra low flush (ULF) models.

REFRIGERATION UPGRADES

Retrofit once-through water cooled refrigeration units, air conditioners, and ice machines by using temperature controls and a re-circulating chilled water loop systems.

UPGRADE to an air-cooled ICE MACHINE: Water-cooled ice machines use nearly 150 gallons of condenser water to produce 100 pounds of ice, plus 20 gallons of water to make the ice. Air-cooled ice machines use only the 20 gallons necessary to make 100 pounds of ice. Water savings estimated at 150 gallons per every 100 pounds of ice produced daily.

MISC UPGRADES

Install hands-free or foot activated valves and faucets

Install on-demand, point-of-use hot water dispensers to eliminate or reduce the need to run water at faucets; choose a unit that does not require a constantly running recirculation pump

Install automatic shutoff faucets for bar sinks

WATER SAVINGS MEASUREMENT TOOLSPre-Rinse Spray Valve Calculator: http://www.fishnick.com/tools/watercost

This online tool from the Food Service Technology Center estimates the amount of water and money you save with low-flow pre-rinse spray valves and other water conserving devices.

Low-flow spray valves can save a restaurant up to $1,000 a year, according to the Food Service Technology Center.

WaterWiser Drip Calculator: http://www.awwa.org/awwa/waterwiser/dripcalc.cfm

This online tool from the American Water Works Association will help you calculate the amount of water wasted through leakage.

WATER SAVINGS MEASUREMENT TOOLS

WATERGY Software: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/information/download_watergy.html

This free software from the US Department of Energy analyzes a facility’s potential water and associated energy savings. The business inputs utility data (energy and water cost and consumption data for the most recent twelve months) and operations data (number and kind of water consuming/moving devices and their water consumption and/or flow rates).

The software estimates water and energy annual savings, as well as costs and payback times for various conservation methods.

CASE STUDIES

Dishware Sensing Gate: The installation of dishware-sensing gate in dishwashers gives Anthony's Pier 4 in Boston, MA the opportunity to save approximately 225,000 gallons of water annually. The initial investment is $1,200 for the device and $2,700 is saved per year on heating water costs. The payback time is just five months.

Air-Cooled Machine: SFPUC recently executed a contract to replace water-cooled ice machines with air-cooled machines at the Fairmont Hotel. The conversion will save the hotel over $100,000 and conserve about 24 acre feet of water annually.

Urinals instead of Toilet:By replacing the seventeen flushometer toilets and seven flushometer urinals from Anthony's Pier 4 in Boston, MA with ULF models, they saved 1.1 million gallons of water worth $8,500 annually. The project cost was $6,700 and the payback of the initial investment was less than ten months.

Source: San Francisco Department of Public Health

CASE STUDY EXAMPLES

Case Study Example #1Bob the Chef's, in Boston's South End, can save an estimated 51,000 gallons of heated water per year by replacing their prewash spray head with a low flow model. This measure results in a savings of $540 in water and energy costs. With an initial investment of $200 the payback is realized in under five months.

Case Study Example #2Anthony's Pier 4 in Boston has an opportunity to save approximately 225,000 gallons of water annually with the installation of a dishware sensing gate in one of their dishwashers. The initial cost of the device is $1,200, and the value of heated water saved is $2,700 per year. The payback occurs in approximately five months.

Source: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority

CASE STUDY EXAMPLES

Case Study Example #3Pillar House in Newton has a water cooled ice machine and two condensers for a walk-in cooler and freezer. If these water-cooled units were converted to air-cooled, the annual water savings from this measure would be approximately 1.04 million gallons of water valued at $5,820. The additional electrical cost is $375 per year for a net savings of $5,445 per year and a payback of the initial investment is realized in 1.3 years.

Case Study Example #4The Hillttop Steak House in Saugus has three water-cooled refrigerators and two ice machines that use once through cooling. By incorporating this equipment into a recirculating closed loop cooling system the restaurant can save an estimated 5.3 million gallons of water per year valued at $26,500. The cost of this measure is approximately $27,000 which results in a payback of about one year. Source: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority

CASE STUDY EXAMPLES

Case Study Example #5Union House in Framingham has seven sinks that can be fitted with 1.5 gallon per minute (gpm) aerators which would result in an annual water and energy savings of $170 dollars. The cost to retrofit the sinks is around $20, and payback for this simple measure is under two months.

Case Study Example #6Another water saving opportunity for Anthony's Pier 4 involves replacing seventeen flushometer toilets and seven flushometer urinals with ULF models. The project cost is $6,700 with an annual water savings of 1.1 million gallons worth $8,500. This results in a payback of less than ten months.

Source: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority