On-site treatment of wastewater and water reuse are increasingly attractive
Commercial and institutional buildings account for 17% of withdrawals from public water supplies in the United States, making it the second-largest consumer of publicly provided water. Hotels, hospitals, office buildings, restaurants, laboratories, schools, government institutions, and military installations all have different water needs, but they all face increasing pressure to use water efficiently and reduce environmental impacts.
Tightening environmental standards worldwide, climbing water prices, and sobering fines for polluters have disincentivized business as usual. With thoughtful water management, companies and institutions can:
- Realize cost savings
- Become more competitive
- Address water risk
- Step forward as sustainability leaders
- Improve ESG profiles
- Find opportunities in the green building marketplace.
What Kinds of U.S. Facilities Use the Most Water?
Office buildings account for approximately 9% of commercial and institutional water use, mostly for bathrooms, heating and cooling, and landscape irrigation.
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities account for about 7%, mainly for heating and cooling, plumbing, landscaping, and medical equipment.
Laboratories have outsized water use, five times that of other commercial buildings the same size, mostly because of cooling needs, laboratory processes, and steam boilers.
Hotels and other lodging account for approximately 15% of water use in commercial and institutional facilities because of bathrooms, laundries, landscaping, and food service.
Hospitality and food service establishments use 15%, mostly through kitchens and bathrooms.
Educational facilities such as schools, universities, museums, and libraries account for about 6% due to bathrooms, landscaping irrigation, heating and cooling, and cafeterias.
With these varied needs, what commercial water treatment solutions can help businesses manage water more wisely?
Reuse of Treated Wastewater
On-site treatment of wastewater creates an opportunity to reuse gray water, stormwater, and even sewage for nonpotable applications such as irrigating landscaping on corporate campuses, topping up water features and lagoons, toilet flushing, heating and cooling, and more. Reuse creates a new source of water, dramatically increasing the amount available by using it a second time.
Processes available to treat water for reuse include activated sludge, fixed film, biological nutrient removal, dissolved air flotation, clarification, and membrane processes. Different regions may favor particular processes, so it is important to engage a company that has experience in the regulatory landscape. Seven Seas Water Group is engaged in water reuse at sites from the Southwest United States to the Caribbean.
Desalination of Groundwater and Seawater
Facilities such as island resorts are in the perfect position to benefit from desalination plants, but it’s not just for coastal regions. Vast supplies of brackish groundwater have been discovered in aquifers throughout the United States, and it is less costly to desalinate groundwater than seawater. Buildings above brackish aquifers, even in the parched West, can establish on-site desalination plants and end their water supply problems. Thermal distillation remains in use, but the most popular process for desalination is reverse osmosis due to its energy efficiency and smaller carbon footprint.
Seven Seas owns and operates reverse osmosis desalination plants throughout the world.
Complete Water Cycle Solutions
The ultimate in sustainable water management for buildings and facilities is a complete water cycle solution, which can incorporate reverse osmosis to treat groundwater or saline water for use in the building. Once the water is used, the plant treats it to be used again. Seven Seas has numerous solutions, allowing water resources to recharge naturally by curbing withdrawals.
The key to achieving water management goals is planning. Creating a water management team to gauge water use, plan implementation, keep track of progress and improvements, and search for new ways to save is a good place to start.
Planning generally focuses on efficiency measures, reducing leaks, staff education, and implementation of water reuse. Reuse can require many organizational resources to attract and maintain a workforce, conduct long term operations and maintenance (O&M), and ensure regulatory compliance.
Planning Water Management for Commercial Buildings
Instead of creating their own team, many commercial and institutional entities have opted to use an asset delivery mode that retains an experienced water company with specialized resources. Water companies have more experience in planning for water systems and are in a better position to maintain long-term O&M, compliance, and staffing.
The models of public-private partnership (P3), along with build-own-operate (BOO) and build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT), are three of the most popular modes that bundle long-term services with water asset delivery. Seven Seas’ Water-as-a-Service® (WaaS®) is one such comprehensive offering. It keeps all aspects of a project under one roof, from planning to financing to construction to O&M. The client then pays only for water delivered, at a set price, and need not worry about the details.
Metering Can Keep Track of Water
Water must be measured to be managed, and smart meters can help manage water in buildings and facilities. Metering can:
- Target areas for water efficiency improvement
- Identify and fix leaks and equipment failures
- Find opportunities for water savings
- Assess water savings from initiatives.
For instance, Seven Seas wastewater treatment plants maintain a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), which helps plan maintenance and generates reports about the plant’s status and performance, tracking data trends, and spotting problems before they interrupt operation.
Commercial Water Treatment Is a Highly Specialized Field
The ways buildings and facilities manage water for resilience and sustainability depends on many influent parameters, water reuse needs, and environmental discharge quality standards. Determining the best processes to be used likewise requires a great deal of specialized knowledge and experience.
Although legal frameworks are rolling out to standardize and regulate P3s, BOO, and BOOT arrangements in the U.S., not all providers are the same. Let your first contact be Seven Seas.
Image Credit: bemphoto/123RF