Water Conservation 101: Easy Ways to Reduce Your Water UsageSustainable Stormwater Solutions
November 20, 2024
As global water demand rises due to population growth, manufacturers must adopt water-efficient practices to prevent scarcity and waste. Water has been crucial to societal development, with significant consumption across industries and municipal use. Furthermore, water conservation is essential in manufacturing because efficient manufacturing processes directly affect resource depletion, but effective water use boosts operational efficiency through reduced costs and waste. Effective water conservation for industrial water facilities is vital for reducing resource depletion and operational costs.
McFadden Engineering supports water conservation in industrial facilities:
1. Conduct a Water Audit: An audit helps assess current water usage and waste across cooling systems, boilers and other processes. Water audits can include analysis of used water to determine the level of treatment required for reuse. If water is contaminated with organic materials, chemicals or metals while being used for its intended purposes, it may require additional treatment to allow for reuse. Regular audits provide insights for improvement and ensure efficient water use throughout the year, accounting for seasonal variations.
2. Prioritize Process Monitoring: Continuous system monitoring can identify issues like leaks or inefficiencies before audits, enabling timely intervention. Monitoring pressure, flow, critical water quality parameters and chemical additions help detect unexpected water use spikes, process upsets and potentially identifying system issues. Closely monitoring processes can assist in identifying water loss and assist in determining if the process is operating at its optimal levels. If your equipment suddenly needs more chemicals than before, it is likely using more makeup water. The overuse of makeup water is an indication of a possible source of water loss in the system. McFadden’s team of engineers and scientists can perform professional assessments of systems to detect water loss. These assessments include assembling public site records, leading physical site inspections, conducting interviews and performing additional steps as requested by the client.
3. Implement Water Reuse Technologies: Reusing condensate from boilers and treated blowdown water from cooling towers can reduce reliance on fresh water. Boiler condensate has a low level of solids and contaminants. In other words, facilities likely do not need to treat it to reuse it. Reusing condensate is advantageous because it cuts down on the makeup water required. Air conditioners also create condensate you can reuse for boilers or other processes. Additionally, another potential source of reusable water is blowdown water from cooling towers. Facilities should be aware that blowdown water will have a high level of dissolved solids requiring removal before reuse unless properly treated. McFadden’s team offers the expertise to provide treatment options for these applications so that the water can be reused or even discharged to meet permit limits. McFadden can also assist with the development of policies and procedures for reuse of these waters at facilities.
Overall, industrial activity consumes a significant amount of water through both operational processes and human use. Without the proper guidance from professionals like McFadden’s team of engineers, this will lead to higher financial, operational and environmental costs. Facilities should consider looking for guidance on strategies to improve water efficiency. By enhancing water efficiency, facilities can boost productivity, sustainability and resilience while lowering environmental impact. For example, in conducting a water audit McFadden’s engineering team can identify areas for waster reuse could be implemented. Contact us today to see how our team can reduce water usage for your facility!