Many organizations are now actively working to improve community relations and prove to their neighbors, vendors, and customers that they strive to be environmentally sensitive and promote sustainability. Reducing water consumption is one way they are accomplishing this. But how can facilities reduce water consumption?

Here are eight steps I suggest:

 1.    Changing employee behaviors. Many facilities, just like many people, are accustomed to using water indiscriminately. We pay little attention to the amounts we use because water is inexpensive and readily accessible. To address this, many organizations are working with their staff — even creating training programs — to discuss the importance of reducing water consumption and provide them with ways to do so.

2.    Benchmarking consumption. Many facilities need to learn how much water they are consuming. Further, they may need to determine if one division in a facility uses more water than another and how much. This is what benchmarking is all about. Administrators must know how much water they are currently using before they can start saving water. To determine consumption, it is a wise idea to invest in submetering. These water meters in different facility areas indicate how much water a specific area consumes.

3.    Analyze the bill. Water utility bills should be analyzed and understood along with benchmarking water consumption. Some utility bills are quite complicated. Make sure you know how the bill is tabulated. Also, water utility bills should always be delivered to the operations officer first, not accounts payable. The accounting staff pays the bill; the operations officer examines the bill to see if the facility is reducing water consumption.

 4.    Prizes and incentives. Many large organizations have different divisions within the same building. Some administrators award prizes to those divisions that have most reduced water consumption within a certain period. These competitions, according to one administrator, are surprisingly effective.

5.    Messaging: In virtually every food service establishment, we see a poster or sign in restrooms that says, “employees must wash their hands before going back to work.”  Administrators should add another sign in their restrooms, saying “use water responsibly” or “remember to reduce water consumption every way you can.”

6.    Put staff in charge. Depending on how much water is used for irrigation of outdoor vegetation, in general, most water used in a facility is used inside the facility. Because of this, administrators should ask their staff to lead the way in reducing water consumption. They are the ones using the water; they can be the ones in charge of reducing water consumption.

7.    Minimizing the use of water for cleaning. Substantial amounts of water are used to clean commercial facilities. Such cleaning tasks as hosing floors and outdoor areas should be eliminated. Instead, consider indoor/outdoor pressure cleaning systems. The high pressure does more of the work, helping to loosen and remove soils, so that less water is needed.

8.    Check the age of restroom fixtures. Now is the time to find out how old your restroom fixtures are. Invariably, restrooms are remodeled every five to ten years, however that may be too long to wait. Here's a rule of thumb: If restroom fixtures are over ten years old, they should be replaced with new, "high efficiency" fixtures. As it pertains to urinals, installing no-water urinals can result in a dramatic reduction in water consumption.

Note: According to Mr. Rooter, a nationwide franchise of U.S. plumbers, restroom fixtures can last from fifteen to twenty years. However, the older they are, the more a price you pay for them.

Older restroom fixtures use more water, increase utility costs, and need to be repaired and serviced more often. It’s more cost effective to change them every few years.

Klaus Reichardt, CEO & Founder at Waterless Co Inc | Thought Leader and Influencer | Helping Facilities Use Water More Efficiently, Reduce Water Consumption, and Lower Operating Costs.