Castle Hills Fitness Gains Savings
Castle Hill Fitness reduced their water use in 2015 by almost 207,000 gallons from 2014 by installing new water efficient shower heads and faucets in the locker rooms that’s a savings of about 17,250 gallons per month--a 14% water use reduction and $3,000 savings each year on their water and wastewater bills. 
By reviewing their water bills, meeting with Austin Water and taking the 3C Business Challenge, Castle Hill came up with the following steps to reduce water use:
Track usage – Look at utility bills and determine how much water your business consumes and how much it costs.
Start with the easy stuff – Facility manager Vlad Glouchkov found that water efficient shower heads were relatively inexpensive and easy to install. Castle Hill quickly saw results after they were installed,
Step it up – Next they looked at their faucets. Glouchkov and his team convinced management to spend less than $2,000 to replace old inefficient faucets with solar-powered touch free faucets.
Training – Meet with staff to discuss simple everyday water saving practices and form a “green team” that meets regularly to identify additional water saving ideas.
Customer awareness – Castle Hill Fitness also installed small water proof timers in the showers. The timers reminded gym members to limit their showers to less than 5 minutes.
Data + Payback –With these improvements and water savings, Castle Hill Fitness expects to reach payback in less than one year.
Stephen F. Austin Hotel: Into Ozone
The InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel, at 701 Congress Avenue, recently took the 3C Business Challenge. The challenge prompted the management to install an ozone treatment laundry system on their existing machines, resulting in significant water savings. Overall laundry water use dropped by about 35%.
Ozone is a cleaning agent that can be injected directly into the incoming water line for the laundry. It safely removes dirt from linens by breaking down soil molecules more effectively than chlorine and other cleaning agents. It is most effective when used in cold water; drastically reduce water heating costs for laundry facilities.
Peak day savings from the ozone system for the three 100-pound plus pound capacity washer/extractors was over 3,200 gallons per day. Combined water and wastewater cost savings was about $50 per day or about $18,250 annually. The cost for the ozone system was $22,000. The payback period for the ozone treatment system was less than one year when factoring in energy cost savings and the $5,884 rebate from Austin Water’s Bucks for Business rebate program.
Added benefits included increased life of linens, decreased use of cleaning chemicals and no chemical smell in towels and linens after washing. Taking the 3C Business Challenge also helped the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel towards designation as a Green Business Leader and a WaterWise Hotel Partner.
For more information about Austin Water’s commercial conservation incentive programs, contact Mark Jordan, Conservation Program Coordinator, at (512) 974-3901 or mark.jordan@austintexas.gov.
Argonne Labs Develops New Cooling Water Treatment
Traditional cooling tower water treatment systems use chemicals to prevent biological growth, scaling and corrosion and increase water efficiency. However, the cost of these chemicals can offset the cost savings from reduced water usage. 
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has developed a resin wafer electrodeionization (RW-EDI) technology that uses electricity, ion exchange membranes and resin to deionize water and separate impurities from water that cause scaling, fouling and corrosion from cooling tower make-up water. It differs from other water purification technologies because it is done without the use of chemical treatments.
Results from initial testing on Chicago cooling towers using raw water from the Chicago River and the RWEDI water system
- Reduced water use by almost 30% by increasing cycles of concentration from 3 to 8 cycles;
- Decreased chemical usage by almost 40% by decreasing the total dissolved solids in the water without chemical neutralization;
- Cut operating and maintenance costs about 30% by reducing water and chemical costs; and
- Reduced wastewater discharges by over 50%.
The system also allows cooling towers to use cheaper, lower quality water such as reclaimed water (treated municipal wastewater) for the cooling tower make-up water supply.
The system has a modular design that allows for easy sizing of the system to the cooling tower. Retrofitting is easy, and is installed ahead of the chemical treatment equipment allowing for chemical treatment to be used as an emergency backup. Once installed, the system requires no ongoing maintenance other than yearly replacement of the membrane packs.
The General Services Administration is exploring working with the Argonne National Laboratory to use this technology in its cooling tower along with reclaimed water from the City of Austin for several federal buildings in Austin. The system is also eligible for Austin Water’s Bucks for Business rebate program that offers up to $100,000 in rebates towards the cost of equipment.
For more information about RWEDI, contact Jessica Linville, Argonne National Laboratory, at 813-956-0091.
City Adopts Permanent Once-a-Week Watering
The City of Austin lifted Stage 2 drought restrictions that had been in place for almost four years and returned to Conservation Stage this past May. The action was in response to last year’s rains that helped refill the Highland Lakes, a major source of water supply for the city.
Additionally, the Austin City Council approved changes to the city’s drought management plan and Water Management Code limiting automatic irrigation systems to one-day-per-week in all stages. Automatic systems can use up to 15 gallons per minute (gpm) compared to an average of 3 gpm for hose-end systems. Automatic systems generally can easily meet irrigation needs on a once-per-week schedule than hose-end systems.
Variances may be allowed for existing large properties where limitations on the irrigation system prevent the ability to water the entire landscape under the once- a-week schedule.Customers with hose-end sprinklers are allowed to water two days per week until Stage 2 and then would be limited to one day per week.
Restrictions on the use of potable water for ornamental fountains have also been lifted with the return to Conservation Stage. Other water uses currently unrestricted in Conservation Stage include: drip irrigation, hand-held watering, and tree and foundation watering with bubblers, irrigation bags or soaker hoses.
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