By Arnie Wilke, Bradley Senior Product Manager

Imagine everyday life without water. If that is too much of a stretch, just picture what life would be like if washrooms had no water.

Fresh water is an increasingly precious commodity worldwide. Just three percent of the water in the world is fresh water, and of that, less than one percent is available to us. The rest is frozen in glaciers or polar ice caps, or deep within the earth beyond our reach. As populations grow, competing interests put ever-increasing pressure on limited water resources. Changes in weather patterns are causing drought conditions in areas where people have not had to pay much attention to water usage before.

The age of building large dams and water conveyance systems is coming to a close in the United States as high infrastructure costs, environmental issues, and land acquisition make such options all but impossible. Many of our rivers have already been reduced to shadows of their former selves (in fact, so much water is drawn from the Colorado River, that it often never finishes its journey to the sea). Battles over what has become a scarce resource in many parts of the country are getting more heated all the time. All of these factors contribute to a global awareness concerning the importance of efficient water use and conservation.

The efficient use and conservation of our resources has also become one of the most important issues facing the plumbing industry. While most western states have had water shortage problems for a long time, they are now becoming real crisis situations as populations in those areas continue to grow exponentially. Many state and local governments have already been forced to restrict water usage, but with the passage of the Energy Act (EPAct) in 1992 - which established water use restrictions for new toilets, showerheads, and faucets - water conservation became an even more important issue.

Even without the influence of legislation, water conservation makes sense. First, it saves money, as most water utility bills are based on usage. Also, there are costs of heating water for bathing, handwashing, laundry, and so forth. Many communities have had dramatic increases in infrastructure costs for increased capacity to keep up with growth in water usage. Sewer systems are affected too, as they have to cope with growing demand for water treatment and carrying capacity. These costs simply get passed on to the customer.

Water conservation can offset some or all of the increased demand. Even people who have their own wells and septic systems can save money by reducing water use. Pumps and septic systems will last longer since they require less maintenance, and wells will last longer when demands on aquifers are minimized. The American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AwwaRF) says indoor water use can be reduced over 30 percent (on average) in all single family homes employing water conserving plumbing fixtures, fittings, and appliances currently on the market.

Savings to cities and municipal governments can be enormous as they defer, reduce, or avoid capital costs of water supply and wastewater facilities, and infrastructure such as storm sewer construction or expansion. The City of New York is estimated to have saved $605 million from a 20-year deferral of water supply and wastewater treatment expansion projects. Santa Monica, California, will enjoy a $6 million savings in 2002 from reducing costs in water imports and wastewater treatment.

Plumbing solutions

One of the first water saving devices to be used was the self-closing valve, which automatically shut off to prevent water valves from being left on. However, these valves had to be held open by the user, making it difficult for them to bathe or wash their hands. Washfountains overcame this problem by using a foot lever to hold the valve open, leaving hands free for washing while providing a positive shut-off when the user steps away from the fixture.

Next came the mechanical metering valve, which uses a small orifice and water line pressure to slowly close the valve after activation. These valves can be very difficult to maintain where water supplies contain sediment or high concentrations of minerals that can clog the small orifice, causing the valve to stay open. Using air instead of water as the medium passing through a small orifice, air metering valves were a big improvement.

There are, however, some disadvantages to using any mechanical metering valve, because they all require frequent adjustment. They run for a very limited time, usually ten to fifteen seconds. Longer cycles are possible, but the longer the cycle time the smaller the orifice, thereby increasing the chances of orifices clogged with debris preventing the valve from closing. The combination of electronic timing mechanisms or infrared (IR) sensors with solenoid valves solved the clogged orifice dilemma.

Solutions that work

Solenoid valves virtually eliminate the problem of clogged orifices and electronic timing mechanisms provide precise timing capabilities for any desired cycle. Battery-power (9V, lithium, etc.) is available for solenoid valves using electronic timing or IR sensors, as well. Infrared sensors and foot-operated provide the ultimate in water conservation, not to mention some other important advantages. Unlike mechanical metering valves, plumbing fixtures using infrared sensors or foot-operated vales shut off when the user is finished rather then running for a preset period of time.

Infrared sensors and foot-operated valves are also cleaner. The user's hands need not touch the surface, so fixtures stay cleaner. This eliminates any worry over who touched the fixture earlier. Another advantage of IR sensors and foot valves is that they will stay open for as long as needed by the user in cases where more thorough washing is required. As soon as the user moves away from the sensors, the valves shut off the water flow, cutting down on water waste. These sensor-operated faucets cannot be left on accidentally - again, saving water.

Today's lavatory systems all include products with properties that help save water in the restroom. Handwashing fixtures are available with flow rates as low as 3.1 x 10(-5) m(3/S) (0.5 gpm) - a vast improvement over conventional faucets that used 1.3 x 10(-4) m(3/S) to 1.9 x 10(-4) m(3/S) (2 to 3 gpm).

When fixtures with these very low flow rates were first introduced, they did not provide adequate spray patterns for handwashing, and would likely never provide enough water for a heavily soiled user. However, improvements in spray pattern designs have made these fixtures much more practical. Newer designs spray in a number of small streams to cover a larger area of the hand with more force to help speed up the rinsing action. When more thorough washing of hands and arms is required, washfountains can do the job more quickly and efficiently by providing a full spray pattern and a large bowl area to clean arms as well as hands.

Some plumbing fixtures, such as washfountains and modular lavatory systems, accommodate multiple users and use multiple low-flow sprayheads to save water and energy. They also use a single supply of water and one drain, which saves on installation costs. This 'group' handwashing concept is used in schools, business offices, athletic facilities, industrial plants, movie theaters, shopping malls, and so forth - anywhere washrooms are typically used by more than one person at a time. In addition, washfountains and lavatory systems can save space and installation costs in group washing applications - as much as 0.7 m(2) (8 sf) with one plumbing rough-in when compared to four individual lavatories with four rough-ins.

Low-flow showerheads are also available with flow rates of 1.6 x 10(-4) m(4/S) (2.5 gpm) for individual and multiple station showers. Like the handwashing fixtures, improvements in spray pattern designs have made these fixtures much more practical. Even lower flow showerheads are available, but use caution here.  Some showerheads with too little water flow can actually increase water consumption by extending the time it takes to shower.  

Commitment to water conservation

The Environmental Protection Agency's )EPA) WAVE (Water Alliances for Voluntary Efficiency) program encourages commercial businesses and institutions to reduce water consumption while increasing efficiency, profitability, and competitiveness. Businesses could save about 4.9 billion L (1.3 billion gal) of water per day - the equivalent of what is used in four million homes - by installing water-efficient equipment.

Electricity savings resulting from reduced water use would be about 39.6 million MJ (11 million kWh/day), enough to meet the needs of 400,000 homes. These water-efficient measures can reduce water and sewer costs up to 30 percent, and significant savings in energy, chemical, and maintenance expenses are also possible. The typical payback period is less than two years.

As populations increase, so will demands for fresh water supplies. What does the future hold? Whether mandated by law or just because it makes sense, the trend toward increased water conservation will continue. More washrooms will go to touchless activation to save as much water as possible and limit potential contact with disease or infections spread by touch.

Increased use of waterless hand cleaning is a possibility in some applications, but mostly in cases of where there is no access to handwashing fixtures, such as cleaning a child's hands while traveling in a car. Water recycling will become important in areas where water is most scarce and mandated conservation and water use restrictions will become more commonplace. Fresh water is a basic need for all of us and the supply of easily obtainable fresh water is limited. Conservation is an important tool we can all use to make this precious commodity available for generations to come.

Water Basics

• Only one percent of the Earth's water is fresh water and available for humans to drink (97 percent of the Earth's water is salt water while two percent is frozen).
• The United States has fresh water resources totaling about 2,498 trillion L (660 trillion gal). Americans tap into about 1,291 billion L (341 billion gal) of those resources every day.
• Of the amount withdrawn in the United States, only one percent is used for drinking water. About 41 percent is used for agriculture, 39 percent for hydroelectric power, six percent for industrial use, and six percent for household use.
• There are 54,000 community water systems in the United States. They provide about 90 percent of Americans with their tap water. About 3,000 of these community systems provide more than 75 percent of the nation's water.
• Water utilities monitor for more than 100 contaminants on a regular basis. More than 94 percent of American water utilities are in full compliance with health-based federal regulations annually.
• The distribution network for large water systems in the United States comprises about 965,606 km (600,000 ml) of pipes.
• Within the United States and Canada, the total miles of pipeline and aqueducts equal approximately 1.6 million km (1 million ml) - enough to circle the earth 40 times.

Courtesy AWWA (www.awwa.org)

 

Additional Information

Author
Arnie Wilke is a senior product manager at Bradley Corp. (Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin) a manufacturer of commercial washfountains, plumbing fixtures, washroom accessories, partitions, emergency fixtures, and solid plastic lockers. He has over 28 years of experience in the plumbing fixtures industry, and can be reached by calling (800) 272-3539.

MasterFormat No.

15410 - Plumbing Fixtures

General Data - Environmental Issues

 

UniFormat No.

D2010 - Plumbing Fixtures

 

Key words

• Division 15
• American Water Works Association
• Conservation
• Energy Policy Act
• Lavatory systems
• Plumbing fixtures

Abstract
As a resource, potable water is growing in demand while the supply is diminishing. As such, one of the most important water conservation approaches is to limit waste in washroom facilities. In this article, the author explores different plumbing fixtures and the positive effect they can have on water conservation.

Reprinted with permission of The Construction Specifications Institute, 99 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314, from The Construction Specifier.