Voluntary No Cost Program Creates Opportunities to Invest in Practices that Save Water and Money. It’s a checkup that also offers you a return on your investment: Castaic Lake Water Agency (CLWA) is inviting businesses and institutions to get a free water use checkup that can yield tremendous opportunities to help improve the community’s water use efficiency, and have a positive impact on the financial bottom line.
The new Commercial, Industrial and Institutional Water Checkup Program is intended for businesses as well as institutions like schools, churches and other community facilities to find out how they can be more water-wise and save money, too. Additionally, at the completion of the checkup, participants are eligible for rebates offered by CLWA for water saving equipment.
“This is a great opportunity for businesses and schools to save water and money,” said Stephanie Anagnoson, CLWA Administrative Analyst. “This program combines good stewardship of water resources with best business practices, and we’re excited to be able to offer such valuable information and analysis to businesses and institutions.”
The program is free, voluntary and confidential between the participants and CLWA.
“We try to structure the reports and the findings in a manner in which it inspires the customer to make the suggested changes and improve overall water efficiency,” said Charlie Gill, President of Integrated Property Services, which is CLWA’s contractor for the program. The Commercial, Institutional and Institutional Water Checkup Program is a part of CLWA’s overall effort to improve water efficiency in the Santa Clarita Valley moving toward meeting the state’s goal of a 20 percent per capita reduction in water use by 2020.
Gill is first reaching out to some of the SCV’s largest water users to seek their participation, since they have the ability to have the greatest immediate impact on overall water use efficiency. He said any local business or institution is also invited to contact him to participate.
“So far our response has been phenomenal from the community, very supportive,” said Gill, who plans to perform 60 of the checkups this year. “We’ve been out to 11 locations already and we’re booked on appointments through the end of August.”
The checkups are available to all businesses and institutions, including houses of worship, which, Gill said, can be among a community’s largest water users because they often have significant landscaped areas and host social functions, club meetings as well as provide educational facilities.
The typical water use checkup starts with a site visit and tour, in which Gill will learn about the facility, its floor plan, the types of water use that occur there, the types of water fixtures, and so on. Gill will gather data and develop a strategy for improved water use efficiency — a process that may occur over the course of several visits and consultations with the customer. The kinds of water-saving measures can be “all over the spectrum,” Gill said, ranging from more efficient toilet fixtures to new irrigation equipment and even new industrial equipment and still meet water needs.
It’s all about efficiency.
“There’s a difference between water conservation and water use efficiency,” Gill said, adding that conservation is reducing or stopping certain uses of water often to meet a short-term goal, while efficiency is a matter of using technology and state-of-the-art equipment to make water use more efficient.
He said the water use checkups focus on five primary areas:
• Irrigation: The evaluation will look at everything related to irrigation, from time of day to the types of plants used in landscaping, to irrigation equipment. Some efficiency can be achieved through actions like changing the irrigation schedule — less water is lost to evaporation if irrigation occurs between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. — and sometimes switching to state-of-the-art equipment can help. For example, weather-based irrigation controllers automatically adjust sprinkler schedules based on changes in the weather, time of year and other factors.
• Plumbing fixtures: All plumbing equipment, from faucets to urinals, wash basins and sinks, will be checked for the potential benefits of upgrading to current technology. In many cases, rebates are available, which can help shorten the amount of time it takes for water efficiency savings to provide a return on the property owner’s investment.
• Cooling towers (HVAC equipment): Replacement of aging cooling and HVAC equipment, Gill said, can help customers save in more ways than one. Often, state-of-the-art equipment is not only more water-efficient, but also more energy-efficient, which can reduce power bills. Such equipment is often eligible for rebates from Southern California Edison, which can expedite the return on investment.
• Manufacturing processes that utilize water: Many industries utilize water in manufacturing, and this is another opportunity for state-of-the-art equipment to use both water and energy more efficiently.
• Anything else: Gill said the checkups are always done with an eye toward any other potential water uses that could be made more efficient, even if they are not necessarily part of the first four categories.
“The goal of all of this is to look at what we can do to make the use of the water more efficient, and save the customers money,” Gill said, adding he brings his company’s property management experience into the equation, looking at the water use issues from the perspective of a business owner seeking to increase overall efficiency and to invest resources wisely.
After the analysis is complete, a bound report is created, containing the findings and suggestions, which are then discussed with the customer. The report will also identify rebates available based on annual water savings. “That’s what the end result is — an action plan with an expected return on investment,” Gill said. “Hopefully we’ve inspired the customer to the point where they plan to take some action.”
Businesses and institutions interested in participating in the Commercial, Industrial and Institutional water checkup program are encouraged to call Charlie Gill at 661-294-9355 to schedule an appointment.