Water Management Plans

Through a combination of strategic planning, project execution and conservation efforts, EPA has been able to reduce water intensity over the past several years.

Top 10 Water Management Techniques

Following are the top 10 water best management practices that EPA has implemented to reduce water use at facilities throughout the Agency.

1. Meter/Measure/Manage

Metering and measuring facility water use help to analyze saving opportunities. This also assures the equipment is run correctly and maintained properly to help prevent water waste from leaks or malfunctioning mechanical equipment.

2. Optimize Cooling Towers

Cooling towers provide air conditioning for laboratories and are large consumers of water. Cooling tower operations can be optimized by carefully controlling the ratio of water discharged (blowdown) to water evaporated. The ratio of evaporation to blowdown is called the cycle of concentration. For maximum water efficiency, cooling towers should be operated at six or more cycles of concentration. Metering water put into and discharged from the cooling tower ensures the cooling tower is operating properly and can help identify leaks or other malfunctions.

3. Replace Restroom Fixtures

The U.S. Department of Energy established federal water-efficiency standards in the 1990s. Prior to that, most EPA facilities had inefficient sanitary fixtures. For example, toilets used 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf). Nearly all EPA laboratories have since installed water-efficient fixtures, many of which have earned EPA’s WaterSense® label for efficiency and performance. These include:

New toilets with flow rates of 1.28 or 1.6 gpf.

WaterSense labeled urinals flushing at 0.5 gpf or less.

WaterSense labeled showerheads flowing at 2.0 gallons per minute (gpm) or less.

Faucet aerators flowing at 0.5 gpm, well below the 2.2 gpm federal standard, have also been installed in most laboratories.

4. Eliminate Single-Pass Cooling

Single-pass cooling circulates a continuous flow of water just once through the system for cooling purposes before it goes down the drain. EPA strives to eliminate single-pass cooling in its laboratories. Instead, facilities have air-cooled or recirculating chilled water systems.

The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, replaced its single-pass cooling system with a recirculated chilled water loop. This cut water use 80 percent, saving the laboratory 24.8 million gallons of water and $235,000 annually.

5. Use Water-Smart Landscaping and Irrigation

Planting native and drought-tolerant plant species minimizes the need for supplemental irrigation. Landscape water use can also be reduced 10 to 20 percent by having an irrigation water audit. EPA selects audit professionals certified through a WaterSense labeled program. WaterSense labeled weather-based irrigation controllers or soil moisture sensors are used to water only when plants need it.