This paper addresses the question of how much water could be saved in urban supermarkets if a combination of advanced
water treatment for the cooling systems and other in-store devices were used to conserve water. The study was conducted in Southern
California under a grant from the California Department of Water Resources, and support from five water districts. Evaporative coolers are
the single largest water use in most supermarkets, and this study focused on three water treatment systems that promised to allow the
coolers to operate at higher cycles of concentration, thus reducing the amount of water needed for bleed. Theoretical calculations
indicated that it might be possible to save approximately 490 kgal of water per year on average if the cycles of concentration were
increased from their starting levels to a minimum of 6.0. In practice, the observed savings were somewhat larger than this, at
approximately 700 kgal per year. Of the three processes studied, however, only the alkalinity control program succeeded in avoiding
scale problems. The economics of the sites showed cost benefit ratios of converting to advanced treatment (like alkalinity control)
justified the process, averaging 2.1 to 7.6. A certain amount of care is needed in monitoring the program, however, in order to avoid
complications from phosphate and sulfate scales. Other water conservation measures for these stores included use of flow restrictors
and high efficiency aerators for all sprayers washing faucets, elimination of garbage grinders, use of high pressure washers for floor
and meat department washing and encouraging employees to notify management of leaks and water waste. The overall conclusion of
the study was that with an aggressive program it should be possible to save up to 800 kgal, or 2.5 af, per store on average over the
Southern California area. Includes tables, figure.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 260 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 01/11/2004 |
