Restroom Care: Army Base Reports Major Water Savings

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The Presidio Army base, located in Monterey, Calif., reports that they are saving approximately 1.65 acre feet of water per month which amounts to 537,654 gallons of potable water per month.

To achieve this, the base, which is the home of the Army's Defense Language Institute, implemented a number of water reducing measures.  And virtually all of the techniques applied at the Presidio can be used by any facility — with minimal impact on building users.

The key measures used included the installation of:
.    More than 700 low-flow showerheads
.    A new landscape irrigation system that uses less water in general and also uses water more efficiently
.    Water-efficient garbage disposal systems
.    Waterless urinal systems

According to Dewey J. Baird, Chief of Utilities at the Presidio, the water-reducing garbage disposal systems resulted in lowering water use from approximately 11 gallons of water per minute per dining facility to about 2 gallons per minute per dining facility. "This means we went from 3.37 million gallons of water per year to just 0.61 million gallons per year," he says.

Impressive water savings were also achieved by installing 173 waterless urinals. This waterless system, manufactured by Waterless Co LLC., saves nearly 3 million gallons of water per year. And, adds Baird, switching from conventional urinals to waterless systems resulted in "no significant change in custodial labor or modification of maintenance schedules."

The Presidio undertook these water conserving measures after receiving a directive from the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District asking that the Army reduce water use at the facility.

"Cities around the country are now implementing these [water conserving] directives," says Klaus Reichardt, Founder and Managing Partner of Waterless Co. LLC. "The Army shows it can be done more easily than facility managers think and with little, if any, impact on building users."