This document provides tips for businesses to conserve water and cut overhead costs. It notes that while Earth has a vast amount of water, only a small percentage is fresh water, and water costs account for 1-2% of business overhead on average. Businesses such as hotels, schools and hospitals use a significant portion of publicly supplied water. The document recommends educating employees, monitoring water usage, fixing leaks, adopting efficient cleaning and landscaping practices, and installing water-efficient fixtures to help businesses reduce their water consumption and costs. It also lists resources where businesses can find information and incentives for water conservation solutions.

1. Water Wisdom
Tips to Help Your Business Conserve Water

2. Maintaining a budget is all in a day’s work
for businesses, and one of the best places to
cut overhead costs without compromising
your services or products is water
conservation...
...especially if your
business is a hotel or in
an older building.

3. Earth has 1,386,000,000cubic kilometers
of water, but only 2.5%of that is fresh water.
Water costs account for an average 1 to 2
percentof a business’s overhead.
Schools, hotels, office buildings, hospitals, retail
stores, and other facilities account for 17% of
publicly supplied water use in the United States.
Water Stats

4. Water utilities and
government agencies offer
grants, rebates, and tax credits
to businesses as incentive for
water conservation.
Many solutions are available
that promote water
conservation while still
accommodating needs for
agricultural, industrial, and
residential use.
$

5. S O L U T I O N S
WATER-SAVING
S O L U T I O N S
WATER-SAVING

6. 01
Inform your teammates of
water scarcity issues and the
impact of water conservation
practices.
EDUCATE YOUR
EMPLOYEES.

7. KNOW YOUR
WATER USAGE.02
Read your water meter daily,
weekly, or monthly to record your
average water consumption and
build incentive programs that can
motivate conservation efforts.
1
2
3
4
5

8. MAXIMIZE THE
EFFICIENCY OF
YOUR COOLING
TOWER.
03
Eliminate once-through cooling
equipment with municipal water by
recycling the water flow to cooling
towers, or replace the equipment
with air-cooled equipment.

9. CHECK FOR
LEAKS.04
Leaks can account for more than
6% of a facility’s total water use.
Identify and repair leaks in your
water distribution system to keep
your facility from wasting large
quantities of water.

10. MINIMIZE WATER
USED FOR CLEANING. 05
Adopt alternative cleaning
practices. For instance, instead of
steam cleaning your carpet,
switch to dry power or spot
cleaning.

11. MINIMIZE WATER
USED FOR
LANDSCAPING.
06
Use turf and plants that are
tolerant of drought conditions.
Adjust sprinkler systems to
irrigate landscape areas.

12. INSTALL SANITARY
FIXTURES AND
EQUIPMENT WITH
CONSERVATION
TECHNOLOGY.
07
Replace existing equipment with
high-efficiency plumbing fixtures to
save water. Low-flow plumbing
fixtures are a one-time cost and
easily implemented, allowing for
long-term water conservation.

13. https://www.twdb.texas.gov/publications/brochures/conservation/doc/Indus
trialbrochure-final.pdf
http://www2.pacinst.org/reports/water_fact_sheet/
http://www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial/index.html
http://www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial/managing_water.html#tabs-
planning
http://www.conservewatergeorgia.net/documents/business_tips.html
http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/chap3.cfm
http://www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial/docs/watersense_at_work/#
/59/zoomed
FIND WATER-SAVING PLUMBING FIXTURES FOR
COMMERCIAL USE AT PACPLUMBING.COM
RESOURCES: