How to Calculate Water Savings
As we all are focused on doing better for the planet, water conservation is a hot topic of discussion. While you’ve probably heard your fair share about global warming, we are also in the midst of a water crisis.
Here at Hydrotek, we are proud to provide top-of-the-line commercial lavatory products that not only work great, but products that also help to fight our planet’s need to conserve water.
But while it’s amazing to hear that our products help to save water, you may be wondering how much water you can actually save. Luckily, there is a solution.
In this post, we’ll describe how our touchless products help to combat the overwhelming water crisis, including how you can effectively calculate the water savings for your commercial lavatory.
Lavatory Faucets
Faucets are a vital component when you’re looking to reduce water consumption. However, while you should always do your best to use less water when washing hands, the technology we have today helps the cause at a high level. Take a look at the various products that make this possible:
Aerators
As an effort to promote water conservation in a commercial lavatory, an aerator is a device that can be very effective. Used in most faucets, this product attaches to the spout and controls the amount of water that flows, including the type of flow. If a lower-flow aerator is installed, it can easily reduce the amount of water used during each hand washing visit.
Sensor Faucets
Sensor faucets are among some of the leading water conservation devices in a commercial lavatory. Furthermore, they also provide very useful measures for proper hygiene. But do these faucets really save water? Well, given that the human variable is taken out of the equation, the water savings can be substantial. These touchless faucets also help to eliminate the continuous water flow issue that can happen when a standard faucet is left running.
Flush Valves
Urinal and toilet flush valves are among the other lavatory products that help to combat our planet’s water dilemma. Due to the rapid advancements surrounding toilet and urinal flush valves, these products now save more water than ever before. As flush valves have evolved, manufacturers now develop higher efficiency valves that include high water pressures that assist in the flushing cycle. But as older toilet flush valves previously used around 3.5 gallons per flush (GPF), the standard valves today only use 1.6 GPF (1.0 GPF for urinals).
Calculating Your Water Savings
As the products of today are taking strides in the right direction, you may want to try to calculate just how much water you’re saving in your commercial lavatory. By understanding the typical lavatory water use, including the ratio of usage within a building system, you can take the appropriate measures to reach your water conservation goals.
In order to calculate your savings, you’ll want to determine how many people actually use the lavatory. For most commercial lavatories, the people included in this count are all of the full-time employees (FTE) on staff. For retail locations, customers are included in the calculations but at a reduced rate.
Before we begin calculations, we must determine the male and female ratios in the building, including how often employees use the commercial lavatory per day. To do this, divide your male FTEs by all of your FTEs; you’ll do the same for females. This will provide you with your building ratios for both genders. For average uses per day, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) uses a template with the estimations already determined.
Calculating ratios:
- 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑇𝐸 / 𝐹𝑇𝐸 = 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑇𝐸 / 𝐹𝑇𝐸 = 𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜
After figuring out ratios, you’ll then want to calculate toilet usage by using the following formula:
- (𝐹𝑇𝐸 ∗ 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 ∗ 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑡 (𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒)) + (𝐹𝑇𝐸 ∗ 𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 ∗ 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑡 (𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒) )
For example, the water closet (toilet) use for a building with 100 total FTE — where 75 of the employees are male and 25 are female — is as follows:
- (100 ∗ .75 ∗ 1 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦) + (100 ∗ .25 ∗ 3 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦) = 150 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦
Since the majority of those in this building are male, you’ll want to determine the urinal use by following this formula:
- (100 ∗ .75 ∗ 2 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦) = 150 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦
Formula to calculate faucet usage:
- (𝐹𝑇𝐸 ∗ 𝐿𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦)
Check Out Our Scrub Sink Faucets
If you’re looking for a top-notch scrub sink faucet, Hydrotek is here to help! We offer one of the most dependable touchless faucets in the entire industry, including one that is sure to work towards water conservation efforts. Learn more about our touchless scrub sink faucet below:
6700C Series Sensor Faucet
The 6700C Series faucet is a piston operated touchless faucet that provides a vandal-resistant, wall-mounted, zero-touch solution to your commercial lavatory. The 6700C Series faucet not only works great and saves water, but it also can boost efficiency in the workplace.
