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According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the commercial and institutional sector — which includes office buildings, schools, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, laboratories, and so on — is the second largest consumer of publicly supplied water in the U.S., accounting for 17 percent of the withdrawals from public water supplies. With the exception of restaurants, where most water is used in the kitchen, the biggest category of water usage is Domestic/Restroom. In office buildings, for example, 37 percent of water use falls into this category. For schools, it’s 45 percent.
The good news is that there is huge potential for water savings in restrooms! In older buildings, old faucets can be replaced with new, high-quality faucets with low flow options that reduce water use while maintaining function. For even more control, touchless faucets save water by automatically turning off when they’re not being used. Plus, automatic faucets are a more convenient and hygienic option. The water-saving benefits don’t end there, though.
Work Smarter in Service Mode
Have you ever tried to service a faucet with the water running? Or tried to clean a sink with the faucet turning on and off as the sensor detects your movements? Difficult, inefficient, and messy, right?
Service Mode on the EQ® Connect app allows you to use your phone or tablet to turn off the sensors on your EQ® Touchless Faucets so your team can perform necessary cleaning and maintenance tasks. This makes their work easier and doesn’t waste water.
Chuck Morris, Director of Facilities at School District No. 61 in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, describes, “In my experience, the only thing cleaning staff disliked about sensor faucets was trying not to activate them during cleaning! They would dance around a bank of sinks, trying to prevent water from flowing, which would waste water and cleaning products. Now, with COVID-19 top of mind, we are all even more aware of the importance of allowing sufficient contact time for products to properly clean and disinfect surfaces. Having a simple way for a custodian to shut off all faucets until sinks are properly cleaned and disinfected — with sufficient contact time and no wasted water or cleaning product — is incredibly useful.”
Use Service Mode During Off Hours
A 2016 study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy found steep annual increases in water and wastewater rates are outpacing the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The study’s findings suggest rate increases are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Water is wasted any time a faucet runs while nobody is using it to wash their hands. Letting water run unnecessarily during routine cleaning and maintenance is no different, and it detracts from the important building management goal of using resources efficiently. Smart water conservation practices are good for the environment and reduce your facility’s utility bills. (Using energy to heat water that simply flows down the drain is especially wasteful!)
The EQ® Connect Smartphone App Streamlines Facility Management
Manually turning off the sensor on every faucet in your building is tedious. But, not turning them off to perform maintenance and cleaning wastes significant water and makes the job harder. By using Service Mode on the EQ® Connect app as part of your building management routine, you can save time, hassle, and water by turning off sensors with the tap of a button.
Remote Facility Management
If you’re considering replacing older faucets in your building, use our Water Savings Calculator to estimate how much you could save by using Chicago Faucets products.
