Go Green and Reduce Foodservice Costs by Controlling Water Quality

MINNETONKA, MN, April 14, 2011 (Press-News.org) The Link Between Water & Utility Costs

A foodservice location uses a significant amount of water, which can directly result in increased utility costs. Water bills and electricity bills are actually linked expenses. Water quality, specifically high levels of hardness and TDS, can cause inefficiencies in equipment that either heats or cools water.

This image shows the heating element inside a boiler-based steam oven. As little as a 1/4" of scale buildup can decrease energy efficiency by nearly 40%. Imagine a typical combi oven that costs $1500 a year in electricity: a 30% reduction in efficiency, due to poor water quality, could mean up to $450 in wasted electricity annually on one piece of equipment. Furthermore, it's not just the oven that may be increasing costs, but inefficiencies in coffee, espresso and ice equipment as well.

Water Footprint & Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis (RO) is an excellent technology for controlling water quality. By using RO, a chain operation can ensure consistent drink quality over many locations, or nearly eliminate the potential for scale buildup on equipment that either heats or cools water.

However, traditional RO systems can also have a downside: water waste. In order to ensure the best quality water is delivered to the appliance, the RO has what is termed "reject water". The ratio of reject water can be as high as 4 gallons for every 1 gallon of usable water.

This waste is not only affects a company's water bill, it also affects the sewage bill. Although seemingly small when looking at a price per gallon, a company's waste water costs can quickly rise when compared over a year of operation. A store that uses 500 gallons of RO water per day can save hundreds, if not thousands, over the course of a year by considering a high-efficiency RO solution.

Key Lessons
1. Water is a significant portion of the carbon footprint equation.
2. Controlling water quality minimizes energy usage.
3. Using RO may be needlessly wasting water.
To learn more about the business benefits of improving water quality, http://pentair.nextcom.com/water_quality.

About Everpure
Everpure/Pentair Foodservice, a leading foodservice industry supplier for over 75 years, is a trusted provider of commercial water treatment solutions worldwide. Pentair markets Everpure-branded filtration products for foodservice, office coffee/water, vending, consumer, marine and aviation applications. The company is a division of Pentair, Inc. Its Water Group is a global leader in providing innovative products and systems for the movement, treatment, storage and enjoyment of water. With 2010 revenues of $3.0 billion, Pentair employs approximately 14,000 people worldwide. For more information, please visit us at www.everpure.com.

Next Communications is a full service marketing communications firm specializing in print, online and search marketing. For further information, contact Dennis Gallaher at 952-934-8220 or dennis.g@nextcom.com or www.nextcom.com.