Case Study #3
Water Conservation - University of Washington
CLIENT
The University of Washington
CHALLENGES
- The client had undertaken an aggressive campaign to address water conservation and in doing so, identified steam sterilizers as a major user of water.
- There were more than 50 sterilizers identified by the client as using an excessive amount of water.
- The client identified Continental Equipment, Steris and a local third party company to evaluate the company's water saving capabilities.
OUR SOLUTION
- Identified the steam trap cooling systems of steam sterilizers as a single pass cooling system which uses a tremendous amount of water.
- Researched and developed a method for replacing the single pass cooling system with a more efficient method for cooling steam condensate (Water-Mizer®)
- Installed one Water-Mizer® on a sterilizer at the University of Washington for field evaluation versus water conservation devices installed by Steris and a local third party company.
RESULTS
- Of the three water conservation devices tested, the Water-Mizer® achieved the best results for water reduction as well as being projected to have the least maintenance.
- The client sole sourced over 50 Water-Mizers to be installed with a projected water savings of nearly 60 million gallons per year.
- At the time of install, the client's Energy Management Coordinator projected a monetary savings of over $600,000 per year.
- The Water-Mizer® has since been patented and been installed on thousands of sterilizers nationwide.