Case Study: Aerators
Conducted by: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA)
How restaurants can save water and cut costs by installing aerators on faucets
Background
In the early 1990s, MWRA’s Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI) Water Management Program conducted surveys for varying sizes and types of food service establishments.
These restaurants ranged from 85 seats to 1500 seats. They served an average of 2000 to 40000 meals per week
Their water consumption ranged from under 1 million gallons to 13 million gallons per year
That’s an estimated 6 gallons per meal to 29 gallons per meal
Their goal was to help these businesses improve their water efficiency and, therefore, cut their operational costs
It is important to note that the water + sewer rates of this case study are based on 1993 figures.
Water costs in 2020 are about 5.7 times the 1993 rate
Results
Restaurants installed Massachusetts Plumbing Code conforming aerators or spring-loaded valves on faucets:
A local restaurant that replaces 7 sinks with 1.5 gallon per minute aerators would save about $170 per year (in 1993) in energy and water
The cost to install these aerators was about $20 (in 1993)
Therefore, restaurants would’ve seen a payback within 2 months.