Case Study: Aerators
Conducted by: EPA (WaterSense)
How Shari’s Cafe and Pies reduced water usage and cut costs by installing high-efficiency equipment at their restaurant locations
Background
Shari’s Cafe and Pies is a 24-hour restaurant chain in the Pacific Northwest. They have 95 locations.
They worked with Ecova® (an energy and sustainability management company) to install high-efficiency equipment to reduce water usage
Shari’s underwent water audits in 2010
These audits revealed that water was 20% of the company’s utility costs
To reduce costs, they installed redesigned dipper wells and high-efficiency equipment at all their locations
They also found that it was vital to engage their employees in their water efficiency efforts
Between 2008-2016, Shari’s reduced its water usage by approximately 72 million gallons per year
Results
Faucet Aerators:
Shari’s installed faucet aerators on all of their sinks (both kitchen and bathroom sinks) at each location (a total of 520 sinks):
The kitchen sinks were fitted with 1.5 gallons of water per minute aerators, and the bathroom sinks were fitted with 0.5 and 1.0 gallons of water per minute aerators
This project only costed $8 per faucet, but reduced water consumption by approximately 5 million gallons of water per year and saved $300,000 per year in utility costs
Other Kitchen Upgrades:
Shari’s also installed WaterSense labeled pre-rinse spray valves that use 1.15 gallons per minute
They also replaced their old model dishwashers with ENERGY STAR® certified models
This reduced their water use to 1.8 gallons of water per cycle (from their previous 3.2 gallons of water per cycle)
They also saved the energy needed to heat the water
They installed ENERGY STAR® certified ice machines
These models used less than 20 gallons of water per 100 lbs of ice produced
Overall, implementing these water-efficient practices has reduced Shari’s water usage by an average of 30 percent since 2008. And although water and wastewater rates continue to increase, Shari’s operational expenses have remained stable because of these efforts.