3 ways to use flow data for corporate water savings

Countless companies have published initiatives on water conservation and efficiency, often for compliance, financial benefits, and social responsibility. Companies in hospitality, healthcare, and general office buildings are all working to reduce their facilities’ water usage in practice and method, but you cannot manage what you do not measure.

In order to quantify water savings at different points within a facility, a highly accurate and dependable flow measurement device is necessary. In fact, reliable flow data collected at regular intervals can be useful for daily operation decisions.

Here are three major ways that operators, technicians, and engineers can use flow measurement data to support corporate water savings initiatives.

1. Leak detection

These days, water is money. Facilities should be metering to verify that they’re receiving what they’re paying for and using water efficiently in their manufacturing processes. Multiple metering points throughout a facility’s pipeline provide additional data points for long-term comparison, allowing operators and technicians to identify leaks, system failures, and broken equipment such as valves and pumps.

For instance, if a facility is using automatic shut-off valves to manage the flow of water that is cooling equipment, a flow meter sending data at regular intervals to a management system would indicate failure of the shut-off valve — thus indicating wasted water during a non-operational time period.

Having the flow data from sufficient points in the system will provide operators and technicians with the information needed to make decisions on water losses and to repair leaks. More information about economic levels of leakage and achieving zero net leakage can be found in a technical article by McCrometer.

McCrometer’s FPI Mag flow meter is the ideal solution for leakage detection.

2. Compliance

Many facilities strive to have buildings certified to various standards and ratings like ENERGY STAR. Monitoring flow using a highly accurate flow meter provides operators with the data they need to achieve the necessary credits, as well as meet corporate water objectives.

Industrial facilities needing to report to local, state, or federal regulators will benefit from highly accurate, repeatable flow measurements. Facilities flowing large quantities of water will see a significant difference between a ±2% accurate meter and a ±0.2% accurate meter, which can equate to financial savings as well as water usage and effluent levels below thresholds.

3. Reducing water footprint

Many companies are taking the initiative by announcing their commitment to be ‘water positive’, a combination of water-use reduction, recycling, and investment into the local water infrastructure. Often this involves wastewater treatment on-site for many factories and production centres, with the goal to reuse 100% of the facility’s process water and reducing the burden on the local municipality.

When the stakes are high to meet environmental and corporate initiatives involving a company’s water footprint, it’s critical to invest in valuable measurement technology. Flow data at intake, effluent, and post-wastewater treatment will allow operators and technicians to calculate efficiency and conservation.

In addition to recycling process water for reuse at facilities, companies can also quantify the amount of water they’re treating and returning to the community. Many companies in drought-plagued regions have made a commitment to return a certain percentage or amount of treated water to support local agriculture and wildlife, and require accurate, reliable flow data to quantify that water.

Flow meters to achieve corporate water savings

While companies in a variety of industries report to different regulators, and have unique conservation and sustainability objectives and industrial water practices, they can all benefit from installing the right meter in the right location to meet their application’s needs.

A full-bore electromagnetic (mag) meter like McCrometer’s Ultra Mag, or a full-profile insertion mag meter such as the FPI Mag offer system integration, unprecedented accuracy and repeatability, minimal-to-no maintenance, and provide flow data for the lifetime of the industrial facility. These meters are ideal for new and retrofit projects in a variety of industrial verticals and are a cost-effective measurement solution that meets regulatory requirements.

For more information about McCrometer’s high-quality flow measurement solutions that contribute to corporate water savings, visit www.mccrometer.com/ind.