Water Efficiency May 2012 : Page 37
believes, in part due to the disparity between older and newer cities. “Older cities have water rights,” he elaborates. “First in time, first in right. Many have a surplus of water; they have a robust water profile. But newer areas have one-tenth the resources, sumption” through automatic meter infrastructure that takes hourly read-ings, customers can receive usage data in real time, he says. “It’s like a smart grid for water. It’s a great tool for the customer and the utility.” To prove its point, Global Water LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Sometimes where water is recycled can be as important as recycling it. In areas where water is scarce — like southern California and the desert Southwest — it’s expensive to pump water from the Colorado River; no “There’s a fixation on supply in this country; we consume until it’s gone. We must do much more on the demand side. We need to balance the needs of the people and the environment.” came to Phoenix, one of the largest per-capita users of water (200 gallons per person per day) where there is a shortage of water. “The Global story is that we took chances,” says Hill. “This is not a small pilot—it’s on scale. We have 16 aggregated utilities. It can be done; it’s not complicated. It just takes a little cash, but there are a growing number of investors. “It’s a 15% increase in capital investment for a 40% reduction in us-age,” he estimates. “It’s not an austerity move. It’s more expensive by defini-tion, but it’s sustainable.” Global Water serves 17,000 customers in the Phoenix area: com-mon grounds, golf courses and green spaces are all fed by recycled water. In addition to owning utilities, Global provides a platform to help other utili-ties manage processes such as meter reading, customer service, and billing. “Interactivity is the critical next step,” indicates Hill. “People respond to benchmarks. We’re conditioned to have push messages. Everyone thinks they’re trying but the data is eye-opening.” In 2004, Global opened eyes in Maricopa (population 40,000). After reducing water consumption by 40% without sacrificing amenities, “we achieved another 10 to 15% extra with Fathom,” says Hill. more can be taken out of the delta, and permitting for desalination is costly. “Reuse is locally controllable and available,” says Carpenter. “It makes more sense than importing water.” Hill suggests changing wastewater plants to water reclamation facilities. “A water factory is sexy — you can put it downtown. It’s better than deeper wells and longer pipes.” He believes satellite facilities and decentralized systems are the wave of the future. “Reclamation plants don’t need to be near a discharge point because they deliver through pipes,” adds Hill. “Pumping to a treatment plant is 20 to 40% of a budget. This is smaller and less expensive, and with electronic controls, it can be operated remotely, so there’s less staff to pay as well as less energy required.” Th ere is a desire to be environ-mentally responsible and economically viable, but, according to Derek Gnauck, CEO of WJP Solutions, the two key market drivers are either a shortage of clean water in a particular location, and/or the need to clean up wastewater in order to dispose of it in an environ-mentally acceptable manner. “Both are driving demand in re-mote or regional locations ahead of the inner city building market,” he says. While most of WJP’s recent MAY 2012 WATER EFFICIENCY 37 so they must be innovative.” He says newer settlements are quicker to em-ploy reuse, but it “takes a long time to change older cities.” Change starts with informa-tion, which is why Global Water has launched a pioneering effort to put hourly data into the hands of custom-ers. Information is the first step. “To get customers to focus on us-age, they need better visibility to data and price signals,” explains Hill. By injecting “visibility into con-
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