Flushing away valuable energy

TORONTO-Every time we flush the toilet or turn on the tap, we wash energy down the drain. The cost of pumping, distribution and treatment of water and wastewater is consistently the highest figure on the electricity bill of Ontario municipalities.

To put it into perspective, Toronto Water uses more electricity than the TTC and five times the energy consumed by all the city’s streetlights and traffic signals. Energy costs for water pumping and treatment cost the Region of Peel an estimated $25 million in 2006.

Cities and now the province are only beginning to recognize the critical nexus between water and energy. The most recent evidence of this recognition is in the Green Energy Act, which explicitly links energy efficiency and water efficiency, a first in Canada.

This connection is encouraging since water efficiency is among the most cost-effective energy reduction strategies. In California, the Energy Commission found that implementation of all identified water conservation measures could “achieve 95% of the savings expected from the 2006-2008 energy efficiency programs, at 58% of the cost.”

How can Ontario act to reduce the energy and dollars we flush down the drain?

An obvious place to start would be utilizing the new provisions of the Green Energy Act to ban the sale of 13-litre toilets– still on the shelves of your local hardware store despite the availability of toilets that use a quarter of the water — something the U.S. did more than 15 years ago in its Energy Policy Act.

Another key action under the Green Energy Act would be to make water conservation a simple choice for Ontario consumers by adopting WaterSense, the water efficiency equivalent of the successful EnergyStar consumer labeling program. The province should also ensure new homes and buildings are as water efficient as possible by incorporating water efficiency standards into the review of the Ontario Building Code required under the Act.

Two other critical opportunities where the province can take action on the water-energy nexus are infrastructure funding and its upcoming water conservation and efficiency strategy.

With smart spending on 21st century water infrastructure — specifically water efficiency and green infrastructure — the province would defer construction of energy-sucking water pipelines and treatment plants, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention saving billions of taxpayer dollars.

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Source: Toronto Sun

Water Efficiency is Key to Saving Energy: Expert

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In regions where pumping and distributing water requires significant electricity use, policies that lead to reduced water consumption could address climate change more efficiently than requiring businesses and households to use less energy, according to water expert Peter Gleick.

“Some of the cheapest greenhouse gas emission reductions available seem to be not energy-efficiency programs, but water-efficiency programs,” said Gleick, president of the California-based Pacific Institute, a global water research center.

Gleick notes, for example, that it may be cheaper for consumers to reduce the overall hot water usage in their homes than to replace their incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient alternatives.

The virtues of water efficiency can be found in California and China — regions where water shortages have become emergencies and droughts may worsen with climate change. Conditions may become more severe in the future as consumers turn to water solutions that often require even greater energy supplies.

In California, where drought is afflicting the land for the third year in a row, the state is reducing water deliveries by 20-30 percent this winter and warns of “the most significant water crisis in its history.” The water shortages are forcing farmers to cut production and lay off employees in an already sour economy.

Meanwhile, water transportation, storage, and treatment account for about 19 percent of the state’s electricity, according to a 2007 California Energy Commission report. To reach the rapidly expanding urban clusters in southern California, for instance, water is pumped 2,000 feet (610 meters) over the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles.

David Zoldoske, director of the Center for Irrigation Technology at California State University-Fresno, has led efforts to educate central California farmers about proper pump maintenance since 2001. With the help of utility company subsidies, the project has helped improve the efficiency of several irrigation pumps, saving 19.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually between 2002 and 2005, he said.

But the recent drought may reduce many efficiency gains. Farmers are digging deeper water wells and several counties are exploring plans to build desalination plants. Both measures lead to significant increases in energy use.

“When you’re running out of water, you don’t care about what the energy bill is … and we’re in dire straits here in California,” Zoldoske said. “Where people can use water more efficiently, people will opt for that … But the availability and reliability of water is more of a concern.”

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Source: Green Buildings