Success Stories 

Industrial Water Use

Business: City of Milwaukie (Milwaukie)

Number of Employees: 148

Vignette

The City of Milwaukie has four buildings: City Hall, Ledding Library, Public Security (fire and police), and the Johnson Creek Building (offices and shops).

• Reduced hot water temperature at all faucets to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $104/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 230 therms/year.
• Installed water conserving valves on all urinals in men’s restrooms. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $97/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 25,000 gallons/year.
• Purchased a unit to recondition rechargeable batteries. After multiple rechargings, most batteries lose their ability to hold a charge. Reconditioning restores the batteries so that they can be recharged and reused again. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $274/year (net). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 55 pounds/year.
• Reduced paper use across all City offices by 6% through employee education about double-sided copying and efficient printing and formatting practices. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $351/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 585 pounds of paper/year.
• Encourages reuse of filing folders, hanging files, and other office supplies.
• Installed a crank timer for lights in a storage loft. This turns the lights off after 10 to 30 minutes. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $321/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 7,400 kWh/year, plus light bulbs.
• Installed a crank timer for lights in the parking garage. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $522/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 11,000 kWh/year, plus light bulbs.
• Reduced outside night-time lighting levels by 50% to 75% at the Johnson Creek Building offices and shops. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $3,211/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 50,900 kWh/year, plus light bulbs.
• Fixed a shower drip in a locker room. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $28/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 16 therms (gas) and 4,900 gallons (water)/year.
• Fixed a leak at the truck/car wash. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $113/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 29,200 gallons/year.
• Incorporated recycled content building materials into several remodeling projects.

Case Study

• Report available on use of recycled building materials in remodeling projects. Call Metro, 503-234-3000.

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Business: Fred Meyer Baking Plant (Clackamas)

Number of Employees: unknown

Vignette

• Identified and corrected water leaks and drips totaling 709,000 gallons per year. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $3,280/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 1,772 therms (natural gas) and 709,000 gallons (water)/year.
• Changed the packing procedure for bear claws and other pastries. Previously, packing staff had not always had enough time to switch packaging types when production shifted from one product to another. For example, at the end of a batch of bear claws, staff would need to move the packaged bear claws out of the packing area and prepare to package the next product. Insufficient time to make the switch meant that the last products in any given batch were often trashed. By increasing the time between product lines (at the packing end) by three minutes, this problem was largely eliminated. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 12,480 pounds/year.

Case Study

None

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Business: Graphic Sciences (Portland)

Number of Employees: unknown

Vignette

As part of an ink manufacturing process, Graphic Sciences added a cooling tower to the pigment grinding process. This allows most of the cooling water to be reused, cutting water use by 80%. The installation paid for itself in a matter of months, helping to make lower cost ink of the same quality using less water. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,500,000 gallons/year.

Case Study

• Call the City of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development, 503-823-7222.

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Business: Stahlbush Island Farms, Inc.

Number of Employees: 22

Vignette

Stahlbush Island Farms is a grower and processor of fruits and vegetables. Most of the company’s customers are large food product manufacturers.

• Water use has been reduced by more than 50%, due to an innovative system where water is used in three or four different applications. Water is used to cool hot pumpkin puree and compressor oil, and to condense ammonia refrigerant. The warmed water is then used to pre-heat both the boiler and pumpkins. Wastewater from pumpkin and equipment washing is applied to fields for irrigation.
• Timers were installed on fan motors in freezers so that fans don’t run all of the time. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $4,500/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 133,000 kWh/year.
• As targeted motors wear out, they are replaced with high-efficiency motors. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: when fully implemented, this will save $2,300/year in electric bills. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 50,000 kWh/year.
• Only "natural" (uncolored) five gallon HDPE plastic pails are used. These pails are easier for customers to recycle.
• Ammonia compressor head pressure and boiler pressure have been adjusted to conserve energy.
• The farm composts food scraps and is experimenting with using food scraps as cattle feed.
• Some bulk products are shipped in reconditioned drums.
• Corrugated cardboard boxes and office paper are recycled.

Case Study

• Case study exists.

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