AWWA SOURCES59144

In June of 2002, the California Urban Water Conservation Council was awarded a $2.3 million grant on behalf of 30 water utilities in the state by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The grant is funding a major pre-rinse spray valve replacement program directed at small and medium sized food service establishments. The CPUC is funding 70 percent of the Program cost; water utilities are funding the remaining 30%. In this direct-install Program, approximately 17,000 valves will be replaced free of charge by the end of 2003, yielding hot water savings of more than 300 gallons per day per valve. The dishwashing operation in a typical restaurant consumes over two-thirds of all the water used by that establishment. In some cases, nearly one-half of the water used in dishwashing is consumed by this pre-rinse spray valve, which is used to remove food from dishware, utensils, and pans before placing them in the dishwasher. These valves currently can be purchased with a variety of flow rates: most that are purchased and installed are over 3.0-gpm. The efficient replacement valves being installed in this program use 1.6-gpm or less. Because this program was also the first time that many water utilities were able to do serious canvassing of the restaurant sector, the Program also includes a data collection component designed to serve as the foundation for a later program phase: that of constructing and implementing another incentive program directed specifically at the dishwashers, icemakers, or steamers within those same food service establishments. This voluminous database of 17,000 restaurants will also be a valuable source of research information for other future water conservation efforts. This paper presents specific information on how the grant was obtained and the implementation experiences in the field. The paper provides the reader with insights as to the methods that worked and which achieved spray valve installations (and water savings), as well as the methods and attempts that were unsuccessful. It will also offer specific recommendations for water utilities considering any type of conservation outreach to the food service industry.