Water Efficiency Concepts

•Indoor water
•Outdoor water
•Process water

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Indoor Water :

•Reduce potable water demand

•Increase water use efficiency

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Indoor Strategies :

• Reducing water use within a building is an easy way to

earn LEED credits and can be achieved .

• Toilets account 25% of daily water use in USA.

• One half of all toilets in USA homes are older & less
efficient models.

• Older toilets use four to eight gallons of water per flush ,

while all new toilets must have a maximum flush volume of
1.6 gallons per flush.

• One leaky faucet , leaking at a rate of 60 drips per minute ,

wastes over 2000 gallons of water annually .

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Indoor Strategies :
1. Dual flush toilets (half flush &full flush).
2. HETs (High Efficiency toilets) use no more than 1.28 gpf.
HET that are certified by independent laboratory (third
party )testing to meet rigorous criteria for performance
and efficiency and can earn WATER SENSE LABEL .
Water sense label : is a program by US Environmental
protection agency (EPA).

3. WATER LESS URINAL

( hygienic , odor free , less bacteria because the absence
of moisture).

4. Composting toilet
(require no water and treat waste with microbiological
process)

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• Composting toilets and Waterless urinals are the most efficient types
of fixtures because they have NO Water.

5 . LOW FLOW SHOWERHEADS AND FAUCETS.

• Water sense faucets (1.5 gpm).
• Low flow aerator and /or motion sensor.
• Install water meters .

• Note:
• Use storm water and / or recycled gray water (from shower and
bathtub ) (the water of flush doesn’t need to be clean ).
• Recycled waste water /storm water can be used in :

Irrigation .
Flushing toilets .
Cooling towers.

Using the recycled waste water reduce the amount of fresh water that
is taken from water supply of municipality .

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WE Prerequisite 1

INTENT:
• Maximize water efficiency within buildings to reduce the burden on
municipal water supply and wastewater systems.

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WE Prerequisite 1

REQUIREMENTS:
• 20% less water than the water use baseline calculated for
the building (not including irrigation) after meeting the
Energy Policy Act of 1992 fixture performance
requirements.

• The energy policy Act of 1992 established water

conservation standard for :
• WC (1.6 gpf)
• SHOWER HEAD (2.5 gpm)
• FAUCETS (KITCHEN & LAVOTARY) (2.2 gpm)
• URINAL (1 gpf)

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• FTE (full time equivalent) :
• FTE is based on standard 8 hours occupancy period .
• An 8 hour occupant has an FTE of 1.0
• For classroom : Teachers and students are considered FTE.

• Part time workers : that works 4 hours per day and FTE of 0.5.
•
• Transient occupants : (Students , Shoppers and museum visitors)

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Outdoor Water :
•Reduce potable water demand
•Increase water use efficiency
•Reduce environmental impact

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Outdoor Strategies :

1- Landscape Design.
by decreased energy due to less pumping and treating of
water.
Little or no lawnmower ( which also saves energy)
Eliminate potable water usage.

2- Appropriate plant selection

Native plants: are those grow naturally in an area and
require less( water , fertilizer and pest control).

Adaptive plants :non native plants but can perform well in

local climate.

Avoid invasive plants (grow quickly and displace the other

plants).

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3- Xeriscaping :

Another term that focuses on using plants that are native .

Xeriscaping is type of landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce
and eliminate the need of irrigation

4- Drip irrigation : allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants .

Convential irrigation efficiency has about 65 %
but the drip irrigation efficiency has about 90 %

5- Scheduling .

6 – Use storm water and /or rain water.

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• Gray water :
Water can be used twice .
comprises of 80 % waste water.
• Waste water :
From bathtubs, showers , bathroom sinks,
washing machine and laundry tubs
And doesn’t include :
kitchen sink , water from dishwashers,
water from toilets and urinals and potable water .

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XERISCAPING

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Process Water :

•Reduce potable water demand

•Increase water use efficiency

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Process water :

Process water :

1. Make up water for mechanical system (cooling towers ).

2. Cooking applications ( food streamer ,ice machine
,dishwater ,…. Etc).

• It would be part of LEED for hospitals , hospitals , labs but

you would not find it in LEED for homes

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