A-4
October 2012
A.2 Federal Agency Implements Water Management Strategy
••
Preparing drought contingency plans.
••
Developing a “water balance” of all water uses in the facility.
••
Identifying project opportunities to reduce water use.
Due to its efforts between 2002 and 2007 to assess water use, set water management goals,
and implement projects, EPAwas able to reduce its water use intensity by 8.4 percent.
With the passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) and the signing
of Executive Order 13423 in 2007, federal agencies were required to: track and reduce
potable water use 16 percent by 2015, assess their water use in individual facilities,
and implement projects to reduce water use. Subsequently, Executive Order 13514
required federal agencies to reduce potable water use intensity by 2 percent per year
through 2020, from a 2007 baseline, and track and reduce non-potable water use.
Since EPA had been assessing water use at most of its laboratories, it was easily able to
establish its 2007 baseline; however, its challenge was to continue to reduce water use
by identifying additional project opportunities.
In 2008, EPA developed an Agencywide Water Conservation Strategic Plan. The plan
was built on the Agency’s prior water-efficiency success and EISA and Executive Order
requirements. The plan’s objectives are to:
••
Conduct water use and conservation assessments at each of its major
laboratories every four years.
••
Establish annual facility-specific water reduction targets.
••
Identify and implement new water-efficiency projects.
The plan is updated regularly to document EPA’s water reduction successes and
incorporate plans and goals for the future.
EPA’s 2009 aggregated laboratory-wide water balance, taken from its 2010 strategic
plan update, is shown in Figure A-1. Water use for each individual laboratory is tracked
separately and may vary from this
aggregate, depending upon its specific
operations and processes.
Since 2007, EPA has completed a variety of
projects across some or all laboratories in its
portfolio, including:
••
Installing 1.6 gallon per flush (gpf) or
dual-flush toilets, WaterSense® labeled
flushing urinals, and 0.5 gallon per minute
(
gpm) faucet aerators on lavatory faucets.
••
Contracting with irrigation professionals
certified through a WaterSense labeled
certification program to conduct
irrigation system audits and identify
areas of improvement.
Sanitary
16%
Reverse Osmosis
1%
HVAC/
Mechanical
2%
Sterilizers/Autoclaves
2%
Aquatic Culture Water
3%
Single-Pass Cooling
4%
Irrigation
4%
Boilers/Hot Water
5%
Vivarium Operations
6%
Cooling Towers
27%
Lab Process/Misc
Water Use
30%
Figure A-1. Typical Water Use at EPA Laboratories, 2009
