1. Jane Paulson, MnTAP and Jordan Reller, North Memorial Health
MnTAP Water Conservation Success: Hennepin Health & North Memorial Health
Jane Paulson, MnTAP and Jordan Reller, North Memorial Health

2. Who is MnTAP? Provide no cost technical assistance Through
University of Minnesota, School of Public Health
Provide no cost technical assistance
Pollution Prevention
Energy Efficiency
Water Conservation
Cost Savings
Through
On Site Assessments
Intern Projects
Minnesota Materials Exchange

3. Considerations for Water Projects
Water is cheap, making it difficult to justify upgrades and replacements on the cost of water alone
However, other factors may make it worthwhile:
Energy – if heated water is saved, the cost of energy can quickly justify upgrades. This can also make the project eligible for utility rebates.
Wastewater charges
Sewer Availability Charges (SAC)
Improved utility or reliability
Consider efficiency when purchasing necessary replacements

4. Recent MnTAP Water Projects at Hospitals
Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2016
North Memorial Health Hospital, Robbinsdale, MN, 2018

5. Snapshot – Hennepin County Medical Center
3 million square feet
6 campus buildings
Over 6,000 full time equivalent employees
130,000 in-patient days
46 million gallons of water
These numbers represent the HCMC’s impact in HCMC has a very large urban footprint – it’s about 3 million square feet, 7 city blocks and it employs over 6,000 people and experiences about 130,000 in-patient days. In total, HCMC used 46 million gallons of water in 2015.

6. Benchmarking – from Practice Greenhealth
Explain what practice green health is!

7. Project Overview Updating fixtures to efficient flow levels.
Sinks, showers, and toilets
Replace aging water intensive equipment
dishwashers, washers, sterilizers, and washing machines
Eliminating all unnecessary use of tap water to cool discharge water.
Reuse reject water from reverse osmosis systems
Main water-reducing projects: ensure efficient flows, document equipment updates, discontinue water use to cool discharge water, and reuse reject water from RO systems

8. 1. Domestic Fixture Savings
Sinks from 2.2 gpm to 1.0 gpm
2,300,000 gallons potential savings
12,000 therms in energy savings
$38,000 in savings with 0.20 year payback
Showers from 2.5 gpm to 1.5 gpm
520,000 gallons potential savings
3,200 therms in energy savings
$9,000 in savings with 0.78 year payback
By placing an aerator on each faucet, the sink flow is reduced from 2.2 gpm to 1.0 gpm which produces a total savings of 3.3 million gallons. These calculations are derived from the soap usage with an assumed one pump of soap and 20 seconds per wash.
So far 30% of the sinks have aerators, therefore there’s approximately 2.3 million gallons more opportunity in savings.
Updated shower heads (shown on the left) produce a flow of 1.5 gpm compared to those on the right which have a flow of 2.5 gpm. Switching all of the shower heads to the more efficient model would produce a savings of 750,000 gallons total. The shower calculations are based on 470 patient room showers if each of the 150,000 in-patients in 2015 showers for 5 minutes. 30% of which has been realized so far, with just over half a million gallons more available in savings.

9. Estimating Usages Complicated to estimate sink water use in a hospital
Hand washing protocols and requirements are high
Estimated the amount of water used based on the amount of soap used
After trying to base the estimate on the number of sinks and length of time spent washing hands
Additional assumptions: 20 seconds and 1 pump of soap

10. Domestic Fixture Savings (Continued)
Toilets from 3.5 gpf to 1.6 gpf
710,000 potential savings
An additional 40,000 gallons if dual flush
Retrofitting the toilets will cost $20,000
25 flushes per day would produce a 2 year payback
Recommended to investigate high use areas
Only updated toilets can be retrofitted
Estimated one flush per day per toilet – conservative estimate.
Include picture of dual flush handle
Newer toilets have a 1.6 gallon flush and older model toilets have a 3.5 gallon flush. In total, about 1 million gallons in savings from updating all of the toilets by assuming one flush per day per toilet – very conservative estimate. Currently about 25% of the toilets have been changed with about 700,000 more in potential savings. There could be an additional 150,000 gallons saved if there are dual flush capabilities installed. This estimate is rough because not every flush will be the lower flush. The two choices would be the current full amount (1.6 gpf) or 1.0 gpf. 150,000 comes from a reduction from 1.6 gpf to 1.0 gpf and assuming 50% of the flushes are the lower flush option.
25 flushes per day in order to create a 2 year payback.

11. 2. Equipment Replacements
3 Large Washers
$32,000 and 2,130,000 gallons in savings with 5.06 year payback
6,000 therms in energy savings
2 Sterilizers
$53,800 and 2,840,000 gallons in savings with 6.69 year payback
20,000 therms in energy savings
1 Dishwasher
$16,500 and 720,000 gallons in savings with 7.77 year payback
4,000 therms in energy savings
4 Washing Machines
$7,000 and 530,000 gallons in savings with 0.43 year payback
3,000 therms in energy savings
Currently, 1 dishwasher in the main kitchen has been replaced and there is another one in the Cafe that could be updated. There are 3 washers that are being replaced in central sterile processing and 2 others on campus. There are 2 sterilizers also in central sterile processing that are in the process of being requested and 7 other sterilizers on campus that could have water savings similar to that listed above.
In the psych department, there are 4 washing machines that are highly used and very old. The amount of savings looks small in comparison to the others, but the payback is quick, so it is recommended that they are replaced.
Add energy**

12. 3. Eliminate Discharge Water Tempering
Cold water mixed with washer discharge water
In the past, discharge needed to be cooled below 140°F
Regulations now allow maximum discharge temperature of 180°F
Over 1.5 million gallons of water saved among 4 washers
Regulations required discharge water to be below 140 degrees in the past, so cold water was mixed with discharge. The regulations were updated to allow 180 degree discharge, therefore that water use was unnecessary. Simply by eliminating this water use, HCMC saved approximately 1.5 million gallons of water.

13. 4. Reverse Osmosis Reject Water Reuse
510,000 gallons per year of reject water total
Reject water reuse recommended
Floor cleaning – about 5,000 gallons per month
Irrigation – about 27,000 gallons monthly in summer months
Utilizing 35% or 180,000 gallons per year
Floor cleaning uses approximately 5,000 gallons of water monthly and a new reverse osmosis system will be put in place near the filling station for the floor cleaning equipment. This reverse osmosis system will produce about 4,500 gallons of reject water per month that could be used to fill the floor cleaning machines.
In the hot summer months, irrigating the hospital’s landscape uses about 50,000 gallons of water monthly. A reverse osmosis system that is located conveniently to use the reject water for irrigation produces about 27,000 gallons of water per month.
Ideally this water would all be able to be used for toilet water because all of the water would then be used year-round and it’d all be put toward the same use. However, after speaking with John, he has said that plumbing-wise that’d be very complicated.

14. Total 13,020,000 48,200 $182,600 Type Upgrade Water Savings (gal/yr)
Energy Savings (Therms)
Cost Reduction
Implementation Cost
Payback (yr)
Domestic Fixture Updates
Sink Aerator
3,300,000
12,000
$38,000
$7,500
0.20
Shower Heads
750,000
3,200
$9,000
$7,000
0.78
Toilet Replacement
1,100,000
N/A
$10,000
TBD
Toilet Retrofit
40,000
$400
$20,000
2 (25+ flushes)
Equipment Replacements
Washers
2,130,000
6,000
$32,000
$162,000
5.06
Sterilizers
2,840,000
20,000
$53,800
$360,000
6.69
Dishwasher
720,000
4,000
$16,500
$130,000
7.77
Washing Machines
530,000
3,000
$3,000
0.43
Other
Water Tempering
1,500,000
$14,000
Immediate
RO Reuse
180,000
$1,600
Unknown
Total
13,020,000
48,200
$182,600

15. Snapshot – North Memorial Health
North Memorial Health Hospital
1.7 million sqft
5,000 full time employees
38 Million Gallons of Water in 2018
These numbers represent the HCMC’s impact in HCMC has a very large urban footprint – it’s about 3 million square feet, 7 city blocks and it employs over 6,000 people and experiences about 130,000 in-patient days. In total, HCMC used 46 million gallons of water in 2015.

16. Project Overview
1. Kitchen rinse trough solenoid and timer 2. Providing cooling of walk in compressor system from winter chiller system 3. Update of Reverse Osmosis System 4. Irrigation system weather sensors 5. Update of kitchen dish machine

17. 1. Kitchen Trough Solenoid Valve and Timer for Soup Kettle Trough
Used over 1.5 million gallons each year of 127 degree water
Valve could be turned on, but be forgotten to be turned off
Installed NC solenoid valve with timer

18. 1. Kitchen Trough Before After
Will save over 1.3 million gallons and 7000 Therms
$500 to implement
$13,000 in savings each year
Implemented August 2018

19. 2. Walk-In Compressor Cooling
Placed three – 2 ton water cooled compressors for Kitchen walk-in coolers on the hospital chilled water loop.
Cooling lines were piped off of chilled water return line to year round cooling system
Inlet side of cooling system pumped in at 58 degrees.
Eliminated 2.6 mil gal/year single pass cooling water
Implemented Feb 2019

20. 3. Reverse Osmosis System
764,000 gallon water use reduction
3 year ROI
New system would have 3:1 efficiency vs current 1:2
Currently under review with facility to determine cost and criticality before capital approval

21. 4. Irrigation System Weather Sensor
162,000 gal annual reduction
2.7 year ROI
Weather sensors prevent overwatering during wet weather. 
Automation also reduces labor of manually adjusting the system.
Currently under review with facility and irrigation vendor

22. 5. Update Dish Machine 170,000 gal water reduction - $1600
150,000 kwh reduction - $10,000
$7500 reduction in chemical usage
8.1 year ROI
14 year old unit nearing end of life, requiring increased maintenance
Currently under review with facility and contracted dietary teams.

23. Project Analysis Recommendation Annual reduction Total cost
Annual savings
Payback period
Solenoid Valve and Timer
1.3 mil gal water
7,000 Therms
$500
$12,500
$600
2 weeks
Condensers Loop
2.6 mil gal water
$25,000
$24,000
1.1 years
New Reverse Osmosis System
764,000 gal water
$7,000
3 years
Irrigation System weather sensors
162,000 gal water
$4,000
$1,500
2.7 years
Dish machine update
170,000 gal water
150,000 kWh
$155,000
$1,600
$10,100
$7,500
8.1 years

24. MnTAP Partnership
Able to efficiently quantify data and transform to dollars that will support approval of funding from Hospital Leadership
Cost effective engineering partners
Piqued interest from Senior Leadership helps to close the gap between clinical and operations leaders
Community partnership that is able to aid in fulfilling obligation to conserving critical resources as high volume users in community