The fourth annual Imagine a Day Without Water event on Oct. 10, 2018, is expected to draw participation from more than 750 organizations, including municipal, commercial, and institutional facilities. The national education campaign seeks to create awareness around the critical nature of water infrastructure and raise the profile of the challenges facing the nation’s water supply.
Among the day’s activities, several water authorities are engaging their customers on ways they can reduce water use, such as using high-efficiency toilets and weather-based irrigation systems.
Many people take access to clean water for granted, yet water scarcity can occur anywhere and for a variety of reasons. Drought is a major stressor of water systems, but so are salt-water intrusion, contamination, aquifer depletion, and disruption due to weather catastrophes. Aging water infrastructure puts further stresses on the system, through everyday pipeline leaks.
Facilities depend heavily on water for everything from process loads to chiller loops. For some facilities, such as hospitals, losing access to water even temporarily is a business continuity issue. Some of these facilities have started addressing water security security by aggressively minimizing water use and providing on-site long-term water storage for all process needs.
This Quick Read was submitted by Naomi Millán, senior editor, Building Operating Management.
