Why Water Conservation is Important and How it is Changing the Way We Clean

With more and more facilities striving to become green, we are seeing a rise in concern for our water consumption and justly so...

When you look at a map, it seems odd to think that water conservation would be an issue. There is WAY more blue water than green land on a map. However, 97.5% of Earth's water is saltwater, leaving only 2.5% of freshwater, 70% of which is inaccessible in the polar ice caps (World Health Organization). The average American family of 4 consumes 400 gallons of water a day, 27% of which is just in flushing the toilet. While we as Americans are lucky to always have drinking, shower and toilet water accessible to us, if we don't take steps to conserve, one day access might not be so convenient.  

Some of the cleaning tasks required to maintain a healthy facility have required a large amount of water, but because of water conservation concerns, we are starting to see a shift in how we clean:

• Scrubbers and other floor machines are using a fraction of the water they once did, some constructed with a water filtration and recycling tank. The Intellibot Robotic Floor Scrubber is just one of those machines. It has a 4-stage filtration and recycling system uses 85% less water and chemistry. The Intellibot is also able to run in the dark thus conserving both water and energy.  
• Bathroom facilities are shifting towards water-less urinals.
• Mops and towels are being made with microfibers which use less water when cleaning. 
• Foam soap uses less water to rinse off than liquid soap