Full Description

Water conservation for many commercial or industrial end-users is often only one part of a morecomprehensive environmental management program. Reducing water use may be a byproductor effect of reducing solid or liquid waste streams, reducing stormwater impacts, or improvingenergy use and economic performance. For municipal conservation programs, a betterunderstanding of the interrelationship between water conservation, water quality, and stormwaterprotection provides a potential for multiple benefits from environmental improvements.An understanding of how these interrelationships affect industrial and commercial end-users canfacilitate program design. Providing incentives to stimulate greater investment in waterconservation has been a popular program alternative for some of the larger water conservationprograms in the United States over the past two decades. Recognizing that water conservation'seconomic and environmental benefits are only one part of the potential environmental benefitsavailable to a multifaceted program may provide additional incentives to industrial commercialend users.As a case study, the professional car wash industry's involvement in two related but distinctprograms will be examined: municipal certification programs and the US Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Performance TrackProgram. In 1996, the San Antonio Water System initiated the Vehicle Wash ConservationCertification Program for professional car washes. In 2002, the City of Denver Water Utilitiesprovided certification for water-conserving car washes as a stimulus to reduce water use bothduring a drought. In 2003, the International Carwash Association began discussions with theEPA to become the network partner in the EPA's Performance Track program. PerformanceTrack uses Environmental Management Systems to track and continuously improveenvironmental performance in a number of related areas. For car washes, this environmentalperformance would include effluent quality, solid waste disposal, and chemical safety, as well aswater conservation.This paper uses the professional car wash experience to show how the goals of waterconservation, pollution prevention, and chemical safety interact in one industry. The differencesbetween a focus on water conservation and a multifaceted focus on environmental managementare examined. A comparison of emphasis and potential impacts of conservation certification andPerformance Track program designs is included. Includes 6 references.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 01/11/2004 Number of Pages: 9File Size: 1 file , 280 KB