water conservation Archives - Falcon Water Free

311 CITIES. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST?

Hello readers, today we’re introducing a new series on the blog. After almost two years (!!) of content, the team decided it was about time we put some faces to the articles we develop for you.

To start off, we would like to welcome – and introduce – Liam Dow. Liam plays the roll of our Government Affairs Coordinator, and steers the wheel when it comes to California’s water conservation initiatives. Without further ado, here is Liam with a little update on what we’re seeing in Southern California.

One thing that might surprise you is that during the month of August California exceeded its reduction target by 3 percent, but water suppliers representing roughly 131 cities fell short of their targets. These 131 cities have continued to fall short with the majority having never met their conservation targets set forth by the State. To address these challenges the State has sent violation letters, urging non-compliant cities to implement new policy changes, provide rebate funding, and host educational initiatives.

In my day to day role, I get to see these initiatives up close and personal and while some efforts have helped with conservation, frankly I think most of these cities are not demonstrating a sense of urgency and creativity. In these circumstances, I see the Public Works – or comparable – departments working diligently on water conservation suggestions from the State. However, rarely does a city unanimously demonstrate a willingness to go above the state recommendations and confront the urgency with action. In addition, it seems that cities are justifying missed targets by blaming hotter months while, at the same time, hoping for colder ones.

But that’s not going to solve our drought. We desperately need action! We can learn from initiatives taken by cities that surpass their compliance targets, such as San Francisco and Pismo Beach. Where I have seen leadership take a more active role to implement new policies that effectively save thousands of gallons of water. Pismo Beach recently issued a city ordinance that mandates all existing and new buildings install high efficiency water conservation devices by February, 2016. Alongside San Francisco which implemented an ordinance that provides significant rebate funding for high efficiency restroom devices and requires cities to be in compliance by 2017.

That type of urgency is what California needs to bounce back from a drought like this. We need more cities to take immediate action and think through innovative solutions that include both the business community and non – profits. Together we can effectively tackle challenges that threaten our most precious natural resource, and rise above the worst drought California has ever seen.

STORY OF A RETROFIT: DOWNEY POOL

Welcome back to our series of post where we will be showing before and after pictures of some of our installations. Have you ever wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes of a bathroom renovation? Well you have come to the right place. Today we will be taking you inside the Downey Recreation Center, in Los Angeles, California.

Just across the Los Angeles River, you can find the Downey Rec Center as well as the Downey Pool. A few years from now residents be able to experience a full-on, 6.3 acre, river-adjacent park, with much needed green space, a soccer field, stormwater treatment features, and a bicycle hub for the park. For now, residents are able to use the pool across the street. It is one of the oldest public swimming pools in the city of Los Angeles and we were able to retrofit three of their urinals from water-fed to waterfree.

The Downey Rec Center was the venue to the Empty Pool Party last Saturday. While the party was fueled by good times, the heart of it laid with the concern of the drought affecting Los Angeles and surrounding areas. To bring awareness to water conservation, the non profit Dig Deep hosted the party alongside partners such as the LA mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, Falcon and Change the Course.

Together we saved 550,335 gallons of water at the Empty Pool Party, with:

Pledge to save 44,746 gallons with the tickets; vegan, water-friendly tacos from Whole Foods saved 103,432 gallons needed for beef; the drinks were made with recycled pool water; Falcon’s waterless urinals saved 150 gallons and using an empty, seasonal pool saved us 402,000 gallons. And trust us when we say, that after spending a hot day in an empty pool, we felt this one the most!

More about the party here.

Happy weekending guys!

SPOTLIGHT: WATERisLIFE

WATERisLIFE is a nonprofit that provides clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education programs in schools and villages in desperate need. This seems all too familiar, right? Another organization trying to solve water issues around the world. It’s great that people are willing to devote their lives to helping others and we are all on the same page when it comes to the importance of water. However, what stood out to us when we came across WATERisLIFE, is how and where they focus on making an impact.

Through community-driven and community-engaging programs they are able to work closely with other partners and local governments. With that said, they use community to create change and to develop new technology that will ensure households, schools, orphanages and medical facilities access to safe water.

3.4 million People die each year of water related disease, but the real issue is that most of them don’t even know how dangerous it can be to drink unsafe water. This is why, we think WATERisLIFE’s new technological development is nothing short of amazing. In partner with scientists and engineers at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Virginia, they created a solution to solve both of these problems. The drinkable book is the first to teach safe water habits to people and is printed on technologically advanced filter paper capable of killing deadly waterborne diseases. The paper functions as a coffee filter could and they have found a reduction greater than 99.9% in bacteria count. Which is comparable to the tap water in the US. This is amazing when you think about countries that have little to no access to clean drinking water.

This invention is the first step in providing communities with a sustainable clean water source, nonetheless we love how they incorporate technology and science to tackle such issues. Innovation can come in a simple form, but with a force that changes an entire village in need. Kudos to WATERisLIFE!

Don’t forget to take a look at their website and YouTube channel to see how the technology works.

5 GROWING TRENDS IN WATER CONSERVATION

Facing growing challenges with freshwater availability due to drought and other factors, people throughout the world are focusing on new ideas for conserving water resources. Here are five trends that will play a significant factor in the future of water conservation in California and other regions.

Water Recycling

According to the 2012 United Nations World Water Development Report, 80 percent of the world’s wastewater is not collected or treated. However, recent severe freshwater shortages in some areas is driving governments to develop water recycling programs that produces water that is clean enough to drink.

Desalination
Although it is expensive and energy intensive, governments from San Diego to Dubai are investing billions of dollars in ocean water desalination. The introduction of membrane-based desalination has increased the affordability and decreased the energy requirements. As of 2013, Dubai was sourcing over 98% of its potable water supply from desalination.

Water Fines
California made headlines in 2014 when they started imposing expensive fines to people caught wasting water. Offenses like allowing landscape watering to flow into streets and hosing driveways were subject to fines. As water resources become more stressed due to the drought, more local governments are starting to impose fines to discourage water waste.

Efficient Irrigation Techniques
With farm irrigation amounting to about 70% of global freshwater use there is a lot of opportunity for farm water conservation. Irrigation systems that accurately measure usage with water flow meters can minimize overwatering which accounts for a significant amount of water waste in farm and golf courses alike.

Efficient Technology for Home and Business Conservation
New tools for saving water are constantly being introduced for consumers and businesses alike. There are High Efficiency Toilets, Waterfree Urinals and shower heads available to help owners and managers decrease water consumption and save money on water bills.

CA REACHED GOV JERRY BROWN’S WATER TARGET

New numbers, released this Wednesday, show that the state’s ambitious conservation campaign is working, with statewide residential water use declining 28.9 percent in May from its baseline 2013 levels. The figures surpassed Brown’s order in April to cut water use statewide by 25 percent.

This is great news, and we know that motivation, simplicity, through easy-to-remember tips and “triggers,” reminding people have gone a long way! There is still a lot we can do in other areas, such as in commercial buildings. Let’s take a look at how much is used where in urban areas.

Knowing the facts and motivating change will get us on track and help us continue to strive for better water conservation technology.

Hope you have a great weekend!

FALCON MEDIA COVERAGE: SPORTS TECHIE

Three months ago, we announced Jason Gore as our new Falcon ambassador. Just like us, Jason is a California native and has grown up experiencing first hand conservation and the California way of life. In the article below, Sports Techie blog does a great job at illustrating our local water conservation campaign (CA Shut the Flush Up) and why Jason is a perfect fit.

ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY SPORTS TECHIE BLOG:

Falcon Water Technologies sponsored PGA Tour golf professional Jason Gore to evangelize water savings rebate programs implemented by local utilities throughout California in order to help overcome the possibility that the state has one year of stored H20 left after four years of drought. The Sports Techie community blog spoke to Gore about his social media efforts to spread awareness about this global epidemic that has led to unprecedented glacier melting in Greenland, the Article Circle and Antarctica, the largest land mass of ice on the planet resulting is ocean levels rising with the potential to displace millions of human and animals that live on the many coast lines around the world. The time is now for all golf courses to meet this dilemma head on with conservation efforts much like Scott Heyn, General Manager at Oakmont Country Club in Southern California has persuaded his private equity course members to initially fund. Steve Nuskiewicz, Falcon Senior VP North American Sales, also shared with us why the rebate program is in place and how their tech eliminates the need for flush or low flush urinals.

Falcon Waterfree Technologies, LLC promotes conservation of fresh water and supports sustainable resource management by providing the #waterfree urinal system. Golf course restrooms are the focus of their “CA Shut The Flush Up” campaign because by installing water-efficient or waterfree urinals, up to 40,000 gallons of water per year/per urinal is saved a year. In order to save 88,000,000 gallons of water a year, each one of the 1,100 golf courses in California would need to install two waterfree urinals in their bathrooms. Gore said, “Making the switch to waterfree urinals is a very small undertaking with unlimited savings potential.”

The Los Angeles and San Francisco water utilities are doing their part to conserve water by incentivizing golf courses with rebate programs designed to pay for the total purchase and installation price of the waterless urinal. Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has a $20 million rebate program that allows L.A. area golf courses to subsidize out of pocket costs on the $500 fixture purchase and installation in most cases. An added bonus is there are no limits on redeemable rebates per location. Installation takes a mere one hour in many cases.

“Golf courses get a bad reputation, sometimes deservedly so, when it comes to water usage and while they’ve come a long way in the last 10 years, there are still important steps for them to take to finish the job,” emphasized Gore.

Riviera Country Club, Los Angeles Country Club, Hillcrest Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club are already saving money on water bills and cutting back on usage due to Falcon Waterfree urinals installed in their clubhouses, locker rooms, restaurants and pool areas.

Gore is a CA native that lives in Valencia. He has known Tiger Woods since he was 11. Jason graduated from Pepperdine where he helped lead the Waves to the NCAA Championship in 1997. Before transferring there, he won the Pac-10 individual championship as a freshman and sophomore at the University of Arizona. Besides holding the record for most wins in Web.com Tour history, Gore once shot an impressive 59 on the PGA Tour.

“As a global company with California roots, we jumped at the chance to work with Jason to help raise awareness for our efforts,” said Falcon Waterfree CEO Simon Davis. “We are always looking at new, fun ways to reach important market segments and Jason will help to ensure we get our message out there. We look forward to a long relationship and we are convinced he will win on the course and we will win off the course.”

Jason wears the Falcon logo on his polo shirt sleeve during tournaments and after play. The business relationship began at Valencia CC because Davis and Gore are fellow members. PGA golfers have asked him about the logo and placement. Gore mentioned that Rory McIIroy and Phil Mickelson both liked it. Gore’s caddy loves the sponsorship and thinks it is great. His social media content was met by PGA Tour characters with jokes such as, “that’s why we use trees,” but some have retweeted his noble efforts.

Shut The Flush Up
Steve Nuskiewicz spoke to me about the severe California drought and the need for more awareness which is why the Shut The Flush Up campaign was created. He is eager to watch the ROI Gore provides on social media via targeted marketing.

Waterfree technology developed by Falcon is the marketplace leader and more advanced than any other urinal. They constantly bring new concepts to market and are innovators in the janitorial and maintenance space saving hundreds and thousands of gallons of water for customers and the environment. The cartridges take three minutes to change, either you do it or sign up for the Falcon maintenance program. Day to day operation is simple, spray and wipe down the urinal, no engineering staff is needed for installation.

The rebate program in Southern California has been around since 2002/2003. The first facility to install Waterfree was the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The initial 300 urinals will be added to the extras recent stadium renovations called for. Staples Center installed Waterfree back in 2007 and saves millions of gallons of water spread across their 330 events a year.

Phillips Arena here in Atlanta is not a present client. Throughout Georgia, some school districts and office spaces are using Waterfree but not The Masters at Augusta National. Even though water rates are not as high here or in other states compared to CA, sewage rates and waste water elimination is.

They offer a “Greener Restroom” for facilities that comes with waterless urinals, high efficiency toilets and solar powered faucets. The Sloan Valve Company produces the solar facets that actually are a Falcon private label relationship for Sloan water free, solar facets, sinks and flush valves.

I learned a new term from him, Zeroscape. It basically means a desert like ecosystem that requires no water, something golf courses and resorts around the globe are beginning to embrace.

Read the article here and more about our California campaign here.

IS WATER CONSERVATION A MINDSET?

Today we are kicking off day 2 at the annual trade show ISH, in Frankfurt.

One of the many talked about subjects regarding Germany is the outstanding way in which they conserve water. People here are known to flush toilets with old bath water and to take turns bathing in the same tub without refilling it. In addition to utilizing water efficient fixtures throughout houses and businesses. One would think that the reason why Germans are so conscious is for the lack of water in the country. However it is in fact the opposite. Germany is one of the world’s most water-rich countries and it could theoretically consume five times more water than it does now. But they don’t! They are taught since an early age to use water wisely no matter how abundant it is. We can’t help but think on how this affects other resources, like electricity, gas, to name a few. Wouldn’t the sustainable way of mind rub off on everything?

In fact, it is a way of thinking and acting. Kind of like a mindset if you will. If we start protecting our resources before the problem arrives, maybe it never will. There are several major droughts occurring in the world right now, such as the Western USA and the Sao Paulo metropolitan area in Brazil. However, what if the population and government support would haven taken extreme conservation habits before hand? Maybe with an ingrained conscious mindset we wouldn’t have to wait until the situation is dire before we scramble to try to change things.

Sometimes what matters most is the mindset. Conserving water, even when it is plentiful, energy even when it’s profuse, and gas even when it’s the cheapest.

ISH 2015: THE TOILET

ISH is quickly approaching and we couldn’t be more excited to share our latest water conservation technology with you. Time is ticking fast and we are almost ready to board the flight to Germany.

As we said before, ISH is the World’s Leading Trade Fair for The Bathroom Experience, and the exhibition is known for covering technology that surround water and energy. With everything from sustainable sanitation solutions, innovative bathroom design and energy efficient heating technologies combined with renewable energies to environmentally friendly air-conditioning, cooling and ventilation technology. ISH covers all aspects of future-oriented building solutions, and the key word for the trade show is innovation.

With that said, Falcon is currently in development of new toilet technology and has filed multiple patents on some very promising new solutions, aimed at water conservation combined with performance. At this point in time, we can’t say much about the technology, however we are taking it to ISH!!! If you happen to be attending don’t hesitate to stop by and take a better look at our new innovative flushing technology.

CALIFORNIANS MEET WATER CONSERVATION GOALS

Last Tuesday, the California state water board announced that in December Californians met governor Jerry Brown’s water conservation goal of cutting water use by 20 percent for the first time. As we mentioned before, California is where we started and it continues to be the place we call home, therefore we can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Not only is this our home, but it has always been our vision to promote conservation of the Earth’s precious supply of fresh water while supporting sustainable resource management. For over ten years we have believed in creating a water conscious restroom and it’s extremely exciting to see so many people come together with the same goal in mind.

Read more our involvement with the 20 by 2020 water goal and our local initiative here and here.