New England Water Utilities Can Reduce Costs with Improved Energy Management

Reducing climate impacts, saving money, and saving water – these are the goals of projects and programs being developed by EPA and state partners at the nexus between energy use and water use.

EPA and professional water and wastewater partners have developed a useful new guidance to help facility managers better confront the serious challenges related to rising energy costs. The guidance, “Ensuring a Sustainable Future: An Energy Management Guidebook for Wastewater and Water Utilities,” will help utilities systematically assess their current energy costs and practices, set measurable performance improvement goals, and monitor and measure their progress over time.

EPA will also hold a workshop on March 6 in Lowell, Mass. where New England water professionals can learn more about how to increase energy efficiency into the operations of water treatment facilities.

Steadily rising energy costs and associated environmental effects have made energy use one of the most pressing challenges facing water utilities. Energy management is also at the heart of efforts across the industry to ensure that water and wastewater systems are operated in a sustainable way.

“Integrating energy efficient practices into the daily management and long-term planning of the water sector will help reduce operating costs, freeing valuable resources for other priorities,” said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office.

The guidance follows the successful Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology embodied in environmental management systems and other utility management tools. It was developed with the help of utilities that are successfully confronting their own energy challenges using this approach. It will serve as a step-by-step guide to help utilities systematically manage their energy programs over time.

More information:

- EPA workshop in Lowell, Mass. on March 6, 2008 - Innovative Energy Management for Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants in New England (PDF document, 2 pages) (epa.gov/region1/eco/energy/assets/pdfs/EnergyManagementBrochure_March6th.pdf)

- Sustainable water infrastructure and energy use ( epa.gov/waterinfrastructure/bettermanagement_energy.html)

- Electronic copy of EPA guidance to water utilities (PDF document, 113 pages) (epa.gov/waterinfrastructure/pdfs/guidebook_si_energymanagement.pdf)