Wars Over Water?
Futurists predict that one day, water will be as valuable as crude oil. If that’s even remotely true, reducing water usage in restaurants is something we want to think about now.
It may be difficult for us to imagine nations fighting for what seems to be such a plentiful resource.
However, from a global perspective, access to clean water is still a challenge many people face.
We Take Water for Granted
In some countries, procuring water can be a day-long effort.
That’s quite the contrast with us here in the United States.
We have massive water parks, take 30-minute showers, and water golf courses for hours without giving it a second thought.
In the developed world, all we need to do is turn a handle to access clean water.
This gives us the illusion that water is an infinite resource.
Clean Water is Not a Guarantee—Even in the United States
Despite the abundance of water we have in the U.S., the crisis in Flint, Michigan reminded us how vulnerable we really are.
The problem in Flint wasn’t a matter of supply, but a matter of distribution, as outdated plumbing infrastructure was contaminating the water supply.
Flint reminds us that delivering clean water is a complex process, and it requires constant management.
We shouldn’t take that for granted either.
That’s not to say we should pave over all of our backyard pools.
However, we shouldn’t forget about all the human effort behind effective distribution of clean water.
Knowing the potential fragility of our systems, we’d be wise to create measures, processes, and public awareness to conserve water.
Reducing Water Usage in Bars
Saving water in bars is a great way of reducing water usage in restaurants.
When bars get busy, bartenders often leave faucets running to rinse their bar tools.
Bartenders consider the few seconds it takes to turn the taps off a waste of time, because they’re under so much pressure to work quickly.
To them, letting the water run is just more convenient.
Although they can save time by leaving faucets on, bartenders end up wasting so much water in the process.
Although it’s just a small percentage, profits literally go straight down the drain when this happens.
And it happens so often, in so many bars.
This doesn’t seem like a big deal now, but when water becomes more scarce, leaving faucets running for hours on end won’t be tolerated.
As we’ll see below, consumers start noticing things like this.
Reducing Water Usage in Coffee Shops
Reducing water usage in the foodservice industry isn’t limited to traditional restaurants and bars.
The specialty coffee industry has already taken progressive actions to save water.
Baristas need to rinse their milk-frothing pitchers every time they steam milk, and like bartenders, they’re under pressure to work quickly.
To address this, operators began repurposing blender pitcher rinsers and including them in barista stations.
Blender pitcher rinsers were originally designed to rinse the inside of blender jars, but coffee shop operators recognized they could use them to rinse frothing pitchers.
Recently, these rinsers have been modified to run automatically.
Baristas leave the pitchers upside down on the rinsers, and water runs continuously.
The problem is that when baristas get caught up doing other tasks, the rinsers can run for minutes at a time.
This means that thousands of gallons of water are wasted every single hour of every single day–and most operators don’t even notice.
So while we should give the coffee industry credit for improving, there’s still so much opportunity to reduce water usage.
They’ve done well to stop using dipper wells, but modified blender pitcher rinsers waste tremendous amounts of water.
Reducing Water Usage in Ice Cream Shops
Traditional dipper wells in ice cream shops also waste extreme amounts of water.
Most health departments require dipper wells because they keep bacteria from growing on ice cream scoops and other utensils.
However, dipper wells waste thousands of gallons of water every year because they run constantly.
Essentially, a dipper well is a steady water leak, and that equates to a higher water bill.
Fortunately, the industry is waking up to this issue, and manufacturers are creating more sustainable solutions that mitigate bacteria growth by using ozone and heat–rather than a constant flow of water.
How Can the Foodservice Industry Decrease Water Wastage?
Creating a culture of water conservation is key to helping us save water.
Saving water is not only an environmental issue–it also affects the bottom line for restaurant operators.
We need to start with getting buy-in from staff by raising awareness, because once the culture is set, employees are more likely hold each another accountable.
We also need to provide the right equipment and tools for workers.
When saving water is easy and convenient, it actually gets done.
Simple measures like using aerators and self-metering water valves (like the one we use in our automatic rinsing station–Auto-Rinse) help to drastically reduce water usage.
When the People Speak, Big Business Listens
Ultimately, when consumers’ outcries become loud enough, operators start to pay attention.
In today’s age of increasing transparency, customers’ opinions are more powerful than ever.
Starbucks stopped using traditional dipper wells once customers in the U.K. started complaining about the water wastage.
It was estimated that in 2008, Starbucks was using up to 6 million gallons of water per day company-wide because of their dipper wells.
Starbucks no longer use dipper wells thanks to the persistence of consumers who kept challenging them to operate more sustainably.
It’s Everyone’s Problem to Solve
While it’s easy to point the finger at big companies like Starbucks, we as individuals can also make a huge impact.
After all, everyone has a very important stake in the effort to conserve water.
The Starbucks example shows that if individuals put pressure on bigger companies to act more responsibly, ordinary citizens can actually make a difference.
In a more direct sense, we need look at our individual water usage habits.
If only 30 people decreased showering time by 2 minutes every day, that would save an hour of run time for a single shower head.
That’s just a fraction of the larger impact we can make collectively to act more sustainably.
What measures have you taken in your operations to use water more responsibly?