Optimize energy and chemical use at drinking water/wastewater facilities and decrease chloride in wastewater discharges.
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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Inform residents about the ecological benefits of reducing water softener salt use; shift operation times of large pumps or activities so as to secure a cheaper electric rate; purchase cheaper 'interruptible rate' electricity; install a peaking generator for load shaving/cost savings as well as backup power. Report ductile drinking water pipe under BPA 15.8. |
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Report savings from reduced fluoride levels; evaluate pump efficiency, repair or upgrade to efficient ones and report on anticipated cost savings; launch a rebate program for residents to optimize, upgrade or remove their water softeners. |
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Implement other/longer payback period drinking water facility upgrades such as measurable reduction in chemical use, use of backwash water; soften drinking water and work to eliminate home water softeners. |
Resources
Chloride:
- Much of Minnesota has hard water, which prompts people to use water softeners. Water softeners need salt (which contains chloride) to recharge their softening capacity, and the resulting salty brine is discharged to municipal wastewater treatment plants in most cities. The plants are not designed to remove chloride from wastewater, so the chloride ends up in the receiving water, usually a lake, river, or stream, where it has a permanent and irreversible impact on human health and environmental concerns.
- Short of expensive reverse osmosis or lime softening, there is no feasible way to remove salt from wastewater. Learn more about water permit holders and chloride reduction and Alternatives for addressing chloride in wastewater effluent (MPCA, 2018)
- See the Costs and benefits of household water softening: a review (UofMN, 2019)
- Consider central softening of drinking water like the City of Marshall.
- Encouraging residents to take steps (Living Green 365, 2017) to reduce home water softener salt use.
- Implement a rebate program to upgrade their water softeners.
Nitrates:
- The first in the State, the City of Cold Spring built a nitrate removal plant that uses bacteria to remove nitrates from drinking water, creating oxygen and nitrogen gas as by-products.
Facility resources:
- See U.S. EPA resources on efficient and more sustainable management of these public utilities.
- MnTAP (Minnesota Technical Assistance Program), a free assistance provider at the University of MN, will help develop recommendations that might be fundable using utility rebates.
- The Midwest Assistance Program focuses on communities under 2,500 in population (allowing them to bypass a full RFP contracting process), and the MN Rural Water Association provides services at no charge to community water and wastewater systems and rural water districts with populations under 10,000.
Order Number
4
Action Type
Finite