Hospital Central Plant

Client Situation

One of the largest and most well-respected teaching hospitals in Illinois is also home to a central plant with 7,000-tons of cooling tower capacity and a 100,000-gallon central chilled water loop. When new corporate responsibility guidelines were released, encouraging sustainability and green practices in facilities, the hospital turned to Earthwise Environmental for advice. Our experienced team consulted with the hospital on the wide range of technologies available to help meet their sustainability goals and to provide programs that would reduce operating costs with minimal capital investment.


Project Consulting

The hospital contracted our team of Certified Water Technologists to identfy potential Water (WCM) and Energy (ECM) Conservation Management opportunities throughout their facilities, with the goal of reducing the plant water and energy footprints. In the site evaluation, Earthwise Environmental considered the ways to improve efficiency, extend equipment life, reduce chemical consumption and provide remote system performance monitoring.

The discovery of positive Legionella counts in the hospital's cooling tower system and excessive corrosion in its chilled water system required immediate intervention. The Earthwise Environmental engineering survey and inspection process found leaking chemical feed stations and insufficient biocide feeds, as well as the absence of a proper Legionella control program. Further inspection found the chilled loop system running at a corrosive pH of 5.5 with over 100+ PPM of dissolved iron. Neither a filter changing program nor any corrosion coupon studies were in place.

Solutions

Earthwise Environmental created and instituted solutions to the central plant's challenges that served to reduce the hospital's liability from hazardous chemicals and potential Legionella, provide labor savings, create increased energy efficiency and provide long-term protection of equipment.

Benefits and Results

  • Achieved a significant water savings projected at 5,000,000 gallons/year for a $15,000 annual savings and an expected ROI of 2.2 - 3.1 years
  • Reduced the hospital's liability and environmental impact by cutting its hazardous chemicals use by 50 percent
  • Provided proactive Legionella control which has consistently led to 0 positive results, ensuring the safety of the hospital employees and patients
  • Reduced cooling tower bleed by 45 percent
  • Removed Clean Steam generators for a $205,000 annual energy savings
  • Lowered annual system maintenance costs by $60,000
  • Installed a "real time" 24-7 online monitoring system reducing staff labor hours and delivering instant knowledge of the water conditions throughout the plant
  • Provided long-term protection of the chilled piping system to avoid costly capital replacement
  • Achieved innovative heat transfer fluid replacement yielding a usage reduction of 1.1MM kWh for a $97,900 savings
  • Increased tower cycles from 4.5 to 20

"Earthwise is the expert that every facility should work with to reduce their water, energy and hazardous chemical usage. By working with us, Earthwise Environmental significantly cut our operating costs with minimal capital investment."

- Robert G., vice president of operations and maintenance for a large university in Chicago, Illinois.

"We searched for an alternative to handling and storing heavy 55-gallon drums of hazardous chemicals. Earthwise Environmental's Drumless Water Treatment System is exactly what we were looking for. The non-hazardous solid dissolver provides diluted water treatment solution on demand into our feed water piping."

- Dave G., environmental manager for Oshkosh Truck in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

"Earthwise Environmental teamed up with our staff to identify the best solution for our needs."

- Bob T., chief engineer at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.

"When our hospital released new corporate responsibility guidelines for sustainability and green practices, we partnered with Earthwise Environmental. Their highly experienced Certified Water Technologists conducted a thorough audit of our facilities. Earthwise Environmental's recommendations saved our hospital more than $7 million dollars and 20 million gallons of water a year."

- Dave S., director of facilities for one of the largest and most respected teaching hospitals in Chicago, Illinois.

"After equipment failure issues arose with our previous vendor, Earthwise Environmental implemented their proven water treatment technology to clean our system and provide us with far better protection. We have Earthwise Environmental to thank for keeping us running."

- George M., facilities manager for an injection molding facility in Cary, Illinois.

Find out how an Earthwise Environmental™ program can make a real improvement in your facility's environmental impact and operational costs. Contact us today!

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