The Bottom Line: For Two San Diego Companies, Water Conservation is Big Business
“While our latest drought is over, our state’s water supply system is still in crisis,” said San Diego County Water Authority Board Chair Michael T. Hogan just last week. With our region’s latest drought officially over, and water use restrictions for the area lifted last week, Hogan cautions: “We cannot forget that ensuring a safe and reliable water supply is a long-term challenge.”
Although drought restrictions were the impetus for many San Diego households and businesses to adopt water conservation measures, the water management business continues its rapid growth.
Easy-Turf, Inc. and National Water Services (NWS) are both San Diego-based companies that have successfully turned water conservation into a business opportunity. National Water Service alone has saved its clients 1.5 billion gallons of water since its founding less than a decade ago. For EasyTurf, together with its parent company FieldTurf, that figure is more than 27.4 billion gallons. A water-wise mindset isn’t all that unites these businesses; they are separately managed by husband and wife David and Patricia Hartman (he runs EasyTurf, she NWS).
National Water Services
A new book, The
Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, (recently profiled
in Fast Company magazine) reveals how cutting-edge companies are now using water
management as a strategic tool: “If there is one truly arresting sign that our
relationship to water is about to shift in fundamental ways, it comes not from
the world of science or climatology . . . it comes from businesses. In the past
decade, businesses have discovered water as both a startling vulnerability and
an untapped opportunity” (Fast Company,
April 2011).
Companies are becoming more deliberate about measuring their water usage,
costs, efficiency and waste, and tying that to a bottom-line impact. Beyond
gaining efficiencies in water-intensive manufacturing practices, they are
finding that improving dated infrastructure in their office buildings can
deliver desperately needed cost savings.
NWS saw this shift in focus
coming. The company, founded in 2000 and purchased by the Hartmans in 2008,
works with large institutional, commercial and industrial consumers of water to
identify and create water, sewer and related energy savings opportunities. The
company performs “before and after” audits of water usage for all of its
clients, accuracy guaranteed.
NWS believes the market for water management services is ripe with opportunity;
according to one of its own surveys, less than 5 percent of companies have
established a comprehensive water management program, despite the fact that it
can reduce water and sewage costs by as much as 45 percent, and pay for itself
in under three years. NWS says that the 1.5 billion gallons of water it has
helped its clients save thus far equate to a collective dollar savings of
nearly $11 million.
What are the most common areas of water waste in a commercial or institutional building? Far and away, say David and Patricia, it is the restrooms that are the culprits: toilets, urinals and showers. NWS clients often achieve gargantuan savings merely by replacing these fixtures.
Among NWS’ local clients is SPAWAR, The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. SPAWAR delivers higher-end Navy information technology products and services to the fleet and other Defense Department stakeholders. By replacing SPAWAR’s 650 outdated and inefficient restroom fixtures—a process now underway and nearly complete—NWS is helping SPAWAR to save more than 7 million gallons of water per year—translating to a staggering $100,000 dollars per year saved in water, sewer and energy costs.
Outside the building,
landscaping becomes an obvious and considerable opportunity to achieve water
savings. That is where companies like EasyTurf come in.
EasyTurf
Vista-based EasyTurf is an artificial turf company serving primarily residential clients. A division of FieldTurf, the company employs about 60 people in San Diego.
Synthetic turf, now available in 100% recyclable form, appeals to municipal, corporate and residential clients who want to maintain year-round, water efficient landscaping. In addition, certain synthetic options are designed to meet criteria required to obtain Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) points and water savings are bolstered by reduced maintenance costs overall. With water prices on the rise, simple economics are also spurring demand.
These trends have catapulted EasyTurf to Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest growing private companies for the last three consecutive years. Though its business is 80 percent residential, Easy-Turf’s customers also include SeaWorld, Petco, and the Humane Society of San Diego.
According to David Hartmann, skeptics of the environmental benefits of synthetic turf are relieved to learn that the company recycles old turf installations by pelletizing them into material for infill on new ones. That diverts thousands of square feet of old turf from landfills every year, while saving the company landfill tipping charges. While the blades of synthetic grass are still made of virgin materials, the company is investing in research and development to use recycled materials in their manufacture as well.
More from our ongoing series, The Bottom Line
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National City’s Chamber of Commerce Launches Green Business Program
Sustainability as Competitive Strategy for San Diego’s Hitachi Data Systems
The Bottom Line: For Two San Diego Companies, Water Conservation is Big Business
Lean and Green. Cricket Wireless Sets an Example for a Fast-Growing Sector
Green Envy -- Qualcomm's Corporate Sustainability Program