W09: Laundry Rinse Water Reclamation System

Requirement Summary

This measure can be claimed if water recovery device with capacity to collect all water from rinse cycles of the washing machine(s) is installed and the collected rinse water being used in the washing cycles of the laundry facility.

Intention

By recovering the water from the rinse cycles of laundry the use of fresh water from the municipal supply can be reduced.

Approach/Methodologies

Hospitals can benefit of the rinse water recovery, as big portion of their water use is for the laundry facility. The water collected from the rinse cycle requires a simple filtration treatment, which removes soil, soap and other contaminants to make the water clean enough to be used again in another cycle.

In order to qualify the design team must demonstrate that the laundry facility has a water recovery device for the rinse water. The collected rinse water must have a recirculation and filtration system; and the recovery water must be used in the washing cycles of the laundry facility.

Potential Technologies/Strategies

Rinse water recovery is a system that collects the water from rinse cycles of the washing machines into a water tank, that then is pumped into a sequence of filters to ensure water is still effective at cleaning. Typically, this process starts in the holding tank, where ozone is injected to the water to remove odors and bacteria. Then, the water is pumped to a vibrating tank to remove lint. Then, another filter, which includes layers of sand and gravel traps the solids remaining in the water. The last filter in the sequence, removes soap and organic compounds. Finally, the water is send back to the washers to be used in the washing cycles. The system requires space for holding, filtration and storage tanks, which vary upon the capacity and size of the laundry facility.

Figure 22. Schematic of the system to recover rinse water in laundry facilities

Relationship to Other Measures

Claiming this measure only reduces the water demand for laundry. The contribution that the measure makes to the overall performance is not affected by any other measure.

Assumptions

The base case assumes no rinse water recovery from laundry, while the improved case assumes that all the water generated from the rinse cycles is recovered for the washing cycles within the laundry facility.

Compliance Guidance

In order to demonstrate compliance, the design team must provide documentation to support the claims.

Design Stage	Post-Construction Stage
At the design stage, the following must be used to demonstrate compliance:  Hydraulic layout drawings of the laundry facility showing the location of the rinse water collection, filtration and reuse tanks.	At the post-construction stage, the following must be used to demonstrate compliance: As-built hydraulic drawings of the laundry facility showing the location of the rinse water collection, filtration and reuse tanks; and  Photographs of installed equipment related to the system

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