Smart Salt Use for Businesses May 30, 2018 Takeaways Why too much - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Smart Salt Use for Businesses May 30, 2018

Takeaways

• Why too much salt is a problem
• How you can reduce salt use in your facilities
• What funding is available for salt reduction

projects at your business

• Q&A and Networking: Meet with water

treatment experts for assistance and recommendations

Salt Pollution Overview

Why is too much salt a problem?

Salty Numbers

• 225,000
• Average pounds of salt that reach the district’s

treatment plant each day

• 80 million
• Total pounds of salt that reach the treatment

plant in a year

• 60 million
• Pounds of salt applied to Dane County roads

Where salt ends up

Chloride pollution

• Affects

freshwater aquatic life

• Disrupts

ecosystems

• Interferes with

lake mixing

Wisconsin Chloride Standard

• 395 mg/L on

weekly average

• Wastewater

plants required to meet this limit

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

• Regional,

serving 30 communities

• Public municipal

entity funded by sewer rates

Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant treats 40 million gallons per day

Treatment process removes solids, nutrients, pathogens – but not chloride

Treated water returned to two streams

The district receives more salt than this pile each day.

Chloride sources to MMSD

Road salt

• Most ends up

directly in lakes, streams, and drinking water

• Some enters

district sewer system, causing peaks

Madison/Dane County Public Health, Road Salt Reports

Chloride on the rise in area waters

Drinking water chloride levels

1995 2010

Madison/Dane County Public Health, Road Salt Reports

Treatment

• ptions exist, but

are costly

$- $500,000,000 $1,000,000,000 $1,500,000,000 $2,000,000,000 $2,500,000,000

1A 1B 2A 2B 2C 3A 3B 3C Net Present Value

Potential costs

Costs of removing chloride would raise sewer bills by 55 to 500%

Alternative solutions exist

• Chloride

pollution can be prevented

• Reducing

chloride is much less expensive than removing it

8,000,000 gallons 5 gallons 300 gallons 20,000 gallons

A little salt reduced protects a lot of water

District reduction activities

• Education/
• utreach

– Large salt users – General public – WI Salt Wise

• Funding

programs

One Water Partnerships

Other partners working to reduce salt

Key points

• Excessive chloride pollutes fresh water.
• Wastewater treatment plants like the district

are not designed to remove chloride, but are regulated for it.

• Removing chloride from water is expensive.
• Keeping chloride out of water is much less

expensive and more comprehensive.

Reducing Salt Use

Striking the balance with salt use and fresh water

Salt is useful, but often

• verused

Why is salt overused?

• Inefficient equipment
• Old or broken softener; improperly calibrated road

salt applicators

• Too-high settings or application rates
• High salt dosage, assumed water use or hardness

higher than actual

• Fear of under-use
• Concern about scale buildup
• On road salt, liability is a concern

Salt adds up

Bags of salt saved per week Pounds of salt saved per month Savings per month Savings per year Savings over 3 years 1 160 $24 $288 $864 3 480 $72 $864 $2,592 5 800 $120 $1,440 $4,320 10 1600 $240 $2,880 $8,640 15 2400 $360 $4,320 $12,960 *Assuming $6 per 40-pound bag of salt ($0.15 per pound)

Business benefits of reducing salt

• Lower salt costs
• Reduced labor
• May help keep

sewer bill low

• Get ahead of

potential regulation

• Win for

sustainability initiatives

Options for reducing softener salt use

1) Reduce soft water use

• Examples:
• utdoor water,

domestic water

• Village of

Paddock Lake stopped irrigating with soft water

2) Improve existing equipment

• Optimization:

lowering salt use settings

• Brine reclaim:

add-on technology

• Sensors

Finding salt savings

• Look at factors like:
• Resin quality – resin analysis
• Regeneration process – elution study
• Salt dosage – can it be lowered?
• Actual hardness of feed water
• Reserve capacity – can it be reduced?
• Changes in salt use over time
• Has it been evaluated by a professional in the last

five years?

3) Install higher efficiency equipment

• Twin-tank systems
• Minimum

efficiency of 4000 grains per pound

• District BMPs to

installer

• Evaluate salt-free

technologies

Case Study: Best Western

• Replaced old,

malfunctioning softeners with new softeners with brine reclaim

• Salt savings: Over

550 pounds per month

Case Study: Meriter Hospital

• Replaced water

softener pre- R.O. with chemical treatment

• Salt savings:

4,261 pounds per month

Case Study: Hydrite

• Installed brine

reclaim and switched from soft- water-cooled to air- cooled boiler pump

• Total salt savings:

3,843 pounds per month

• Implemented

elsewhere

Options for reducing road salt use

Unscientific salt application

Scientifically driven application

WI Salt Wise

1) Proper in-house salt use

• Shovel, scatter,

switch

• Provide hand

spreaders, salt measuring cups

• Have staff attend

training

Aug 16 - parking lot/sidewalk Sept 18 - roads Sept 19 - parking lot/sidewalk Oct 19 - parking lot/sidewalk

Free, at Lussier Center Anyone can attend Register at www.wisaltwise.com

• nce posted

Road salt training dates

2) Hire certified applicator

• www.wisaltwise.com
• Certified applicators

have been trained on proper salt application rates and practices

Case Study: Barnes, Inc.

• Purchased

brooms for snow removal; changed road salt practices

• Saved $30,000
• n sidewalk

salt

Key points

• Salt is easy to over-use, but using too much

salt is a waste of a resource.

• Salt savings can add up over time.
• Many options exist to reduce indoor and
• utdoor salt use.
• Local companies have seen success in salt

reduction projects.

Funding for Salt Reduction Projects

District grant programs

• Salt reduction rebates
• For: projects to reduce salt use in existing systems
• Chloride reduction innovation grants
• For: projects that change business-as-usual

approaches to salt

• Road salt reduction grants
• For: projects that reduce road salt application

through equipment, changed practices, education

Salt reduction rebates

• Designed for large

industrial/commercial/ multi-unit facilities

• Based on salt reduction

achieved – higher award tiers for higher reductions

Rebate program numbers

• Since 2015:

– 46 rebate projects – 925 pounds of chloride reduced per day

• Average award:

$1200

Rebate eligibility

• Apply BEFORE project takes place
• Existing chloride-using system in use (i.e., can’t be

used for new installations)

• Located in MMSD service area
• Project must be complete within 6 months of

applying

• Must be able to quantify salt reduction due to

project

Example rebate project: MUHL

• Brine reclaim on new

softeners plus elution studies

• Reduced salt ~25

tons/year

• Savings: $4000

annually

Innovation grants

• Change the way that

salt/chloride is used in the community

• Possibilities include

widespread softener improvements, research,

• utreach, and more
• Flexible

Example potential projects

• Increase efficiency
• Research alternatives to salt
• Reuse salt brine
• Educate
• Pilot projects
• Pass-through rebate programs

Changing business-as-usual is key

Creative solutions: Lucky Building

Road salt grants

• Up to 50% of capital investment
• Typical $500-$12,000 ($50,000 total program)
• Case study, quantify reductions, learn/test

Road salt grant details

Key points

• Funding is available for projects that reduce

indoor and outdoor salt use.

• Up to $200,000 is available in 2018 for salt

reduction grants.

• Funding will not be available indefinitely, so

take action now to reduce salt.

• Continued education
• Future events

(technical training)

• Offering funding
• Projects implemented

today will help move toward goal for the future

Looking ahead

More resources

Evaluations

• Please fill out yellow evaluations before you

leave.

• Your input can help us evolve our programs

and make them more helpful for local businesses.

Networking exhibitors

• Hellenbrand
• Watertech USA
• Culligan Total Water
• SaltCo
• H-O-H
• HydroFLOW
• AirWater
• WI Salt Wise

Talk to a district staff person with questions, assistance on rebate and grant applications